Your browser (Internet Explorer 7 or lower) is out of date. It has known security flaws and may not display all features of this and other websites. Learn how to update your browser.

X

  • Motivating Africa - Mickey Mouse on Peppo

    This is one that Disney would probably prefer was forgotten: Mickey Mouse takes Peppo to Africa. Conforming to all the racist stereotypes of Africans with the addition of blatant drug dealing. I'm writing about this but for now click on the pictures to see the comic More

  • Gambians in the UK stage a day of protest against executions

    “Everyone at home lives in fear” said the young mother protesting outside the UK Foreign Office, “it has to change we are peaceful people.” More

  • Rwanda in Congo profit by stealth

    An addendum to the latest UN Group of Experts report reveals in detail how Rwanda has once again been fuelling violence in the DR Congo. Ten years of reports plus investigative journalism and academic research have come to similar conclusions. Can western donors continue funding Rwanda without question More

  • Local peace builders in the DR Congo

    I'm raising money to buy a laptop and data storage for Henri. Henri runs a local peacebuilding organisation that works with militias, child soldiers, local communities, protection of civilians and much, more. His laptop was robbed in a violent attack and I want to get him a new one More

Digital Djeli

Digital journalism that goes beyond the headlines and steps outside the boundaries

Alexis Sinduhije: responds to allegations in UN Experts Report

Alexis Sinduhije responds to the allegations made by the UN Group of Experts Report and demands an investigation into their methods

Since his release from a Tanzanian jail in February, Alexis Sinduhije has been keeping a low profile in France. As I wrote previously, his temporary custody in Dar es Salaam was mired in confusion as the Burundian government seemed to struggle with the extradition papers. They initially denied having anything to do with his arrest and then a week later claimed they had an international arrest warrant.   His lawyers sprung him on a procedural point and Tanzania has remained silent on the matter.  Burundi, meanwhile, claimed he was still a wanted man although this seemed to fall on deaf ears when Sinduhije passed through Uganda on his way back to France.   Although Burundi claimed he was wanted for a murder, when he was released from his Tanzanian cell they also belatedly raised the allegations made against Alexis Sinduhije by the UN Group of Experts.  Read more

Writing Rwanda: cognitive dissidents

Writing about Rwanda is a perilous exercise, tweeting about it more so. Does the reporting of the Trevidic investigation signify the triumph of PR in journalism?

 

Rwandan Proverb: The truth goes through fire but never burns.

I run a digital news desk that is dominated by my long term interest in African stories so when the French government announced the pending release of Marc Trevidic’s investigation into the shooting down of Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane – the incident that sparked the Rwandan genocide – it was an obvious issue to report. Or so I thought….

Marc Trevidic’s report, based on visits to Rwanda and ballistics research, follows a previous report by French magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguière that resulted in charges against 9 of Paul Kagame’s colleagues – Kagame, as a head of state, was exempted.

Days before the publication of the report I made one small comment about it on Twitter and suddenly my Rwanda connected ‘followers’ increased. Many of them seemed very confident in their knowledge of the contents of the report long before it was published, some of the accounts were new, all of them took exactly the same stance in their tweeting. This fascinated me so I began to investigate who they were. It was an interesting if somewhat monotone cast.   Read more

Bordering on the Dangerous: The Invisible Frontline in North Kivu

A camp for internally displaced refugees in North Kivu. Photograph by Aubrey Graham/IRIN.
A camp for internally displaced refugees in North Kivu. Photograph by Aubrey Graham/IRIN.
 While international media attention focuses on events in Goma, the political and military landscape of the eastern Congo is changing as Kabila’s hold becomes more fragile in North Kivu.

It started with text messages and phone calls, numbers blocked, followed by visits at night: “we are numerous and of various ethnicities” they said before issuing their threats. Some of the messages appeared to be invitations: “join us or face us” or “do not think you are stronger than fire” while others were unmistakeable signposts to a bad end for those who spoke out against war in the Eastern Congo.  Read more