written by Stefano Piazza- Luciano Tirinnanzi
Translation by Carol Simonetti
“It was Paul Kagame (President of the Republic of Rwanda, ed) who ordered the murder of Attanasio”. Even if it is only a hypothesis, the Comboni Father Filippo Ivardi Ganapini, a missionary with long experience in Africa, is certain of it. “We have no overwhelming evidence in hand, but our sources, whom we protect, have spoken and told us important facts which we then provided to the investigators. You have to go deep into the thing. The Ambassador was killed because he was very uncomfortable in the diplomatic field, as everyone knows. He did not stop at the simple work of diplomacy but investigated the great mineral riches. He wanted to go further, and he was very close to the missionary world” the missionary told Panorama.
In a sea of untruthful or misleading news (see the invented arrests, then denied by the Congolese authorities, and the responsibilities thrown at this and that, what is the best method for not getting to the truth) some try to find the truth. As did Matteo Giusti, author of a book just released for Castelvecchi, who tries to shed some light on what happened. The title is Attanasio’s murder death of an Ambassador, and in those pages, there is also a long conversation with Father Ganapini. Who wonders why, more than three months after the assassination in the Democratic Republic of Congo of the Ambassador Luca Attanasio, the carabiniere Vittorio Iacovacci and their driver Mustapha Milambo, the indiscretions and false investigative leads on what happened that damned morning of February 22nd, 2021 along the Goma-Rutshuru road.
While the open investigations to find out what happened that February morning marks the pace, the June 9th, 2021 from the Democratic Republic of Congo came the news that five UN officials were heard by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Rome, owner of the investigations, regarding the criminal fact. One of the officials, a Congolese citizen responsible for the security of the shipment, is being investigated for “failing to take precautions”. The man would have completely underestimated the situation on the field, to the point of not foreseeing the safety of the convoy crossing one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the world. But is it possible that in this bad story there is only one responsible, and that he is a modest Congolese official of the UN? Impossible.
Speaking of protection, rules of engagement, and responsibilities, two senators of the Brothers of Italy – Claudio Barbaro and Isabella Rauti – have questioned the government twice. Already last March 10th, they asked “who was the employer of reference and which proxies, powers and organizational structures he was endowed with, and what risk assessment measures he had likewise undertaken to protect the Ambassador” and so also if “the Embassy of Italy in DR Congo has drawn up the risk assessment document or if this document has been drawn up at the level of the central administration, or if it is completely missing». Finally, if the news turns out to be true that Ambassador Attanasio had asked for “the reinforcement of the security escort”.
Incredibly, the response from the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Marina Sereni (PD), which arrived last May 14th, 2021, unloads the responsibilities of the Ambassador himself. “The thesis supported by the government, in response to my and Senator Rauti’s questions, is disconcerting, demeaning, and disparaging for the memory of two Servants of the State” thunders Claudio Barbaro. Also, because Attanasio already in November 2018 asked for the strengthening of his close protection structure. Why did he ask? What had Ambassador Attanasio discovered?
It is believed that he discovered the existence of mass graves, a work of the military of Rwanda, which has long been expanding its influence in Congo, as well as south to Mozambique and also in Central Africa. The reason? The control of natural and mineral resources: diamonds, oil, etc. It is no coincidence that the border town of Goma is called “little Rwanda”.
“I do know that he was aware of massacres and mass graves in that area” reveal the Comboni father. «I believe that we can understand this story only if we understand how Attanasio was motivated on a spiritual level. He was a man of God, to whom it was not enough to perform a service according to the canons of Rome but, driven by a great passion for justice and the least among men, he let himself be carried away by this attempt to go deeper and make it present to whom it may concern. And he paid for it with his life ».
The accusation against the president, however, is strong. What drives to indicate him as the instigator of the murder? “Kagame is a controversial man who controls the power and aims to DR Congo to manage mining exploitation: that linked to multinationals but, above all, the many dozen informal family-run mines, which are coveted because they are not protected”. However, it is well known that Rwanda intends to appropriate all the raw materials that feed the world’s electrical equipment industry, plundering where it is needed.
