According to the old saying, the wheels of justice grind slow, but they grind exceeding small. Fifteen years after the Rwandan genocide in which 800,000 people were murdered in 100 days, another suspect has been arrested.
This follows the detention last month of a former mayor, and the conviction of the former governor of Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, in July. This time the indicted man is a former intelligence chief and senior figure at Rwanda’s elite military training school, Idelphonse Nizeyimana, who was apprehended in Uganda.
He is accused of organising the killing of thousands of people, setting up roadblocks and organising special military units to carry out the slaughter. Troops said to have been under his command rampaged through the University of Butare killing Tutsi lecturers and students.
A spokesman for the prosecutor at the UN-backed tribunal at which he will be tried said: “there is no time limit for justice.” The court is still searching for another 11 fugitives. (See also my blogs of March 1, 25, April 9, July 16, Sept 23.)
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Sumatra search called off + Great Fire of Newcastle
Officials in the Sumatran city of Padang have called off the search for survivors from last week’s earthquake, as hopes have run out of finding anyone else alive. At least 1,000 people have died, and 1,000 more are still missing.
The urgent task now is to feed the survivors, provide clean water and clear away decomposing bodies. Already children are returning to makeshift schools, and businesses are re-opening, but the island’s infrastructure has taken a terrible blow, with more than 180,000 buildings destroyed or badly damaged.
On this day…..155 years ago a fierce fire devastated Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. The first flames were seen in a mill on the Gateshead side of the river, and they spread rapidly and overwhelmed the efforts of firemen.
With lots of highly inflammable goods in warehouses along the Tyne, the blaze had plenty to feed on, and by the time it had been put out, 53 people had been killed. For the story, see A Disastrous History of Britain.
The urgent task now is to feed the survivors, provide clean water and clear away decomposing bodies. Already children are returning to makeshift schools, and businesses are re-opening, but the island’s infrastructure has taken a terrible blow, with more than 180,000 buildings destroyed or badly damaged.
On this day…..155 years ago a fierce fire devastated Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. The first flames were seen in a mill on the Gateshead side of the river, and they spread rapidly and overwhelmed the efforts of firemen.
With lots of highly inflammable goods in warehouses along the Tyne, the blaze had plenty to feed on, and by the time it had been put out, 53 people had been killed. For the story, see A Disastrous History of Britain.
Monday, 5 October 2009
India - forgotten terrorism
We are used to hearing about Islamic terrorism in India, but another bloody insurgency has attracted relatively little attention. Over the last 20 years, Maoist rebels have fought a campaign in which more than 6,000 people have been killed.
The Maoists want to establish their own state and are active across large parts of central and eastern India. In their latest attack, they killed 16 people at a village in Bihar. A survivor, whose son died, said the assailants tied up the victims – labourers and poor farmers - then shot them. India’s Prime Minister has said the Maoists are now the most serious security problem facing the country.
Last month, one of their leaders, Kobad Ghandy, was arrested in Delhi. From a prosperous background, he was educated at one of India’s most exclusive schools and then trained as an accountant in London. According to friends, it was there that he became radicalised, denouncing India as "semi-feudal, semi-colonial".
The Maoists want to establish their own state and are active across large parts of central and eastern India. In their latest attack, they killed 16 people at a village in Bihar. A survivor, whose son died, said the assailants tied up the victims – labourers and poor farmers - then shot them. India’s Prime Minister has said the Maoists are now the most serious security problem facing the country.
Last month, one of their leaders, Kobad Ghandy, was arrested in Delhi. From a prosperous background, he was educated at one of India’s most exclusive schools and then trained as an accountant in London. According to friends, it was there that he became radicalised, denouncing India as "semi-feudal, semi-colonial".
Saturday, 3 October 2009
India - storms, rains, floods
Following the torrential rains that brought havoc to the Philippines (see my blog of Sept 28), it is now the turn of the Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. At least 125 people have been killed there in a three-day downpour.
Hundreds of people are still stranded, including many pilgrims in the holy town of Mantralaya, which is under water. The Indian air force and specialist military boats have been taking part in the rescue.
Once again, the underlying problem is a tropical storm – this time a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. More than 22,000 houses are said to have been damaged, and crops have been broken down.
India often falls a victim to flooding. See also my blog of July 20.
Hundreds of people are still stranded, including many pilgrims in the holy town of Mantralaya, which is under water. The Indian air force and specialist military boats have been taking part in the rescue.
Once again, the underlying problem is a tropical storm – this time a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. More than 22,000 houses are said to have been damaged, and crops have been broken down.
