Former Rwandan Official Arrested
Rwanda’s former deputy interior minister was sentenced to 30 years in jail for participating in the country’s 1994 genocide. Callixte Kalimanzira, 54, who was arrested in 2005, allegedly tricked thousands of Tutsis into going to Kabuye Hill where they thought they would receive food and shelter. Instead, they were murdered by militias, the BBC reports. Kalimanzira, who was tried by the Tanzania-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, also is accused of supervising massacres in the region of Butare. He pleaded not guilty at the time of his arrest. In 1994, 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered in a period of 100 days. The tribunal, created to bring the genocide leaders to justice, has entered 38 judgments in total, reports Reuters.

Haiti to Receive $120 Million in Grants
Haiti, one of the world’s poorest nations, is slated to receive $120 million in grants from the Inter-American Development Bank, reports the BBC. The grants, which will be disbursed in 2010, will assist the Caribbean nation with improving its transportation infrastructure and water services, among other projects. The IADB gave Haiti $100 million for 2009 and $50 million in 2007 and 2008.

The central African nation of Rwanda kicked off a week of events to remember one of the worst genocides in world history. On Monday, Rwanda held a candlelit vigil for the national mourning to mark 15 years since the genocide claimed the lives of 800,000 people. Ceremonies were held in the capital Kigali, and in Nyanza, where more than 5,000 people were slaughtered, BBC News reports. At a stadium in Kigali, thousands of candles spelled out the word “hope” in three languages. Ensuring that such a crisis never occurs again is the “collective responsibility” of the world, said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “Only by meeting this challenge can we match the resolve of the survivors and truly honor the memory of those who died in Rwanda 15 years ago,” he said. “The resounding voices of survivors touch us in ways that no other words could. Yet the silence of the more 800,000 innocent victims still haunts our collective conscience.” President Barack Obama said the genocide was “so enormous, so daunting, that it runs the risk of becoming a statistic.” Everyone who died in this massacre had “their own story, their own family, and their own dreams” and that remembering such events deepened the commitment to prevent “future atrocities,” he said, taking time to praise the “courageous” survivors who “demonstrated remarkable strength and generosity in forgiving those who committed these heinous acts. … These individuals inspire us daily by working to restore trust and rebuild hope in Rwanda.”

The arrest of a Congolese rebel leader on Friday is encouraging news to both Rwandans and Congolese citizens. Tutsi Laurent Nkunda was captured, bringing hope to officials that their governments can work more effectively to end war. “We think this is a major development in the peace process,” says Madnodje Mounoubai, a United Nations Mission spokesman. “It is also amazing that the two governments are working together. Nkunda’s arrest, it’s hoped, will cause 1,500 soldiers still loyal to him to join in the peace effort. 

China will send ships to African waters to fight pirates. China will send ships to the waters near the Horn of Africa to monitor an area that has been prone to many pirate attacks, reports CNN. China hasn’t sent ships that far away from the country in centuries, but the recent surge of pirate attacks on China’s ships has pushed them into action. No word yet on how many ships the country plans to deploy, but officials did reveal that the operation would last three months. The waters have gone unmonitored, but the United Nation’s Security Council recently passed a resolution that would let an international coalition to go after pirates onto land (although China, a member of the council, hasn’t committed any forces yet). Just this year, almost 100 ships have been attacked by pirates in the waters near Somalia, with 40 of them being hijacked successfully, reports the news service. Pirates battled with crew members of a Chinese ship for four hours Wednesday before coalition helicopters and ships kept the attackers at bay.
Rwandan genocide mastermind is sentenced. The man behind the mass genocide in Rwanda during the ’90s has been given a life sentence by a United Nations tribunal, reports the BBC. Theoneste Bagosora and two co-defendants were found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Bagosora and former military commanders Anatole Nsegiyumya and Alloys Ntbakuze were found to have led a committee that planned the killing of ethnic Tutsis. More than 800,000 people were killed during in the nation’s genocide. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the sentences, a result of the first convictions of anyone involved with the genocide, a “major step in the fight against impunity.” The court rejected the argument from the defense that the mass killings were not organized and, therefore, could not be considered genocide, reports the BBC. Bagosora will appeal the verdict, according to his lawyer.  The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is based in Tanzania.

Rwandans trade in French for English. Rwanda has chosen to switch the language of all instruction in schools from French to English, reports The Washington Post. In addition, all of the nation’s government employees must learn English. French, a language introduced to the nation by colonizers from Belgian, is quickly losing popularity. Many in the nation question its usefulness. “When you look at the French-speaking countries – it’s really just France, and a small part of Belgium and a small part of Switzerland,” said Rwanda’s state minister for education [in English]. “Most countries worldwide, they speak English. Even in China, they speak English. Even Belgium, if you go to the Flemish areas, they speak English, not French.” Officials say they made the decision to switch just for economic reasons and not because of the nation’s strained relationship with France. Rwanda accuses France of helping to arm fighters as they were committing genocide in the mid-’90s; the violence resulted in the death of approximately 800,000 people. But “this is not about France. This is about us. Introducing English is just being realistic. English is the language of business,” Aloisa Inyumba, a Rwandan senator told the paper. Investors from English-speaking nations are now coming to Rwanda. And although only 5 percent of the population speaks English now, that is set to change soon. “For English classes, we might have 50 students. For French, there are very few, perhaps five,” said a school teacher.

A Somali woman is stoned to death. After an Islamic court found her guilty of adultery, a Somali woman was stoned to death. She was stoned after she was buried up to the neck then was hit with stones by a group of men in front of a large crowd of thousands of people. According to a local leader, the woman pleaded guilty to adultery. “She was asked several times to review her confession, but she stressed that she wanted Sharia Law and the deserved punishment to apply,” said Sheikh Hayakallah. This is the first time an execution of this sort has been carried out in the town since it was captured by Islamist insurgents in August. It was the first such execution in the southern port city since Islamist insurgents captured it from government-allied forces in August.