Untold Story: Judi Rever Exposes Kagame’s Genocide in Congo & Rwanda

#TRANSCRIBED : (UNTOLD STORY) 𝗞𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗔 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗢 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗢𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗦

In an explosive and deeply personal address, Canadian investigative journalist Judi Rever took to the stage at the Oslo Freedom Forum to dismantle what she calls “one of the biggest lies of modern times”: the global myth of Rwandan President Paul Kagame as a hero.

Rever, who has spent nearly 30 years documenting war crimes in the Great Lakes region, delivered an unflinching indictment of Kagame’s violent legacy, one she claims has been deliberately buried by world powers, global corporations, and the media.

READ FULL TRANSCRIBED UNTOLD STORY BELOW.

I'm here today to tell you about one of the biggest lies of modern times, and about someone who's been posing as a hero for a very long time, someone who's everywhere in plain sight from Davos to the Olympics, when in reality he's been taking you for a ride. That person is Rwanda's dictator, Paul Kagame. In 1996, as a young Canadian journalist, I landed a dream job in Paris covering the African continent. At the time, I was hungry for life experience and eager to learn. It turned out that Africa was the best teacher. Almost immediately into that job, I was drawn into covering the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide.

Paul Kagame, who had been hailed a hero for supposedly stopping the genocide against Tutsis committed by Hutus, was now launching a military invasion of Congo. Ostensibly, his objective was to root out Hutu genocidaires who were living in the refugee camps inside Congo's border. But for those of us who were paying attention, we realised that Paul Kagame's Tutsi troops were systematically massacring Hutu refugees in Congo. In May and June of 1997, I went to Congo, a country the size of Western Europe. With the help of Congolese aid workers, I went into the forest, and what I saw was devastating.

Hundreds of thousands of Hutu civilians had been chased across the country and hunted down like animals by Paul Kagame's Tutsi forces. I met wounded, traumatised, and starving women in the forest. I saw catatonic children emaciated and covered in scabies. The testimony that I collected from the forest of Congo and the pictures I took of mass graves convinced me that Paul Kagame's forces had committed a genocide against Congolese and Rwandan Hutus in 1996 and 97. The United Nations would later classify these crimes as a possible genocide.

After Congo, I crossed over on foot into Rwanda and interviewed more Hutu survivors who had just come home. I essentially asked them two questions, the same questions I had asked Rwandans in Congo. Why did you flee Rwanda in the first place in 1994 and decide to stay in Congolese refugee camps, enduring brutal conditions instead of going home, where Paul Kagame had reportedly stopped the genocide in 1994, stopped the violence, and was restoring peace and prosperity to Rwanda?

These Hutu survivors told me one after the other that, in fact, Paul Kagame's Tutsi army had slaughtered Hutus during the genocide. Their relatives had been massacred. They were afraid of Kagame's army. They also told me that many Hutus who returned from Congo to Rwanda were disappearing. This was astounding to me. Remember, these were early days. I'd never heard these stories before, but I knew that I had to keep researching this story. These interviews were very dangerous to do inside Rwanda. But I realised that the official genocide narrative of one category of perpetrator, one category of victim, was a sham and Kagame was no saviour.

I have since spent almost 30 years of my life investigating the crimes that Kagame's forces committed before, during, and after the genocide. I've interviewed hundreds of victims, witnesses, defectors from Kagame's own army, UN officials, and whistleblowers. And one of those whistleblowers leaked to me a confidential UN document which revealed that Kagame's Tutsi commandos actually slaughtered Tutsis during the genocide. These were false flags, staged operations. This evidence, and other types of evidence like this, completely disrupted the established doctrine of the Rwandan genocide.

My research reveals that both Hutus and Tutsis were victims of genocide in 1994, and both groups were perpetrators. What's more, powerful insiders at the United Nations knew about these massive atrocities committed by Kagame's army and covered them up for years. I've asked myself, why is it that Kagame's record has been sanitised? Why has he gotten away with committing crimes for over 3 decades, egregious crimes? And why has the United Nations granted him de facto immunity?

