Tuesday, November 30, 2010

RWANDA: What details have US diplomats been collecting in Rwanda?

Kigali: Since April 2009, US diplomats to Rwanda have been collecting some of the most extensive data on Rwandan officials and military – on the orders of their boss, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. As RNA reports, these details have included even DNA and iris scans of top Rwandan leaders.
A number of State Department memos ask the Kigali embassy and others how to engage in very extensive data collection on the governments in the countries there are posted. In her cable, Clinton makes specific emphasis to Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo. In the case of the nations of Africa's Great Lakes area, the intelligence must-have lists included requests for:

Biographic and biometric data, including health, opinions toward the US, training history, ethnicity (tribal and/or clan), and language skills of key and emerging political, military, intelligence, opposition, ethnic, religious, and business leaders. Data should include email addresses, telephone and fax numbers, fingerprints, facial images, DNA, and iris scans.

The top target countries in this instance were Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda. Another memo focuses on gathering intelligence on United Nations personnel:

Reporting officers should include as much of the following information as possible when they have information relating to persons linked to: [office and STATE 00080163 002 OF 024] organizational titles; names, position titles and other information on business cards; numbers of telephones, cell phones, pagers and faxes; compendia of contact information, such as telephone directories (in compact disc or electronic format if available) and e-mail listings; internet and intranet "handles", internet e-mail addresses, web site identification-URLs; credit card account numbers; frequent flyer account numbers; work schedules, and other relevant biographical information.

The diplomats in this region have also been told to look at rebels groups and any other information that would aide the US policy making process.
Source: Monday, 29 November 2010 17:49 by RNA Reporters

No comments:

Post a Comment