Weekly review

First Lady rewards best female students Imbuto Foundation, under the patronage of the First Lady, Jeannette Kagame, this week presented prizes to the best female students in the Western Province for their outstanding academic achievements, according to press reports. Those who excelled in ‘O’ level and primary leaving examinations received an assortment of scholastic materials which included school bags, books, calculators, mathematical sets, pens and watches, while the four who excelled at ‘A’ level, were given laptops and free computer training sessions. Mrs Kagame presented each of the students with a certificate of excellence. At the ceremony Mrs Kagame is reported to have reminded parents to work hard and ensure that their children go to school and encouraged girls in particular to take education seriously. Cabinet briefed on EAC Common Market Several cabinet ministers were this week briefed by the Ministry of East African Community (MINEAC) on the practicability of the EAC Common Market Protocol. The protocol establishing the Common Market was signed on November 20, last year, in Arusha during the 11th EAC Heads of State Summit, and was recently ratified by Parliament. The protocol, which is aimed at facilitating trade between member states of the regional bloc, is expected to enter into force on July 1, 2010 upon ratification by all partner states. Human Rights Record Impressive: UN Official The Human Rights Advisor to the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), Oumar Kane, has described Rwanda’s progress in observation of human rights as impressive and promising. The UPR is a process that assesses the human rights situation of all 192 UN Member States on a four-year basis.The three-day workshop in Karongi brought together members of the taskforce charged with drafting the report on Rwanda’s human rights situation. Kane emphasized that the situation in the country has greatly improved, especially regarding the promotion of women’s rights. RTLM Journalist Pinned On City Killings A former journalist was this week pinned by witnesses during a Gacaca court session in Kimisagara sector, Nyarugenge district for his role in inciting killings of Tutsis during the 1994 Genocide. According to witnesses, Bernard Mukingo, the proprietor of the vernacular publication, Kamarampaka and a correspondent of the extremist Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), used his publication and the radio station to call for the wiping out of the Tutsi. Ingabire’s Other Co-Accused Appears in Court A new accomplice in the case involving Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza was this week arraigned before the Gasabo Intermediate Court for mention of his charges. Capt. Jean Marie Vianney Karuta is accused of being a member a terrorist group and planning activities aimed at causing state insecurity. Appearing before Judge Maurice Mbishibishi and flanked by his lawyer, Joseph Ngabonziza, Karuta a former FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) officer pleaded guilty. He admitted having met with Ingabire and the Secretary General of FDU-Inkingi Jean Baptiste Mberabahizi in Kinshasa, DRC, and briefed them on the situation of his forces in the Congo jungles and what was required to boost them. DRC Relocates FDLR Elements Reports from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this week indicated that ‘disarmed’ FDLR elements have been allowed to relocate to Kisenge in DRC’s south-eastern Katanga Province. The United Nations-funded Radio Okapi revealed earlier in the week that the move is a bid to diminish the militia’s security threat to Rwanda. Ends