Belgian 'regret' for Congo past stirs bittersweet response

Yahoo – AFP, June 30, 2020

King Leopold II pillaged DR Congo and treated the colony as his personal
property (AFP Photo/SAMIR TOUNSI)

Kinshasa (AFP) - DR Congo hailed Belgium on Tuesday after its monarch, King Philippe, voiced his "deepest regrets" for the country's brutal colonial occupation, but some in the country demanded reparations for the past.

In a letter to President Felix Tshisekedi on the nation's 60th anniversary of independence, Philippe expressed unprecedented sorrow for colonial acts that historians say led to the death of millions of Congolese.

"I want to express my deepest regrets for these wounds of the past whose pain is reawakened today by the discrimination still present in our societies," Philippe said.

"Acts of violence and cruelty were committed which weigh on our collective memory," he said.

DR Congo Foreign Minister Marie Ntumba Nzeza, in statement to AFP, said the king's letter was "balm to the heart of the Congolese people. This is a step forward that will boost friendly relations between our nations."

Tshisekedi, in a TV address on the eve of the anniversary, paid tribute to Belgium, where he lived in self-imposed exile before returning to run successfully in the 2018 elections.

Philippe, he said, "is searching, just like me, to strengthen the ties between our two countries, without denying our common past, but with the goal of preparing a bright and harmonious future."

In contrast, Lambert Mende, the former spokesman of Tshisekedi's predecessor, Joseph Kabila, said, "It's not enough to say, 'I feel regret.'

"People should be willing to repair the damage in terms of investment and compensation with interest. That's what we expect from our Belgian partners."

Herve Diakiese, spokesman of a citizen's movement called Congolais Debout (Congolese, Stand Up), said the monarch's letter was "a step in the right direction."

"But this belated remorse can only be accepted after adequate reparations for these atrocities which enabled the personal enrichment of Leopold II and his friends," he said, referring to the former Belgian monarch who pillaged Congo from 1885 to 1908.

"Belgium's mischief-making after independence on June 30 1960 to control the DRC's minerals should also feature among reparation issues," he said.

Looted Congolese artefacts, too, should be returned, he added.

Jean-Claude Katende, the president of Asadho, one of the oldest rights groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo, called for a greater effort to identify provinces where colonial Belgium carried out its worst atrocities.

"In Equateur (province), people were killed and others had their hands cut off," he said.

Belgium is contemplating setting up a parliamentary commission to investigate its colonial rule, which also extended over Rwanda and Burundi.

Rwandan opposition leader launches new political party

Yahoo – AFP, November 9, 2019

Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire has created a new opposition party
called Dalfa Umurunzi (Development And Liberty For All) (AFP Photo/Cyril NDEGEYA)

Kigali (AFP) - Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire announced Saturday she was launching a new political party, hoping it will be allowed to operate in a country where the ruling regime has no real rival.

Ingabire's previous party FDU-Inkingi, which she founded while in exile in 2016, was not recognised by the government of long-ruling President Paul Kagame.

She was imprisoned until receiving a presidential pardon last year from Kagame, whom she regularly accuses of suppressing freedom of speech, repressing the opposition and neglecting the country's poor.

"I am announcing the launch of a new opposition party," Ingabire told AFP, saying it would be called Dalfa Umurunzi (Development And Liberty For All).

"This will help me to continue the mission that had been assigned to me by the FDU-Inkingi party," she added.

"The political space in this country is very limited but we are ready to fulfil all legal requirements for registration and conduct our activities in accordance to the laws of the nation."

She returned from exile in The Netherlands intending to run for president in 2010 as FDU-Inkingi's leader.

But she was arrested, charged with terrorism and sentenced to more than a decade in jail during a widely criticised trial. She was unexpectedly granted early release alongside more than 2,000 other prisoners in September last year.

Ingabire, an ethnic Hutu, was accused of "genocide ideology" and "divisiveness" after publicly questioning the government narrative of the 1994 genocide of mostly Tutsi people that killed around 800,000 people.

Numerous FDU-Inkingi members have disappeared or been killed in mysterious circumstances over the last few years. The party accuses the government of brutally cracking down on dissenting voices.

One member was stabbed near the capital Kigali in September, while party spokesman Anselm Mutuyimana was kidnapped in March, his body later found in a forest.

