No Justice! No Peace! The Rwanda Tribunal

On Thursday we made a trip out to Arusha to try to sit in on a session of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The tribunal is based out of the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC) and was set up by the United Nations (UN) in November 1994 following the horrific genocide that took place that same year and claimed the lives of more than 800 000 people. The tribunal delivered the world's first condemnation for genocide in September 1998, when former Rwandan Prime Minister, Jean Kambanda, was found guilty.

To enter into the complex housing the tribunal you need to sign in, surrender your passport and camera, your bags screened and cross through a metal detector. You then take an elevator up to the second floor of the complex, surrender all of your bags to a security guard, and are given a headset in which to hear a translation of the proceedings. The proceedings are divided into two main courtrooms enclosed by soundproof, but not "sightproof" glass. (This was a little disconcerting as we -Jen, Adam, Pat, and I- walked into the observation area everyone seemed to stop and watch us) Although the defendants back was towards us, we were able to see his lawyer, the UN's lawyer (decked out in a strange blond wig-yes like the types you see in photos of British lawyers...but not white...blond), note-keepers, translators, and other various important research and law type people. Many of whom looked like they had had enough genocide for one day.

In this case the defendant, who's image (and the image of the prosecutor) was projected into the observation room via close-circuit television spoke entirely in French, while the prosecutor spoke entirely in English. One of the English translators (there is a team of at least two at any given time) had a very BBC documentary air about him...however he also seemed to be of quite and advanced age and at least once during the proceeding seemed to haven fallen asleep. This caused a bit of embarrassment as the defendant has just finished answering the prosecutor's question in French, and the prosecutor was standing there unable to proceed as he was still waiting for the English translation to come through his headphones.

We we able to witness, the cross examination of Major General Augusti Ndindiliyimana who is being tried for conspiracy to commit genocide. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) issued an indictment against Ndindiliyimana and three other former FAR officers, charging them with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and related crimes.
On January 20, 2000 he was arrested in Belgium and handed over to the custody of the ICTR in Arusha.

From a news report:

The former chief-of-staff of the Rwandan gendarmerie, Augustin Ndindiliyimana, has demanded that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) order his release and drop all charges brought against him, because of what he calls “policy of selective prosecution” by Carla el Ponte, the ICTR prosecutor.

General Ndindiliyimana, 60, was arrested in Belgium on January 29, 2000 and jointly charged with three other officers of the former Rwanda Armed Forces (FAR) in what is known as the “military 2” case. They are charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. They have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

From late 1990 until April 1994, Ndindiliyimana is alleged to have conspired with other high-level Rwandan Armed Forces officers to plan the logistics of the Rwandan Genocide. In early April of 1994, he allegedly informed interahamwe leaders of a plan by UNAMIR force commander Roméo Dallaire to search for a cache of weapons, later used in the genocide.

Many of you have seen the movie "Hotel Rwanda" or read the book/seen the movie based on "Shake Hands with the Devil"written by Romeo Dallaire (Dallaire served as Force Commander of UNAMIR, the ill-fated UN Peacekeeping force for Rwanda between 1993 and 1994). Ndindiliyimana's character is mentioned in both movies and in Dallaire's book.. Dallaire writes that he "had always found his [Ndindiliyimana's] loyalties an enigma" and initially assumed he represented a moderate voice in the crisis committee. In his autobiography, Paul Rusesabagina (Hotel Rwanda hero) says that Ndindiliyimana was more of a moderate who did not seem to entirely approve of the genocide. He also notes that Ndindiliyimana was responsible for dismantling a potentially disastrous roadblock in front of the Hôtel des Mille Collines.

The cross-examination seemed to focus on why Ndindiliyimana managed to recieve a high-level promotion within the armed forces just prior to the course of the genocide, seemingly without having the seniority or life experience of others given his rank. Once the cross-examination was wrapped up, the defendant's lawyer decided to adjourn for the day and continue begin his rebuttal to the prosecution's examination of his client the following day. I couldn't help but feel that witnessing a short hour of such an important event was my small and insignificant way of taking part in the condemnation of the Rwandan genocide.