«Our hypothesis is corroborated by many testimonies. The conclusion is that such an attack on our Ambassador cannot be carried out in those areas without authorization. It is the Rwandan system that led to Attanasio’s death. A decision at the top, where at the top there is Kagame who really controls everything. He chases dissidents even in Europe, threatens them, and sometimes kills them. The power of the Rwandan secret services is impressive. An operation such as the killing of an ambassador cannot be improvised, and cannot fail to start directly from the boss ». According to sources well into the Congolese affair, the other hypotheses do not hold.
The investigation will not give results because there is the will to cover up. The truth will only come out when Paul Kagame’s system and empire begin to crumble, but we are a long way from that right now. Because he is functional to an economic apparatus and to a production system that comes from abroad and that he manages, so over there today he is the deus ex machina» says Ganapini disheartened. Whose discouragement is first of all towards Italy’s impotence in the context.
“The Italian government is trapped, in the sense that is unable to have the right interlocutors who can lead to a trail of truth; those beaten are false tracks that will lead nowhere. Nor will the UN be able to do something: indeed, it has been involved in repeated scandals – such as the trafficking of diamonds by some officials – which have outraged the local population. The ineffectiveness of Monusco (the official UN mission in the region, ed), which also costs a billion dollars a year, is evident: only a few days ago, they also killed ten civilians and set fire to a hospital in North Kivu. Therefore, the United Nations are not able to guarantee security at all. In Congo, only the Catholic Church and civil society can be trusted”.
The complete transcription of the phone call with Father Filippo Ivardi Ganapini
“It was Paul Kagame who ordered the murder of Attanasio.” Even if it is only a hypothesis, the Comboni Father Filippo Ivardi Ganapini is certain of it. “We have no overwhelming evidence in hand, but our sources, that we protect, have spoken and told us important facts which we then provided to the investigators. You have to go deep into the thing. The Ambassador was killed because he was very uncomfortable in the diplomatic field, as everyone knows. He did not stop at the simple work of diplomacy but investigated the great mineral riches. He wanted to go further, and he was very close to the missionary world.
I do know that he was aware of massacres and mass graves in that area. I believe that we can understand this story only if we understand how Attanasio was motivated on a spiritual level. He was a man of God, to whom it was not enough to perform a service according to the canons of Rome but, driven by a great passion for justice and the least among men, he let himself be carried away by this attempt to go deeper and make it present to whom it may concern. And he paid for it with his life.
He was also very close to the Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize winner. His friendship with him and with the most extremist humanitarian organizations represented a thorn in the side of the power of Paul Kagame’s Rwanda, which has conquered these lands by force of arms from 1994 to date.
Kigali is expanding its influence in Congo, but also south to Mozambique and also to Central Africa. Always for the same reason: the control of natural and mineral resources (Gas, Total). Diamonds, oil, etc. It is no coincidence that Goma is called little Rwanda, as is well known. Kagame is a controversial man who controls the leaders of power and points to DR Congo to manage the mining exploitation, the one linked to multinationals but, above all, the many dozen informal family-run mines, which are coveted because they are not protected. Rwanda, this small country with considerable economic power, intends to appropriate all the raw materials that power the world’s electrical equipment industry, plundering where it is needed.
Our hypothesis, supported by many testimonies, is that such an attack on our ambassador cannot be carried out in those areas without authorization. It is the Rwandan system that led to Attanasio’s death. A decision from the top, where at the top there is Kagame, who really controls everything. He chases dissidents even in Europe, threatens them, and sometimes kills them. The power of the Rwandan secret services is impressive. An operation such as the killing of an ambassador cannot be improvised and cannot fail to start directly from the boss. The other hypotheses do not hold. The investigation will not give results because there is the will to cover up.
The truth will come out when Paul Kagame’s system and empire begin to crumble, but we are a long way from that right now. Because he is functional to an economic apparatus and to a production system that comes from abroad and that he manages, so over there he is today the deus ex machina.
The Italian government, on the other hand, is trapped, in the sense that it is unable to have the right interlocutors who can lead to a trail of truth; those beaten are false tracks that will lead nowhere.
Nor will the UN be able to do something: indeed, it has been involved in repeated scandals – such as the trafficking of diamonds by some officials – which have outraged the local population. The ineffectiveness of Monusco, the official mission in the region that costs a billion dollars a year, is evident: only a few days ago, they also killed ten civilians and set fire to a hospital in North Kivu that started the state of siege. Therefore, it cannot guarantee security. In Congo, only the Catholic Church and civil society can be trusted.
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