India often falls a victim to flooding. See also my blog of July 20.
Friday, 2 October 2009
Pacific death tolls rise
As predicted (see yesterday’s blog), the death toll from the Sumatra earthquake has increased to more than 1,000, and as rescue teams struggle to dig survivors from the rubble, it is expected to rise even further. Indonesia’s Health Minister has appealed for help from abroad.
The quake registered 7.6 on the Richter scale, compared with the 9.3 clocked up by the one that triggered the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004.
Meanwhile in the Philippines, nearly 300 people are now known to have been killed by the floods unleashed by Typhoon Ketsana (see my blog of Sept 28). In addition, 99 have died in Vietnam, along with 16 in Laos and 14 in Cambodia. Tens of thousands are homeless.
And the death toll from the tsunami that hit Samoa and Tonga (see my blog of Sept 30) has risen to at least 119. A disastrous week in the Pacific.
The quake registered 7.6 on the Richter scale, compared with the 9.3 clocked up by the one that triggered the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004.
Meanwhile in the Philippines, nearly 300 people are now known to have been killed by the floods unleashed by Typhoon Ketsana (see my blog of Sept 28). In addition, 99 have died in Vietnam, along with 16 in Laos and 14 in Cambodia. Tens of thousands are homeless.
And the death toll from the tsunami that hit Samoa and Tonga (see my blog of Sept 30) has risen to at least 119. A disastrous week in the Pacific.
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Coincidental quake
The earthquake that has just devastated the Indonesian island of Sumatra was a separate event from the earlier Pacific tsunami that hit Samoa (see yesterday’s blog) though some experts believe the Samoan event may have brought the Sumatran quake forward by a few days.
At least 464 people have been killed on Sumatra, though an official at Indonesia’s disaster centre predicted the death toll could eventually run into thousands. The initial shock came beneath the sea, 50 miles north-west of the city of Padang. An eye-witness said many concrete buildings had collapsed and that fires were burning in the ruins.
Indonesia is in the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”, the most seismically active region on earth, which suffers up to 7,000 earthquakes a year. Five thousand people were killed by a quake in Yogyakarta in 2006, while 170,000 Indonesians perished in the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004.
The country has also suffered some of the world’s most notorious volcanic eruptions such as Tambora in 1815, and Krakatoa in 1883. The most powerful of all, though, struck Sumatra about 74,000 years ago, when the Toba eruption and the volcanic winter that followed wiped out 99 per cent of the human race. See A Disastrous History of the World.
At least 464 people have been killed on Sumatra, though an official at Indonesia’s disaster centre predicted the death toll could eventually run into thousands. The initial shock came beneath the sea, 50 miles north-west of the city of Padang. An eye-witness said many concrete buildings had collapsed and that fires were burning in the ruins.
Indonesia is in the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”, the most seismically active region on earth, which suffers up to 7,000 earthquakes a year. Five thousand people were killed by a quake in Yogyakarta in 2006, while 170,000 Indonesians perished in the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004.
The country has also suffered some of the world’s most notorious volcanic eruptions such as Tambora in 1815, and Krakatoa in 1883. The most powerful of all, though, struck Sumatra about 74,000 years ago, when the Toba eruption and the volcanic winter that followed wiped out 99 per cent of the human race. See A Disastrous History of the World.
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Samoan tsunami
At least 90 people have been killed by a tsunami in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga. Thousands have been made homeless.
Large parts of the islands are only just above sea level, and a senior official in American Samoa reported that the waves had devastated all the low-lying areas. Samoa's Deputy Prime Minister said the trademark of a tsunami – the sudden rushing out of the ocean – had come just five minutes after houses were shaken by the underwater earthquake.
Young men had tried to raise the alarm by banging gas canisters, but many of those killed were people who had gone to pick up fish stranded by the antics of the sea.
About four in five of the world’s tsunamis happen in the Pacific, and this is the worst since the one in July 2006 that killed up to 800 people on Java.
Large parts of the islands are only just above sea level, and a senior official in American Samoa reported that the waves had devastated all the low-lying areas. Samoa's Deputy Prime Minister said the trademark of a tsunami – the sudden rushing out of the ocean – had come just five minutes after houses were shaken by the underwater earthquake.
Young men had tried to raise the alarm by banging gas canisters, but many of those killed were people who had gone to pick up fish stranded by the antics of the sea.
About four in five of the world’s tsunamis happen in the Pacific, and this is the worst since the one in July 2006 that killed up to 800 people on Java.
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