The tribunal has been plagued by controversy, most notably for the UN's reputation for lavish spending and ineffectual bureaucracy. By the time the tribunal wraps up in 2010, one and a half billion dollars will have funded the trials of just barely 70 suspects. In other economic news, just having a UN tribunal in the area, accompanied by hundreds of overpaid UN staff members, has driven up the cost of almost everything in Arusha, from hotel rooms, restaurant meals, and rent. It has also seemed to span the creation of a market for $12 boxes of imported cereal and $10 hunks of cheddar cheese.

Is justice for Rwanda to be had at any cost? You do the math...

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

....to get away from the crowd of Tanzanians chasing it on Independence Day!

Sunday December 9, 2007 was Tanzanian Independence Day. Tanzania was granted independence from the British on December 9, 1961 (those darn Brits!) so this year marks the 46th year of independence. Not a milestone anniversary...but a day that may have just passed by quietly if I wasn't such a curious person. (Sometimes to a fault! ask my sister about how I used to peek at not only mine, but also her Christmas presents when we were kids...ok..I did it last year too!)

A brief history:
A German colony from the 1880s until 1919, the area (which at the time did not include the island of Zanzibar and was known as Tanganyika) subsequently became a British Mandate from 1919 to 1961. It served as a military outpost during World War II and provided financial help as well as munitions. Julius Nyerere became Minister of British-administered Tanganyika in 1960 and continued as Prime Minister when Tanganyika became independent in 1961. Tanganyika and neighbouring Zanzibar, which had become independent in 1963, merged to form the nation of Tanzania on April 26, 1964.

Garbage bonfire

When I woke up on Sunday morning and set off for breakfast...most people seemed to simply be going about their day.. There were crowds of children and their mothers coming back from church. People setting bonfires to burn their garbage. Women hanging out laundry to dry. Taxi drivers trying to drum up business. Nothing seemed unusual...The dogs were still howling. The wind was still blowing and the clouds were still shrouding Kilimanjaro.

However at around 9:30 in the morning I heard a strange (stranger than the normal strange noises) noise. A marching brass band was parading past the front of my room belting out a strange but parady (not a word!) type song. Marching behind the band was a group of about 20 women all dressed similarly (blue kangas, yellow shirts, white head scarves). The group was marching up the road to the stadium. Once the noise faded and they finished marching past...I almost forgot they had even existed until a few hours later when I was walking past the stadium on my way back from a very tiring "I am one of the idiots (hi Adel and Timmy!) who is going to climb Kilimanjaro" fitness walk.

The Stadium

There was a lot of noise coming from the stadium...so I peeked in. I am so happy I did. The stadium was filled with joyous Tanzanians all there for a day-long exhibition/celebration in honour of Tanzanian Independence. I only stood at the back by myself for about a minute before I was welcomed by one of the event organizers to take a front row seat (better for taking photos he said) to witness the festivities. I only stayed for about an hour the ceremony was being conducted in Swahili and my translator was supposed to be working at the event so I didn't want to take up too much of his time.

It was part May Day, (remember the Soviets? Nyet?) and part family picnic...here's why:

1) The entire time... (except for the end of the day football match) a squadron of military police, brandishing bayonets, were in formation in the centre of the stadium field. I felt so sorry for them as it seemed they were going to have to stand for the entire event. However, I was more worried about the bayonets. What if one went off accidentally? What if someone tripped and fell on their bayonet? I have never been somewhere where so many things are guarded by guns (Here most banks have armed guards with visible weapons...sometimes automatic -Uzis...sometimes shotguns...the bigger the bank the bigger the guns). Most of the fancier homes have guards (askaris) stationed outside...even the university has guards outside of all the gates..however they are only armed with nightsticks.

The guards standing at attention.