Although Rwanda is constitutionally a multi-party system there is practically no opposition, with most of the recognised parties supporting the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).

Kagame, the de facto ruler since his rebel army stopped the genocide in 1994, has been praised for bringing stability and economic growth to his tiny nation but often comes under fire for restricting political freedom.

He commonly wins re-election with more than 90 percent of the vote.

Congolese 'Terminator' warlord gets 30-year ICC sentence

Yahoo – AFP, Danny KEMP, November 7, 2019

Ntaganda was sentenced on a litany of crimes including directing massacres of
civilians in Democratic Republic of Congo's volatile, mineral-rich Ituri region in 2002
and 2003 (AFP Photo/EVA PLEVIER)

The Hague (AFP) - A Congolese rebel chief nicknamed the "Terminator" received a 30-year jail term from the International Criminal Court on Thursday for war crimes and crimes against humanity, the longest ever sentence given out by the tribunal.

Bosco Ntaganda was convicted in July of offences including murder, sexual slavery and using child soldiers in a mineral-rich region of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the early 2000s.

Most of the charges against Rwandan-born Ntaganda, 46, related to a series of gruesome massacres of villagers carried out by his fighters.

"Murder was committed on a large scale," presiding judge Robert Flemr said, adding that the Hague-based court had taken the "particular cruelty" of some of Ntaganda's actions into account.

"The overall sentence imposed on you shall therefore be 30 years of imprisonment."

Judges gave him the maximum possible sentence in terms of the number of years but said that "despite their gravity" his crimes did not warrant a full-life prison term.

Ntaganda, dressed in a blue suit and shirt and wearing a red tie, showed no emotion as the sentence was passed in the high-security courtroom.

An ICC spokesman confirmed it was the heaviest ever sentence handed down to date by the court, which was set up in 2002 to try the world's worst crimes.

Ntaganda has already appealed against his conviction earlier this year on 13 counts of war crimes and five of crimes against humanity -- which saw him become the first to be convicted by the ICC of sexual enslavement.

He now has 30 days to appeal against the sentence.

'Held to account'

Human Rights Watch welcomed the prison term.

"Bosco Ntaganda's 30-year sentence sends a strong message that even people considered untouchable may one day be held to account," said Ida Sawyer, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Africa division.

"While his victims’ pain cannot be erased, they can take some comfort in seeing justice prevail."

A refugee from the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda, Ntaganda emerged as a ruthless driver of ethnic Tutsi revolts that subsequently convulsed neighbouring DRC.

Judges said Ntaganda was a "key leader" of the Union of Congolese Patriots rebel group and its military wing, the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), in the DRC's volatile Ituri region in 2002 and 2003.

More than 60,000 people have been killed since the violence erupted in Ituri, according to rights groups, as militias battle each other for control of mineral resources.

The court heard fearful villagers dubbed him "Terminator", after the film featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a merciless robotic killer, during two bloody operations by Ntaganda's soldiers against civilians in rival villages in 2002 and 2003.

Fighters loyal to him carried out atrocities such as a massacre in a banana field behind a village in which at least 49 people including children and babies were disembowelled or had their heads smashed in.

No mitigating factors

Ntaganda received a series of sentences ranging from eight to 30 years, with ICC rules saying that the overall prison term must reflect the highest individual sentence.

He got 30 years for murder and attempted murder, with judges saying he was directly guilty of the murder of Catholic priest and indirectly responsible for many others by directing the military offensives. He also received a 30-year sentence for persecution.

Ntaganda further received 28 years for the "systematic" rape of "women, girls and men" including girls aged nine and 11; a sentence 14 years for the sex slavery of child soldiers recruited by his group; and 12 years for the sexual enslavement of civilian children.

Judges said they found no mitigating factors, despite defence arguments that he was himself a victim of the Rwandan genocide.

Ntaganda -- known for his pencil moustache and a penchant for fine dining -- said during his trial that he was "soldier not a criminal" and that the "Terminator" nickname did not apply to him.

After the Ituri conflict, Ntaganda was integrated into the Congolese army and was a general from 2007 to 2012, but then became a founding member of the M23 rebel group in a new uprising against the government.

In 2013 Ntaganda became the first ever suspect to surrender to the court, after walking into the US embassy in the Rwandan capital Kigali.

