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Protecting the Mountain Gorillas of Virunga
Chief Suspect Behind the Rugendo Massacre Arrested
This a major breakthrough. Honore Mashagiro has been arrested for allegedly masterminding the mass killing of Mountain Gorillas in June and July Last year. He was in a position of great responsibility, and allegedly used his authority to promote the destruction of forest for charcoal to make money. This threatened the gorilla habitat, so when the rangers tried to protect the forest, he allegedly orchestrated the gorilla massacres to discourage them. Many of you will remember those terrible days when we discovered the burned remains of Safari, and the the bodies of the rest of the Rugendo family, including Senkwekwe, the silverback.
Senkekwe, shortly after the massacre in July last year
The charges against Mashagiro were brought against him by the state, through ICCN, the wildlife authority, and is testimony that the rule of law can be brought into effect, even when it concerns powerful people. It is definitely a moment of hope for all of us, but obviously we await the outcome of a trial before saying any more.
Results like this take time, but it is so important never to give up. We don’t yet have all the details, but will update you in the coming days.
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43 Responses to “Chief Suspect Behind the Rugendo Massacre Arrested”
Absolutely Brilliant news guys, keep you the good work!
Unbelievable news!! Hopefully justice will finally be served. Good luck!!
Wow! I’m truly stunned. I do hope the courts see fit to punish this man for life because he set in motion a terrible machine. Well done to all involved in securing his arrest.
s.
I’m really so happy. I’m crying tears of joy. It is absolutely a testimony that the rule of law can be effective, even when it concerns powerful people…….and wildlife. Sometimes there is so much destruction to that you feel really, really hopeless. This is a very good reason never to give a hope. Thank you for bringing us this news. It has truly made my day. Lisa
Oh, I wanted to leave this message for Judy in CA. Would you be interested in getting together and organizing a fundraiser here in the LA area? Lisa
This is a huge step for ICCN and the gorillas!! BBC have put the story on front page:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7304650.stm
[...] the full BBC article and ICCN story on gorilla blog [...]
A moment I have waited…. so long for to actually know who did this horrific thing last year - I cannot say what I wish upon him and all who associated with him!
Great news guys!!
Diddy and Innocent this is great news. Is this man a senior person in ICCN? I have read that he’s a ranger in one news article, and that he’s a Director in another. Just how senior was he?
This is excellent news !!
Good luck!
I saw this news in the BBC site earlier this morning, its really a good work!
I think he is the Park Director in Kahuzi Biega now, and before he was what they call ADT in ICCN, the boss of Paulin at that time.
So Paulin was right - there were members of the charcoal mafia in ICCN management.
s.
this absolutely fabulous news!!
Lisa and Judy, I also live in LA and would be very interested in organising a fund raiser.
I have met Mashagiro several times & thought he was a friend of the gorillas & rangers. If this is true, just proves how wrong you can be.
If guilty, fantastic that’he’s been caught.
Linda
[...] thewildlife and environment in one of the most complicated areas in the world, DR Congo. Soon the blogs were up and more journalists calling and asking for statements. What was critical was to get accurate [...]
This BBC report mentions six others might be questioned, I’m not sure what this means, whether they are also under suspicion, or possibly have incriminating testimony against Mashagiro. Hopefully, for the safety of our rangers and gorillas, this will all be sorted out soon.
The media have really taken this story up and its great because this is an amazing step forward for ICCN:
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL1973887820080319?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
Angie, That’s great! I have not heard from Judy yet. My email address is triselina@aol.com Email me and we’ll get started. Lisa
Indeed great. Thank you good people and good rangers.
Fantastic!!!!!!!!
Thank you for this news! I hope all involved in this horrid act get what they deserve!! This news BETTER be on all the major US networks, it is huge! Thank you! God bless.
Still so hard to see Senkekwe that way…I hope they do to this man what he did to the innocent Rugendos..no mercy! I am sorry..I have no tolerance for this type of person!
