HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------The Bush administration just hosted Paul Kagame, the dictatorial leader of Rwanda that orchestrated the genocidal aggression on the DRC with US backing. Below is an article by Cynthia McKinney on the initiation of a war-crimes case against Kagame. Surely those like Rice and Bush that shake this man's hand (and provide him with the weapons needed to carry out his brutal policies for the benefit of Western corporations) should also be held to account?
Kagame and Rice in Washington
Following is the speech by Honorable Cynthia McKinney.
(Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, the First Black Congresswoman from Georgia, USA)
Spain: Cynthia McKinney Speaks on Irak and Africa at the Club Ultima Hora in Mallorca
26/02/2003
I would like to thank Pere Serra and Ultima Hora for the opportunity to share some thoughts with you this evening. I would also like to thank Juan Carrero and Susanna Volosin for extending the invitation for me to visit Spain and for making it possible for me to be here with you now. I am particularly pleased to be a part of a delegation--a mission, a movement--for peace and justice; a movement that spans continents and breaks down barriers.
Here we are, here tonight: Europeans, Africans, and Americans. Working together in a labor of love for this abstract concept of justice made real for us by the lives of the people we touch and who touch us. Isn’t it amazing that more than 2 million Spaniards turned to the streets to protest going to war in Iraq? It ‘ s a wonderful thing to be able to take action on behalf of peace and justice while not having to worry about a knock on the door later that night. In Spain it wasn’t always so, but through great pain and suffering, you survived and became a stronger people in the process.
That’s what I saw on February 15th, on the streets of Madrid, and Barcelona, and Figueres, and in Palma. A people rising up from their own experiences to express their grief and shock and outrage about global preparations for yet another war.
You could say that this is the "ultima hora" for peace. Iraq. All eyes are now on Iraq. The European Union is busy. NATO is busy. Washington, DC is busy. The United Nations is busy. Can you imagine how busy we are in preparation for war ? in preparation for the use of force?
Washington has mobilized the world for war and the world is responding. And that’s the way it goes, really. When Washington calls, the world listens.
But is this really the way of the world? Do you remember the days when Washington mobilized for peace? To save a Continent under tyrannical domination? When Washington cared about democracy, and freedom, and dignity for man?
It is that Washington that was loved around the world, not feared. It was that Washington that blossomed in "Camelot," the Administration of John F. Kennedy. An Administration that stepped back from war, turned away from provocation, and respected the fact that it was big and rich and strong in a world of the small, the poor, and the weak.
John F. Kennedy pulled America from the brink of global confrontation. George W. Bush is no John Kennedy.
In addition, John’s brother Bobby, who would have been elected President had his life not been snuffed away, traveled all the way to apartheid South Africa to give hope to the black masses struggling for dignity. Bobby Kennedy, who was considering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to be his running mate, told the South Africans that whenever any single person stands up in order to defend justice, they send forward a tiny ripple of hope that goes out into the world. And if others stand up, then all those ripples of hope form one giant wave which sweeps away the walls of oppression and resistance.
Bobby Kennedy didn’ have to stand for justice for South Africa, but he did. And he did his part to sweep away the walls of injustice in apartheid South Africa. Forty years ago, Bobby Kennedy took a stand. Today, we all celebrate the New South Africa.
The point I want to make is that despite this grand mobilization for war, it is possible for us to mobilize for peace. And, indeed, if we do, we too can tear down the mighty walls of oppression.
In Bobby Kennedy’ words, I very much see the activity of Juan Carrero, who is working to find a nonviolent solution to the wars of Central Africa. He is sending forward the tiny ripples of hope. One of those ripples touched me.
Powerful countries can become agents for good or doers of bad. And when they move, they can crush the small. When America moved against Latin America, it supported authoritarian regimes, and the little people were crushed. I’ll ever forget: I cried when Archbishop Romero was murdered. I didn’ know him; I didn’ know Latin America; but I knew the difference between right and wrong. And as a result of the world knowing about the succession of tragedies that confronted Latin America, the tiny ripples of hope tore down mighty walls of oppression. The walls are not completely obliterated, but today we have the possibility of a new Latin America, respectful of the weak and the poor.
And then, America turned her eyes to Africa. And where there were colonial masters before it, the US sought a "Pax Americana" on the African Continent.