The six years Ntaganda has already served in custody will be deducted from his sentence, the ICC said.

Ntaganda's former FPLC commander Thomas Lubanga was sentenced to 14 years in jail in 2012.

The conviction was seen as a boost for the ICC after several high-profile suspects walked free. The court has also been criticised for mainly trying African suspects.

Central African countries in talks on boosting anti-Ebola fight

Yahoo – AFP, October 22, 2019

Vaccination is playing a key role in the fight against DR Congo's Ebola epidemic.
Two tested but unlicensed vaccines are being given to frontline health workers
and other people at risk (AFP Photo/Augustin WAMENYA)

Goma (DR Congo) (AFP) - Health ministers in 10 central African countries have held talks on boosting data sharing and cross-border surveillance in the fight against Ebola, the Democratic Republic of Congo announced Tuesday.

Health Minister Eteni Longondo and counterparts from the nine countries bordering the DRC met on Monday to swap views on "developing a framework for cross-border collaboration," the health ministry said.

The strategy aims at ensuring "timely sharing of critical information for rapid response and control of the epidemic... (and) strengthening cross-border health surveillance", it said in a statement.

The DRC's latest Ebola epidemic, the 10th in the country's history, has killed 2,171 people since August 2018, according to official figures.

It is the world's deadliest outbreak of the haemorrhagic virus after a pandemic in three West African countries that ran from 2014 to 2016 and claimed more than 11,300 lives.

On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the DRC epidemic remains a global "public health emergency," a status that ensures a heightened response from among WHO members.

The meeting of health ministers was organised in the eastern city of Goma in partnership with the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), a health arm of the African Union.

Representatives from Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia attended.

Of the DRC's neighbours, Uganda is the only one to have recorded cases of Ebola on its territory, registering four cases, but thousands of people cross the DRC's borders each day.

Remains of nearly 85,000 genocide victims buried in Rwanda

Yahoo – AFP, Arafat Mugabo, May 4, 2019

A woman carries flowers to offer before the mass funeral to bury 81 coffins
containing newly discoverd remains of 84,437 victims of the 1994 genocide in
the mass grave at the Nyanza Genocide Memorial, suburb of the capital Kigali, on
May 4, 2019. The remains of nearly 85,000 people murdered in Rwanda's genocide
 were laid to rest on May 4 in a sombre ceremony in Kigali, a quarter of a century
after the slaughter (AFP Photo/Yasuyoshi CHIBA)

Kigali (AFP) - The remains of nearly 85,000 people murdered in Rwanda's genocide were laid to rest Saturday in a sombre ceremony in Kigali, a quarter of a century after the slaughter.

Mourners sobbed as 81 white coffins containing the remains of 84,437 victims of the 1994 mass killings were buried at the Nyanza Genocide Memorial in the capital.

They were among more than 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, massacred over 100 days by Hutu extremists and militia forces determined to eradicate the Tutsi minority in Rwanda.

Rwanda begins 100 days of mourning every April 7 -- the day the genocide began. But this year has witnessed particular commemorations to mark the 25th anniversary.

"Commemorating the genocide against the Tutsi is every Rwandan’s responsibility -- and so is giving them a decent burial," said Justice Minister Johnston Busingye at the mass burial.

Some mourners broke down wailing as survivors spoke of the pain of losing their loved ones so brutally. A number were escorted from the funeral by ushers.

Emanuel Nduwayezu said the discovery meant he finally had somewhere to come each April 7 and lay a wreath in memory of his murdered family.

"Right now I am very happy because I have buried my dad, my sister and her children, and my in-law. Twenty-five years have passed and I had not known where they were," he told AFP.

"Everyday I was thinking and getting confused (about) where my dad was but now I found him and I have a buried him.”

The remains of those interred on Saturday were only found early last year, when 143 pits containing thousands of bone and clothing fragments were discovered beneath homes on the outskirts of Kigali.

Those exhumed for burial on Saturday came from just 43 such pits -- leaving 100 more to go.

A painstaking effort was undertaken so that family members could identify their loved ones by their teeth, clothing and other markings.

They join 11,000 other victims already laid to rest at the Nyanza Genocide Memorial.

Grim discovery

Jean-Pierre Dusingizemungu, who heads Ibuka, an umbrella organisation for genocide survivors, said a landlord from the area revealed the location of the graves only after he was threatened with arrest.