The answer, I believe, lies in Congo, a country that is rich in strategic minerals that are essential for our global economy. Chances are that the cell phone you're using or the Tesla you're driving is made from Congolese minerals that have been laundered by Rwanda. One of the most trafficked and strategic minerals on the market today is tantalum. Tantalum metal is valuable because it can be extremely resistant to high temperatures. Tantalum components are able to store a tremendous amount of energy charge in a small space. Tantalum is used in rockets, satellites, missiles, smart cars, and smart cities.

Canada and Australia have reserves of tantalum, but their tantalum is very expensive, and they're not producing much of it. Brazil is an exporter and a producer of tantalum, but not in the quantities needed for the global economy. Congo has the richest grade of tantalum. It has the cheapest tantalum; it's the biggest producer. And Congo is Kagame's playground. Kagame and his international mafia launder vast quantities of tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold from Congo into Rwanda, onto Rwanda's Switzerland-like paved roads, and into the lucrative global supply chain. And when I examined this global supply chain in detail, I discovered that all the major suppliers to big tech and weapons companies source their tantalum in Rwanda.

So what's happening is that Paul Kagame is ensuring a cheap, steady supply of strategic minerals that are needed for the global economy. And our thirst for technology is ensuring his criminal longevity. If there's one thing you take away from my talk today, it's that the technology that we're using is tied to Kagame's violence, and the laundered minerals themselves constitute criminal property. Anyone who acquires, possesses, uses, or profits from that criminal property is laundering. So, we as consumers, when we purchase devices that contain that criminal property, we are engaging in laundering as well, whether we know it or not.

Kagame is currently tightening his grip on Congo. His latest invasion is illegal and a violation of Congolese sovereignty. But unlike Russia's invasion of Ukraine, where the world rallied to condemn Vladimir Putin and sanction him, Kagame has gotten off scot-free, and he is still a rock star and treated so by global elites. We've seen football teams such as Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain continue to sign sponsorship deals with Rwanda. We've seen international sporting bodies such as FIFA and the NBA continue to do business with him.

Imagine how Kagame's victims feel. I refuse to be part of this global criminal project. Lobbyists and governments can prop up his regime. Businesses can live the lie because they profit from it. The media can amplify his propaganda. And Kagame can impose his lies on people he controls. But he cannot control me. Paul Kagame, I know who you are, and I know what you've done.

In fact, Paul Kagame's regime's crimes and his agents' campaign against me have actually emboldened me to continue this work. More than a decade ago, his agents threatened me and threatened my family. I kept going anyhow because the fear of dying galvanised me into finishing what I had started. In 2018, after my book was launched, I was a victim of smears. I was blacklisted, essentially, and labelled a genocide denier. Remember, I acknowledge that two genocides occurred in Rwanda, one against Tutsis and one against Hutus. I have not buried history with the Rwandan's help, I have unearthed it.

None of what I've experienced compares to what his regime has done to the Congolese and Rwandan people. The rebellions that Kagame has sponsored over 30 years have left more than 6,000,000 Congolese dead. These wars have eviscerated the Congolese nation. Rwandans, meanwhile, live in an open-air prison where history is state property. Any discussion of Hutu suffering is criminalised. Hutus in general, even Hutu children, are branded irredeemable perpetrators.

Tutsi genocide survivors are persecuted and, at times, are killed. Kizito Mihigo was a beloved Tutsi genocide survivor and gospel singer who preached reconciliation and denounced crimes by Kagame's regime against Hutus and Tutsis. He was arrested and later found dead in custody. Aimable Kalasira, Yvone Idamange, and Deo Mushayidi, all Tutsi genocide survivors who have denounced human rights violations in a country led by Paul Kagame. They have been arrested. They are languishing in jail and effectively silenced.

We must break the silence. If you believe that all victims matter. If you believe in the truth, demand accountability. Demand that Paul Kagame once and for all be tried for the crimes he's committed over 3 decades. Demand that he be tried in an international court. Demand that corporations stop buying strategic minerals from Rwanda, where they are soaked in the blood of Congolese people.

I am tied to Paul Kagame. He has made me who I am today. He has brought me here. We are all tied to Paul Kagame, but that doesn't mean we have to be his accomplices. We need to be accountable. We need to be responsible for our consumer choices and ensure that those choices are not fueling wars in Central Africa. I urge accountability, not only for the sake of Rwandans and Congolese, but for our collective integrity.

Thank you by Judi Rever