Indeed this is good news if the allegations are true. We need to reflect on how much damage a single traitor can do. I sincerely hope that much will be learnt from these events and that steps will be put into place to ensure that acts of treachery are prevented in future. What motivated this accused man to do as he did, particularly when others around him have worked so hard and risked their lives to prevent such cowardly acts.
It even made it on AOL news.
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/ranger-arrested-in-gorilla-slaughter/20080319164409990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
It truly just breaks my heart all over again to see these pictures. May Senkwekwe and his beautiful family rest in peace. Lisa
Wow, good news that this guy has been arrested! I am shocked, however, that somebody from within ICCN can do something this evil.
Incredible. I hope this marks the beginning of safer times for our gorillas
and that the punishments are harsh.
Are we really sure that this ranger really is behind this? Or is this the ICCN trying to pacify the world by finding a “mastermind behind the killings”. I am somewhat suspicious that they have done this to an innocent man. Without seeing the facts of the story I can’t rejoice if I have any doubt about the true nature behind these accusations. These killings were terrible but I don’t want to see an innocent man persecuted so we all feel better. i will wait until more facts come out before I rejoice.
Honestly, Seh, do you think the world has been sitting on the edge of its seat waiting for justice in the case of murdered non-human animals? If you do, then you’re overly optimistic about the planet in general.
The Rugendo family were murdered eight months ago - in between the initial news stories and magazine coverage there’s been precious little written about the murders, or generally about the war in Congo. There’s no oil in Congo so there’s not a lot of interest from the West - don’t you see? There’s oil in Sudan, in Niger, so those conflicts garner much more press attention and next to nothing is written about the wildlife crisis.
There were suspicions printed last summer that someone in ICCN management was behind the killings.
That there is corruption in ICCN officials doesn’t surprise me in the least, and it shouldn’t surprise you. Certainly, in my country, people charged with crimes are innocent until proven guilty, but for those of us who have been supporting the rangers and rallying to their cause for quite some time, an arrest in this case is very good news. As for the facts of the ongoing investigation and the arrest, you won’t see that printed and you shouldn’t - not until the trial starts.
s.
Fantastic!
Giustizia è fatta
Let us hope this shows that the rule of law can exist even in a land as troubled as the Congo.
I’m relieved that the person behind these murders has been discovered and arrested. It makes me sad for the gorillas that someone responsible for their care and well-being is the one that betrayed them and took their lives. I hope this deters others from harming the gorillas and their habitat also.
I’m still extremely saddened to see the pictures of Rugendo family.. I wish with all my heart that the remaining members of the family will grow to be a happy and healthy group of gorillas with a good leader.. The sentencing for the culprit has to be enough hard to send a message to everybody who even considers to cause harm to the gorillas.
Thanks for your very lucid explanation, Sheryl, that’s exactly right. I will write up some more today, but we have to measure our words quite carefully not to undermine due process. Emmanuel
Nat Geo have just covered the story:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080325-gorillas-arrest.html
Thank you to everyone sharing news on this blog. Wow, I was thrilled to read about the arrest! It will indeed send a message to anyone intending to cause the gorillas harm.
Rangers, your work is truly awesome and we applaud you for it.
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It is so sad what happened to these primates. He should be brought to justice and punished for his actions. What really irritates me is how this massacre gets so much publicity while mankind kills unborn children by the thousands and no one seems to care? What would happen if someone came in to the habitat and aborted all the primate fetuses? It would be in all the papers and all over the internet. Don’t get me wrong I feel for the dead gorilla’s and the ones left to live without their loved ones. I just think that our (and i include myself) priority’s are warped. Will we ever get it right?
[...] writer’ and tactiless opponent to WildlifeDirect and the ICCN rangers. She says that the arrest of Honore Mashagiro in March of 2008 in relation to these killings was all a setup and masterminded by [...]
[...] Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature-ICCN] credibility after the previous director, Honore Mashagiro, was fired and arrested on charges that he had participated in the charcoal and deforestation [...]