AroniSmart - Africa

Sudan: Military Coup Threatens the Prospects of Democracy in Sudan

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, military leader, Sudan, in October 25, 2021

After two years of hope following the overthrow of the last Sudanese bloody dictator Omar-al-Bashir, Sudan's military junta seized power in a coup on Monday, October 24, 2021. The military junta dissolved a transitional government that had been set up to manage the transition towards democracy. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sovereign Council set up under the transition to share power among the military and civilians, led the coup.

Rwanda: Activist Yvonne Idamange Iryamugwiza Condemned to 15 Years of Prison for Denouncing Crimes, Assassinations and Widespread Human Rights Abuses by the Government

Rwandan Dictator Paul Kagame vs Rwandan Activist Yvonne Idamange Iryamugwiza, Feb 2021

Rwandan activist Ms Yvonne Idamange Iryamugwiza was arrested by Rwandan national police, known as RNB, in the evening of February 15, 2021. She was accused of and condemned for inciting an uprising, publication of rumours, intentional assault and battery, genocide denial, and blocking the enforcement of government orders. In early 2021, Ms Yvonne Idamange Iryamugwiza became suddenly a prominent activist after she made statements and recorded videos that went viral on social media, pointing to widespread assassinations and disappearances of opposition leaders and government critics and abuses, corruption and other massacres by the Rwandan governent and military and the ailing Rwandan dictator General Paul Kagame (see AfroAmerica Network here:Rwanda: Opinion on Yvonne Iryamugwiza Idamange's Farewell Address). Her arrest and condemnation for just expressing opinions have been widely criticized by activists around the World.

Rwanda - Mali: Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, Former Rwandan Military Officer and War Hero, Dies at 80, While in a ICTR Detention

Colonel Theoneste Bagosora

Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, one of the Rwandan military heroes who fought against the rebel forces seeking to reinstall a repressive ethnic monarchy following the Rwandan independance, has died. He was 80 years old. Colonel Theoneste Bagosora was in detention in Bamako, the country of Mali, West Africa, after a widely controversial sentence to 35 years in prison by the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda (ICTR) for crimes of genocide and wars crimes allegedly committed during the 1990-1994 Rwandan civil war. Accused of being one of the top leaders during the 1990-1994 Rwandan civil war and genocide, Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, during lenghty trials, mistrials, unproven accusations, acquittals, and retrials, was finally sentenced, despite obvious lack of evidences and merits. According to sources close to the family, Colonel Bagosora died of natural death, after a visit by his family members and with the hope of overdue justice in Rwanda and for all Rwandans.

Africa: African Dictators of 2021; 3 Down, More to Go

Alaa Salah, Kandaka or Nubian Queen, leading protests in Sudan, in April 2019

This year some African dictators were deposed or killed. Those deposed include Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and Guinean President Alpha Condé. Chadian President Idriss Déby was killed. Meawhile, many African dictators remain in power, including some already featured among AfroAmerica Network African ruthless dictators of 2018 (see AfroAmerica Network African Dictators Who Mattered In 2018: Congolese Joseph Kabila, Rwandan Paul Kagame, Ugandan Yoweri Museveni of Dec 27, 2018). New dictators are also joining the ranks.