More pits were later found when a man, tasked in 1994 with dumping corpses, came forward with new information.

Dusingizemungu said it was likely those living on the graves knew what lay beneath their homes.

"It is unfortunate that... these perpetrators, now free, never bothered to reveal to bereaved families the location of these grave sites, so they could get closure," he said.

Clementine Ingabire was the sole survivor from her extended family of 23 who were massacred in the frenzy.

Seven of her relatives were identified from the pits, their remains scattered among the coffins. But at least they were granted a dignified burial, she said.

Just seven at the time, Ingabire remains incredulous she made it out alive.

"Despite the fact that most people were very cruel, there were those who took risks to save others," the 32-year-old said.

"I was saved by a Hutu woman who was a good friend to my mother. She saw me running and grabbed me... that's how I survived."

The ethnic bloodshed ended on July 4 when mainly Tutsi rebels entered Kigali, chasing the genocidal killers out of Rwanda. The rebel general was Paul Kagame, who became Rwanda's president and has remained in power ever since.)

Macron seeks to shine light on Rwanda genocide

France24 –AFP, 5 April 2019

Macron caused disappointment among genocide survivors by turning down an
invitation to attend this weekend's genocide commemorations in Rwanda POOL/AFP

Paris (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday appointed a panel of experts to investigate France's actions in Rwanda during the country's genocide 25 years ago, a subject that has dogged Franco-Rwandan relations since the 1994 massacres.

The commission of eight researchers and historians "will be tasked with consulting all France's archives relating to the genocide... in order to analyse the role and engagement of France during that period," the presidency said in a statement.

It will look at the period from 1990 to 1994 to "contribute to a better understanding and knowledge of the genocide of Tutsis," the statement said.

The findings of the researchers, none of them Rwanda experts, will be used in material used to teach people in France about the genocide, it added.

Rwanda has accused France of being complicit in the genocide of an estimated 800,000 mostly ethnic Tutsis through its support for the Hutu-led government of the day.

It also accuses the French forces who were stationed in Rwanda under a UN mandate of having helped some of the perpetrators to escape, with some seeking sanctuary in France, which critics say for years dragged its heels on bringing them to justice.

Macron announced Friday that the judicial unit in charge of prosecuting Rwandan genocide suspects would be boosted so that suspects "could be tried in a reasonable amount of time".

The creation of the commission and announcement of extra legal resources for genocide cases aim to help further mend the ties between Rwanda and France, which the genocide left in tatters.

Paris has consistently denied claims of complicity in the bloodletting.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who led the Tutsi rebel force that eventually overthrew the genocidal Hutu regime, broke off ties with France between 2006 and 2009 but relations have improved over the past decade.

Confronting France's past

Macron had nonetheless caused disappointment among genocide survivors and experts by turning down an invitation to attend this weekend's commemorations in Rwanda.

Macron's office cited scheduling issues and announced that Herve Berville, a young MP of Rwandan origin who was orphaned during the genocide and adopted by a French family, would represent France instead.

The 41-year-old president, who came of age after France's colonial era, has already gone further than his predecessor in lifting the lid on France's murky past in Africa.

On Friday, he became the first French president to meet with representatives of Ibuka, the biggest association of Rwanda's genocide survivors.

And last September he acknowledged that France had instigated a system that facilitated torture during Algeria's 1954-1962 independence war, a conflict that also remains hugely sensitive in France.

He also announced that France would open up its archives on the thousands of civilians and soldiers who went missing during that war.

Franco-Rwandan relations hit their nadir in 2006 after a French judge recommended that Kagame be prosecuted by a UN-backed tribunal over the 1994 killing of Rwanda's president Juvenal Habyarimana, a moderate Hutu whose death triggered the start of the genocide.

'Errors of judgement'

The turning point came in 2010 when former president Nicolas Sarkozy acknowledged during a visit to Kigali that France had made "serious errors of judgement" in Rwanda.

While falling short of an apology it was seen as a breakthrough in Rwanda, a former Belgian colony which France jealously defended before the genocide as part of its sphere of influence in Africa.

The relationship hit turbulence again however under Socialist president Francois Hollande, before Macron's election set the stage for a new chapter.

During a visit to Paris last year Kagame appeared impressed by his French counterpart, later praising him for taking a "fresher", less paternalistic approach to Africa than his forerunners.