2) Tug-of-war
For the top prize of 50 000 Schillings ($50) we watched groups of "opposites" pitted against each other in a fierce and hilarious tug-of-war battles. First up were the retired men vs. the CCM (Chama Cha Mapinduzi- Party of the Revolution in Swahili) CCM is the ruling political party of Tanzania who's current president, Jakaya Kikwete, has led the party since 2006.

The retired men took only a few seconds to pull the CCM workers to the ground. It was an impressive victory which saw most of the CCM side land face down in the dirt covered ground of the stadium and one winners on the retired men side leap almost three feet in the air for victory. Next up were the housewives against the female office workers. I had my money on the housewives, but sadly, the female office workers kicked some major butt.

3) Chicken (and duck) Chase
If you can catch it you can eat it. First the men, then the women. A chicken is set free in the stadium and whoever catches it, gets to keep not only the chicken, but a 5Kg bag of rice and a 4 litre plastic jug of sunflower oil. Sounds like a nice Sunday dinner! I have a hilarious video of a crowd of about 20 men, running all over the stadium, waving their arms and yelling, chasing a chicken. The women got to chase a duck...I think ducks run slower...so it was a little favouritism or sexism..depends on how you look at it.

Sadly chasing chickens (and goats...and ducks!) seems to be a generally accepted form of family entertainment here. I, of course, end up feeling sorry for the poor chicken, but then again if they just didn't always come home to roost they would have half a chance at escaping.

4) Football Match
Everything seems to end with a football (soccer match) here in Moshi. People are football crazy. A big match was held in the stadium to finish off the day of festivities. I didn't stay to watch but we did see the winners, driving around in the back of a truck downtown with their trophy.

Independence Day...Moshi style. No huge fireworks displays. in style...very laid back...and a little strange (to me at least!). I have always equated Independence day celebrations with fun.

Canada Day is one of my favourite holidays. I look forward to ideally, being in Ottawa on Parliament Hill, walking around dressed in red and white, lining up for poutine (fresh cheese curds and hot gravy on fresh cut french fries) from an Ottawa fry truck, devouring a beavertail (it's a type of flat doughnut...I am not THAT cruel) and getting a neck spasm from craning to watch fireworks.

I asked a few Tanzanians I encountered on the way back from the stadium (Judah and Sully-both lecturers at MUCCoBS) why most people (except for the people in the stadium) seemed to be nonchalant about what I perceived to be a very important day. I was told, "Back when Tanzania was a one-party state people celebrated Independence day because they were expected to. If you held any position of high regard you were expected to attend official events to celebrate independence. Now that Tanzania is a multi-party state, no one bothers anymore."

Strange...the freedom to celebrate results in the decision not to celebrate the freedom to celebrate because you now have the freedom to decide what you want to do. That itself deserves a celebration!

By the Each

There are a lot of things in Tanzania...and probably Africa for that matter that you can by a single takeaway "serving" of. This is probably more of a result of economics than of convenience but here are a few examples I have noticed:

1) Eggs: Try going into your local Loblaws, Sainsbury's or Sobey's and trying to get away with buying only one egg. Sometimes you only need one egg....so why do we need to buy a dozen. Here in Tanzania you can buy one egg, or two, or three, or 20. What fun it is to buy eggs in odd numbers. It gives me a strange sense of power :)

2) Shots of Alcohol: Konyagi is a brand of vodka produced here in Tanzania. From the Konyagi website: "It embodies the care –free, fun loving nature of all Tanzanian and is truly “The spirit of the Nation.” Crystal clear alcohol with a citrus and spice nose, the flavor is different!Konyagi is exceptionally smooth at strength of 35% Alcohol content. (75 Proof)."

Frequently I notice empty sachets of Konyagi along the side of the road. Most often after a football (soccer) game has taken place in the area.

Konyagi 30ml pouch

Konyagi 100ml pouch


Drinking suggestions

• Konyagi is smooth enough to be drunk straight with a twist of lime or on-the-rocks [with ice
• Konyagi is fantastic with bitter lemon and crushed ice, known as Slush.
• Konyagi mixes well with Fanta Passion.
• Konyagi and Coke, or with Soda water all go down well.
• Konyagi and fresh fruit juice for those hot weekends.

