The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, has expressed "grave concern" over the apparent forced repatriation, since 31 August, of some 1,500 Congolese refugees from Rwanda to North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The recent decision issued by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) that there is “insufficient evidence” to proceed with the prosecution of Col. Léonidas Rusatira at this stage, demands further explanation, says the organisation African Rights. Col. Rusatira was indicted by the ICTR on five counts of genocide and crimes against humanity and arrested in Belgium on 15 May 2002.

A locally prominent Rwandan journalist, Yvonne Uwanyiligira, who fled her country, has surfaced in the Belgium capital, Brussels, and is seeking asylum.

The Rwandan former armed forces chief of staff, Augustin Bizimungu, denied on Wednesday genocide charges before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda sitting in Arusha, northern Tanzania, Internews reported.

A key challenge for this position in the next few years will be to ensure the sustainability of our current work through capacity building of local NGOs and associations, through ongoing development of policy level partnerships and ensuring that lessons learned within Rwanda are shared with other SC UK programmes.

Human Rights Watch has welcomed the arrest of General Augustin Bizimungu, chief of staff of the former Rwandan army, as an "important step"towards delivering justice for the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda.

The candidate must be a team player, with a strong background in conflict resolution theory and practice. The candidate will have worked in conflict and/or post violent conflict societies, particularly on issues related to conflict management programming and training methodologies.

Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed an agreement on July 30, promising to put an end to the war that has raged in Congo since 1998. However, it is too soon to rejoice. The signatories are deeply suspicious of one another, and implementation of the agreement could break down.

The U.N. Security Council must stand behind its intention of delivering justice to victims of both sides in the conflict that devastated Rwanda in 1994, Human Rights Watch says.

Rwanda is among eight countries worldwide to benefit from a US $2-million grant from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to help people living with HIV/AIDS. Of this amount, Rwanda would get $397,846 through the international NGO CARE. The project is called REACH, or Rapid and Effective Action Combating HIV/AIDS.

Rwanda is to receive a US $14-million grant from the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Health Minister Ezechias Rwabuhihi said. Under the proposal Rwanda submitted to the fund, the government would use the money to expand health services to all the country's districts, the radio reported. Specifically, it reported, the services would include treatment of selected opportunistic infections associated with HIV/AIDS, and the programme to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus.

In the debate over justice and reconciliation after the Rwandan genocide, the question has been raised of how best to restore health to a society smashed by devastating violence. One prescription — substituting therapy for justice — ventures into dangerous moral territory.

On 23 July, Robert Sebufirira, Elly MacDowell Kalisa, and Emmanuel Munyaneza, all journalists with the independent weekly "Umuseso", were sentenced to 30 days of "preventative detention" by a court in Rwanda's capital, Kigali. They are currently in the city's central prison.

Without rapid progress towards achieving a comprehensive power-sharing agreement that includes Congolese civil society, the climate of mistrust and uncertainty prevailing in the DRC may undercut the political momentum generated by the peace deal Tuesday between the DRC and Rwanda, an NGO grouping has warned.

Robert Sebufirira, editor-in-chief of the privately-owned weekly "Umuseso", and two of the newspaper's reporters, Elly MacDowell Kalisa and Godfrey Munyaneza, were arrested and jailed in Kigali on 17 and 18 July after witnessing an incident of police brutality.

Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are expected to meet their obligations under a new peace deal within 90 days after their presidents sign the accord, an official in Kigali said Tuesday, as Rwandan rebels gave a cautious welcome to the pact. The deal, which adds little to previous pledges, was announced in Pretoria, South Africa, on Monday, but no time frame was then released for the arduous task of flushing out and regrouping Rwandan rebels who are based in the eastern DRC or for Rwanda to then pull out its 20 000 troops from the country.

Rwandan backed rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have stepped up a crackdown on fellow ethnic Tutsis led by a dissident commander, rebels and aid workers said on Thursday.

The United States principal deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Mark Bellamy, announced on Sunday his country's willingness to accelerate the peace process in the Great Lakes region.

Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) held talks late on Tuesday in Durban, South Africa, on issues concerning the DRC conflict, news agencies reported. Central to the discussions - brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki - was the issue of a security zone to be created along the border between Rwanda and the DRC to prevent incursions of Hutu rebels from the DRC into Rwanda.

The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), known as MONUC, confirmed last Friday it had received reports of the presence of hundreds of Rwandan troops and their Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) allies near Moba, in the northern part of Katanga Province. If fighting were to break out between these forces and pro-government forces, it could further endanger the efforts to bring about a political and diplomatic solution to the DRC's long-running war, analysts said.