"It's a change from the neo-colonial positions of the past," he told Jeune Afrique magazine.

#UPDATE Timeline with maps documenting the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, 25 years on #RwandanGenocide pic.twitter.com/QB9VTXJPai

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 7 april 2019

Hotspots, not trouble spots: Africa seeks tourism boom

Yahoo – AFP, Gregory WALTON, September 19, 2018

Tanzania's Zanzibar has become a magnet for tourists in the past decade (AFP 

Photo/GULSHAN KHAN)

Cape Town (AFP) - Africa draws just five percent of the world's tourists despite boasting attractions ranging from the Pyramids and Victoria Falls to wildlife safaris and endless strips of pristine beach.

But the continent's huge potential can be unlocked by eco tourism, cultural experiences, domestic travel and political stability, said experts at an African tourism conference hosted by Airbnb in Cape Town last week.

"When you look at the success stories, it's those countries who've embraced trends," said the African Tourism Association's (ATA) managing director Naledi Khabo who spoke at the summit.

"When you look at some countries which have made sustainability a focal point, like Tanzania, or Rwanda, they're very attractive for certain travellers."

Eco-friendly safaris and carbon-neutral lodging draw increasing numbers of tourists from Europe and North America.

The number of tourists visiting Tanzania has more than doubled since 2006 to above one million contributing 14 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), according to Tanzania Invest.

Tourism is now the second largest driver of growth in Kenya, home to some of the
world's most visited safaris (AFP Photo/ROBERTO SCHMIDT)

Khabo, who speaks for the African tourism sector, said other success stories included South Africa, "which is promoting the diversification of their products beyond the safari".

South Africa has witnessed a boom of experience-based tours, taking travellers to disadvantaged township and rural communities as well as wine farms and game lodges.

Abigail Mbalo founded the 4RoomEkasi concept to showcase food and lifestyles in South Africa's black communities to visitors

"We tapped into the development of tourism in rural and township spaces," she said. "We are now starting to see cultural inclusivity. Those areas have been untapped."

'A safe place to travel'?

Tourism is a major employer of poor black South Africans and accounts for nearly 700,000 jobs -- a rare success story in a country with an unemployment rate of almost 27 percent.

The World Bank, which spoke at the tourism summit, praised the emerging trend for community-based travel projects like Mbalo's for creating opportunities for women and young people.

Cultural tourism is becoming more of a trend across Africa (AFP Photo/

ANDREW KASUKU)

"Every new business, destination, route or visitor creates opportunity for local people," said the World Bank in a statement.

While many African destinations have courted foreign visitors' hard currency, Kenya has invested heavily in promoting "staycations".

The country moved to promote domestic travel after dips in foreign arrivals following violent unrest and criminal attacks in recent years.

"We have managed to develop the domestic market. Twenty-one percent of Airbnb occupancy is domestic market. It's benefiting us," said Kenya's Tourism Minister Najib Balala at the conference.

Tourism, now the second largest driver of Kenya's GDP growth, was worth $1.2 billion in 2017.

But many countries on the continent have struggled to woo foreign visitors fearful of political instability and violence.

"The biggest challenge is perception," said Khabo. "Sometimes there is a real threat and sometimes it's just perceived."

Adventure tourists keen to see gorillas up close are flocking to Rwanda (AFP 

Photo/Ivan Lieman)

Rwanda's transformation

Rwanda is one country that has successfully transformed its global image. The small east African nation was torn apart by a genocide in 1994 but has since established itself as a high-end destination.

"Tourism is the number one foreign exchange earner, which is amazing to see in a country like Rwanda," said Rosette Rugamba who was appointed by President Paul Kagame as head of Rwanda Tourism from 2003 to 2010.

"It is a huge contributor to the image-building of our country."

Zimbabwe, which is home to some of Africa's best game and Victoria Falls, has enjoyed a boost in visitor numbers since long-serving despot Robert Mugabe resigned in November.

While the number of foreign visitors to Victoria Falls jumped nearly 50 percent in the first quarter of this year, the country still operates far below its tourist potential.

"The onus is on African governments and tourism boards to be more proactive in addressing perceptions," added Khabo.