3) Slices of pineapple: It's pineapple (nanasi in Swahili) season here in Tanzania and the tasty fruit is everywhere. However, purchasing an entire pineapple is a little costly. So around town there are people with wagons set up selling pineapples by the slice. For the low cost of 100 TSch (10 cents) you can enjoy a nice, fresh, juicy slice of pineapple.

4) Condoms: Yes, you can buy just one condom out of a machine in the washrooms of some of the finer establishments in downtown Toronto, but here in Africa, condoms can be purchased at most stores on a use-by-use basis. This probably makes planning your sexual encounters in an AID/HIV prevention-friendly way a little difficult. Especially if you are not an optimist and never plan ahead.

A popular brand here is Salama. They are sold (for about 3 cents each) or given out for free by NGOs and can be found almost everywhere.

5) Laundry Detergent: Maybe you just need to wash one t-shirt or one pair of pants (trousers!) or ..well you get the idea. Does it really make sense to go to the store and buy a box or jug of detergent. Laundry detergent can be purchased here in package sizes similar to the Konyagi sachets mentioned above. It's very convenient.

6) Cigarettes: Now I know for a fact that you can't do this at home in Canada, that is unless you are a smoker with stingy fellow smoker co-workers/friends who charge you when you try to bum a smoke. In town, on almost every street, young boys walk around holding circular baskets. In the centre are piles of red-skinned peanuts and the edges of the baskets are rimmed with packages of cigarettes. They walk around town clinking coins in their hands to make people aware of their presence. People can buy cigarettes by the pack or "by the each". Strangely, once you have made a purchase, you are given a small handful of peanuts. Not sure why...

7) Toilet Paper: I remember visiting a local Sainsbury's with Adel (my good buddy who lives in London) and spending at least 20 minutes perusing the vast quantity of choice in the toilet paper AISLE. There were different colours, different scents (only in England!), different thicknesses, different patterns. However, one thing was constant, the toilet paper, no matter the brand, only came in packs of 4, 6, 12, 16, 24 etc. This is beginning to sound a little Seinfeldesque but why is it you can't buy just one roll of toilet paper? You can here...only problem is...you may need to use the whole roll in one go.

I am sure everyone reading this knows how spoiled we are in the "developed" world when it comes to toilet paper quality/choice/variety/plys. Here there are different brands, Rexa is a major one, but all of the paper is the same, it's one ply and seems to dissolve upon contact with anything wet.

Here is an excerpt from an article about the toilet paper situation in Tanzania:

July 11, 2005- Tanzania Wants To Flush Out Poor Toilet Paper

"Concerned for the comfort and hygiene of its citizens, the Tanzanian government is warning the toiletry trade of legal action for producing or selling sub-standard toilet paper in the east African nation." The Tanzania Bureau of Standards, the country's principal regulatory body, says it will take manufacturers of poor-quality toilet paper to court if their products do not meet the national requirements.

A senior TBS official said, "It has come to our notice that there are firms manufacturing and selling sub-standard toilet paper...The production of sub-standard things like toilet paper is not only bad for the manufacturer but could tarnish the country's image."

Yes I agree...it could tarnish a country's image...Apparently, in the tropics, it's healthier to use water, instead of paper, and air dry. A pleasant picture, but essentially a more environmentally and nether-regionally friendly one.

*******

Now I know that this "by the each" phenomenon is not unique to Africa. In fact, one might argue that at Canada's very own Bulk Barn, people are able to purchase singles of just about anything. (For those of you who don't live in Eastern Canada, Bulk Barn is basically a store full of bins of candy, spices, grains, pastas, cereals, baking ingredients, nuts etc. Bulk Barn is Canada's largest bulk food retailer and has more than 100 stores in Ontario, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island) Technically, at Bulk Barn, you could purchase a single grain of rice. If someone decides to try this, please take a photo of the cashier's face when you do so :)