It trained its eyes at Africa’sheart: Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Congo, despite Iraq’ oil, is the richest country on our planet. With gold, diamonds, cobalt, uranium, coltan, oil, titanium, medicinal flora, exotic fauna; if you want it, Congo’ got it. And everyone wants what Congo has got!
That’s why it was important to defy the will of the Congolese people and topple Patrice Lumumba and replace him with Mobutu Sese Seko. But that was during the days of British, French, Belgian, and Afrikaaner ascendancy on the Continent. They used to be the industrial giants and they benefited immensely from Africa ‘s wealth.
It was now America’s turn.
And so, with laser-like precision, the US targeted the crown jewel of Africa. But how to get there? How to displace the French and replace their influence with America’s?
Of course, if this were about fair trade, it could all be settled in a GATT trade round. But it isn’t about fair exchange or fair trade. It is about grand theft of Africa’s resources. And so, by any means necessary. And if millions of people die, it is supposed that "the price is worth it." I say that to quote our former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, who informed us that if 5,000 Iraqi children die each month from UN sanctions, then she said, "The price is worth it." It wasn’t her children who were dying; caught in the crosshairs of a superpower game.
And now as America turns its attention to her geostrategic needs in the Middle East, we can be sure that more than the 5000 innocent children of Iraq will suffer. The point I want to make here is that as great powers exercise their prerogatives, innocents suffer. And that suffering continues until our human consciousness is awakened to this notion of injustice and we, collectively, say "No!".
Now, in the specific case of Congo, the Great Lakes, and Africa, we are outraged at the scale of the carnage, and we are hopeful that here in Spain, the voiceless people of Africa will find their voice and justice. It is in the context of Congo that Rwanda becomes important. Uganda and Rwanda seem to be proxy states for the US and have invaded DRC. And in the process of their invasion and occupation, they have contributed to the deaths of more than 3.5 million innocent Congolese. The effect of US-supported "regime change" in Rwanda has resulted in 2.5 million innocent Rwandans having died.
This does not take into account the number of Ugandans, Burundians, and others who have died in the quest to rearrange the African squares on the Grand Chessboard for America. With such death and destruction, it is amazing that we have to fight so hard to get a little piece of the awakening consciousness of the international community. But we are getting there—with your help.
Spain has stepped forward. Perhaps without even realizing it. ut more than 2 million people stepped forward on the 15th to say no more war. We know that means Iraq, but I hope it means Africa too. Through the precedent-setting work of Judge Don Baltasar Garzon Real, we know that the people of Spain are ready, willing, and able to take a stand against the powerful and the mighty; on behalf of that notion called justice.
In the Great Lakes region of Africa, millions have died, including Spanish nationals. And some of them were priests; doing God’s work among the wretched of the earth.
Litigation, not militarization, is the way to solve our problems. The era of impunity should be over so reconciliation can begin. Litigation can break the cycle of violence. Hence, for those of us who believe in non-violence, litigation can prove to be the way to bring moral and material reparation to victims. And by advocating litigation, Juan Carrero follows in the footsteps of those who have sought non-violent solutions to our problems.
In the United States, we have seen that litigation can bring a sitting President to his knees. Multinational corporations have been forced to pay for their crimes. And now, dictators can be held accountable for the lives that they take.
We don’t care that the hand that reaches out to us is white. We are thankful that there is a hand.
At this moment, I am proud to be here, as part of a delegation that represents Spain, Africa, and America. Because I know that together, our tiny ripples of hope will join together and form a might wave that will tear down the walls of oppression in Iraq, in Africa, and across our world. Please join with us. Europe and Africa can come together to make a better world. You can and you must. because the price is not worth it.
When we see sickness, we must heal it; and when we see injustice, we must right it; and when we see war, we should stop it.
Thank you for your attention; thank you for your support.”
Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, the First Black Congresswoman from Georgia, USA and Senior Juan Carrero Saralegui, 2000 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and President of Fundation S'Olivar of Spain led a delegation composed of Rwandans, Spaniards and Americans to officially announced the launch of the investigation of crimes against Humanity and genocide and indictment by Spanish Courts. Crimes allegedly committed by General Kagame's and his army , the Rwandan Patriotic Army, have resulted to the death of more than 5 millions people in Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (ex-Zaire).
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