Visitor numbers to Egypt plunged after the 2011 revolt (AFP Photo/FETHI BELAID)

One African country that has seen its tourism industry squeezed is Egypt, once a magnet for travellers that has since the 2011 revolt seen visitor numbers plummet, despite the huge draw of the Pyramids and the Red Sea.

Another is the Democratic Republic of Congo, which for years has been riven with often deadly political and ethnic unrest.

"There's an enormous amount the DRC has to offer" including gorillas, pristine national parks, and smouldering volcanoes, said tourism author Anita Mendiratta, who spoke at the conference.

"That's limited now because of the safety and security."

African meals and football for ICC inmates

Yahoo – AFP, Jan HENNOP, Jul 6, 2018

The Scheveningen detention centre in the Netherlands is a stone's throw
from the North Sea (AFP Photo/ROBIN UTRECHT)

Scheveningen (Netherlands) (AFP) - Deep in the heart of a Dutch prison a group of international detainees finish their African-inspired meal before settling in front of a television to watch the latest World Cup football match.

Welcome to another day at the red-bricked Building 4, Scheveningen prison complex -- the cell block for those accused of committing the world's worst crimes.

Three weeks ago Congolese politician Jean-Pierre Bemba became one of the few to leave through the block's heavy green door, after being acquitted of war crimes by judges at the International Criminal Court.

The Congolese warlord-turned-politician spent 10 years as the ICC's "guest" at the detention unit, situated inside the Dutch prison in The Hague's seaside suburb of Scheveningen, a stone's throw from the North Sea.

"When a new detainee first arrives, we sit him down and have a chat. I tell him: 'A -- you're safe here and B -- you'll be treated with respect," says Paddy Craig, the weathered and grey-haired ICC chief custodial officer.

"But I also tell them we expect respect in return. We are open, but this is after all a detention centre," adds Craig, a former Royal Marine with 27 years of policing experience.

He has a strict policy of not discussing individual prisoners and declined to answer questions relating directly to Bemba.

However, during a rare visit inside the unit, which still houses the likes of Ivorian ex-president Laurent Gbagbo and his right-hand man Charles Ble Goude, journalists gained a glimpse of life behind bars.

The International Criminal Court's Scheveningen detention centre houses those accused 

of committing the world's worst crimes (AFP Photo/MAARTJE BLIJDENSTEIN)

'Unbelievable bakers'

For the ICC's remaining six detainees like African rebel warlords Bosco Ntaganda and Dominic Ongwen, the day starts at 7:00 am when cells are unlocked.

Cells are basic at 15-square metres: a single bed, open toilet, basin, a chair and a few cupboards make up the bulk of the furniture. Possessions include a razor, shaving cream, toothpaste, a toothbrush and a towel. But there is a television inside, and a desk for a computer although there is no internet access.

Inmates are responsible for keeping their cells and communal areas clean.

When not getting ready for a court appearance, the men can roam the wing, meet in its two communal areas or pump iron in its well-equipped gym.

Looking around it quickly becomes clear that cooking is a favourite past-time.

"Some are unbelievable bakers. Some days you cannot believe the smells that come from this area," Craig says.

But diplomatically, he did not want to say who was the best chef.

Rwandan-born Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda is one of six detainees in 

the ICC detention centre (AFP Photo/PETER DEJONG)

Combined football teams

Inmates can also spend scheduled time outside in a fenced-off courtyard with an ageing, but functional tennis court, or play football in an adjacent gymnasium.

"Often the ICC's detainees play against their counterparts of the now defunct ICTY (the Yugoslav war crimes court)," says Craig.

But overcrowding is not a problem.

Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic died in the centre while on trial in 2006.

And the ICTY's numbers have been whittled down to two: wartime former Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, so teams are often filled out by the 29-strong contingent of correctional officers.

The matches are the only time the detainees of the two courts meet, as they are otherwise kept on separate locked floors.

Inside two communal areas are a table-tennis table and table football set, an aquarium with a handful of goldfish, chess and other board games.

Although there are no restrictions on visits, the ICC's Trust Fund for Victims help with one to two visits a year if the detainee has no money, says Craig.

Ivory Coast's strongman Laurent Gbagbo is on trial for war crimes (AFP Photo/

SIA KAMBOU)

Inmates get 200 free minutes every month to phone loved ones and friends at home, using a list of 25 strictly vetted telephone numbers. All phone calls are recorded.

The unit also has "private rooms" for conjugal visits between spouses, usually lasting a few hours.

Shared meals

It's clear that food plays an important part in the daily lives of the international detainees.

In a kitchen area, a larder stands packed with supplies -- much attesting to the African origins of most men on trial. A cooking roster is pasted on a nearby fridge door.

"The detainees sometimes share their meals with warders. Chicken, garlic and peanut dishes are a favourite," says Craig.

But as he himself has to remain impartial as the head of the ICC prison, he does not share meals.

Rwanda's Paul Kagame: visionary, despot, or both?

Yahoo – AFP, Fran BLANDY, August 1, 2017

Incumbent Rwandan President Paul Kagame (L) has become one of Africa's
most powerful and admired leaders (AFP Photo/MARCO LONGARI)

Kigali (AFP) - Paul Kagame is revered for stopping Rwanda's genocide and engineering what admirers call an economic miracle, but his critics see a despot who crushes all opposition and rules through fear.

The 59-year-old former guerrilla fighter is seeking a third term in office in August 4 polls after voters massively approved a constitutional amendment allowing him to run again and potentially stay in office for another two decades.

Kagame frames his run as a duty to his country, however the move angered international allies whose patience has worn thin with a man once held up as a shining example of successful post-colonial leadership in Africa.

Yet the president of the tiny central African nation has become one of Africa's most powerful and admired leaders. His counterparts, inspired by Rwanda's turnaround, have tasked him with reforming the African Union.

Shattered by the 1994 genocide and with not a franc left in the national treasury when Kagame took over, Rwanda is now growing at an average seven percent a year while Kigali has transformed into a capital with a gleaming skyline, spotless, safe streets and zero tolerance for corruption.

"Kagame is known as a doer and an implementer, not somebody who says things just like everyone else," said Desire Assogbavi, Oxfam's liason to the AU who also blogs regularly about the body.

His close friend Tony Blair hails him as a "visionary leader" for the remarkable development he has brought about.

'Unapologetically authoritarian'

The president's personality -- described as "unapologetically authoritarian" by author Philip Gourevitch, who wrote a powerful account of the genocide -- was forged by growing up in exile.

In 1960, when he was three, his aristocratic Tutsi family fled to neighbouring Uganda to escape pogroms.

While out of danger, they suffered years of discrimination and persecution that nourished the dream of going back to the homeland they idealised.

Serving in Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's rebel force before and after it seized power in 1986, he rose to become its intelligence chief.

Kagame -- the only president known to have had military training both in the US and Cuba -- later took over command of a small rebel force of Rwandan exiles that sneaked back home hoping to overthrow the regime of Juvenal Habyarimana in 1990, sparking civil war.

Habyarimana's death in an aeroplane crash in 1994 triggered three months of genocide, mostly of minority Tutsis by youths in the Hutu majority whipped into a frenzy of hate.

Kagame, a father of four, was just 36 when his Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebel army routed the forces who had slaughtered an estimated 800,000 people and seized Kigali, becoming the de facto leader of the nation.

'New breed of dictator'

Kagame soon became the darling of an international community deeply ashamed at having stood by during the genocide, even as his RPF was accused of killing tens of thousands of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo while pursuing genocide perpetrators.

It was accusations Kagame was backing rebel groups in the DRC -- which he staunchly denies -- that finally pushed his allies to take a tougher line, with several suspending aid to Rwanda in 2012.

And criticism has grown louder over his rights record.

Kagame's critics have ended up jailed, forced into exile or assassinated. Rights groups slam the repression of the media and opposition.

Kagame won elections in 2003 and 2010 with 95 and 93 percent respectively. Observers say real opponents are silenced while those allowed to run in elections serve as a democratic facade.

One of Rwanda's rare critical journalists, Robert Mugabe, describes Kagame as the quintessential modern dictator.

"We have a new breed of dictators... they hire PR agencies they form a narrative and these dictators are smart enough to know what the western world wants to see and wants to hear."

Kagame, his aloof gaze piercing through black-rimmed glasses, coolly brushes off criticism over his governance and slams the "arrogant" West for dictating to Rwandans what freedom is.

"A strong leader is not necessarily a bad leader. I don't know where we would be today if a weak leader had taken over this country (after the genocide)," Kagame told Jeune Afrique magazine in 2016.