Rwanda Information Portal

Accused of genocide by the UN, General Kagame diverts attention by jailing innocent opposition leader Ingabire

by Aimable Mugara.

UN accuses Rwandan government of genocide, Rwanda reacts by arresting innocent opposition leader

On October 1st, 2010 the United Nations Human Rights Commission released a report on crimes that were committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1993 and 2003. The UN report said that �The extensive use of edged weapons (primarily hammers) and the apparently systematic nature of the massacres of survivors after the camps had been taken suggests that the numerous deaths cannot be attributed to the hazards of war or seen as equating to collateral damage. The majority of the victims were children, women,elderly people and the sick, who were often undernourished and posed no threat to the attacking forces. Numerous serious attacks on the physical or mental integrity of members of the group were also committed, with a very high number of Hutus shot,raped, burnt or beaten. If proven, the incidents� revelation of what appears to be the systematic, methodological and premeditated nature of the attacks listed against the Hutus is also marked: these attacks took place in each location where refugees had allegedly been screened by the AFDL/APR over a vast area of the country. The pursuit lasted for months, and on occasion, the humanitarian assistance intended for them was allegedly deliberately blocked, particularly in the Orientale province, thus depriving them of resources essential to their survival. Thus the apparent systematic and widespread attacks described in this report reveal a number of inculpatory elements that, if proven before a competent court, could be characterized as crimes of genocide.�

Less than 2 weeks later, in what appears to be an attempt to distract the world�s opinion from the UN�s findings, the same Rwandan government accused of genocide by the UN arrested opposition leader Mrs Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza on October 14, 2010. This is the second time in less than a year that this opposition leader has been arrested by the Rwandan government. The first time in April 2010, she was released on bail and was under virtual house arrest. It is very suspicious that out of the only 3 real opposition leaders in Rwanda, two of them are now in jail and the third one is in exile.

The current Rwandan government�s abuse of prisoners has been documented by many human rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Mrs Ingabire is currently at risk of torture, or even death while incarcerated.

This is a very sad moment for Rwanda because the current Rwandan government which is accused of genocide by the UN is continuing to send a message that if you participate peacefully in the country�s political process, there is a price to pay. If the government thinks that the people may vote for you, you will be jailed. This disrespect for human rights and democracy is exactly what caused the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the 1996-1997 genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The extremists� belief that the only way to resolve political issues is through violence is exactly what caused those genocides. For 50 years, there has never been a peaceful transfer of power in Rwanda. Every president of Rwanda who has ever lost power lost it only by being killed or by being jailed. Mrs Victoire Ingabire believed in a new Rwanda. A new Rwanda where power can be changed peacefully, at the ballot box.

This year marks a turning point in Rwanda�s future. What happens from now on will determine whether the 50 year curse of using violence to make political change in Rwanda remains the only way possible. Whether genocides committed by extremist Tutsis and genocides committed by extremist Hutus continue to be the only way to change power. Or whether non-violent peaceful democratic ways championed by Mrs Ingabire remain a viable option to create political change in Rwanda.

Below are 4 examples of actions you can take to help the Rwandan people in this very dark moment of Rwandan history:

1. Donate to Mrs Ingabire�s Legal Defense Fund at http://ww.fdu-rwanda.org/donation

In the Comments field, please note �Ingabire�s Legal Defense Fund�

2. Contact your local Human Rights Watch office and let them know of today�s injustice and how Mrs Ingabire is at risk of torture and assassination.

Contact info can be found at: http://www.hrw.org/en/contact-us

3. Contact Amnesty International Secretariat and let them know of today�s injustice and how Mrs Ingabire is at risk of torture and assassination.

Contact info can be found at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/contact

4. Contact any other organizations you can think of such as media, human rights organizations, international aid groups, embassies.

[Rwanda Human Rights and Democracy]

October 17, 2010   1 Comment

Deo Mushayidi’s call to all Rwandans: “Arise my People!”

par Deo Mushayidi.

Deo Mushayidi: Arise my People!

Deo Mushayidi is a Rwandan opposition politician who has been condemned in September 2010 by the High Court to life imprisonment for “causing state insecurity, using forged documents and inciting citizenry against established authority.”

The High Court cleared him of four charges:
“promoting Genocide revisionism, ideology and sowing seeds of divisionism; terrorism and collaboration with armed groups with intent to oust a legitimate government.”

Here is the message he sent from prison to all Rwandans asking them to take over his battle for freedom and change.

Kill me or keep me in jail, but � THE PEOPLE OF RWANDA WILL ACHIEVE CHANGE

I have done nothing wrong. I am innocent.

If the authority considers that my death or my imprisonment is a solution to the problem, they are mistaken.

For the love of my people, I am living, suffering and endured the detention.

I am not asking my people to be grateful, you don�t owe me anything but I owe you a lot.

I will rejoice from the bottom of my heart that I am living my commitment and my determination.

I will not ask anyone to have pity on me, I�m not pathetic.
But if you love me, then support the cause that I have defended and that I will defend as long as I am alive, namely freedom, love between Rwandans, mutual respect and advocacy of freedom for all.

Yes, I am in prison, but I�m in my country where I share the pain with my people day by day.
I�m not on a desert island, I�m held with thousands of other Rwandans who are waiting for justice like me.
I know that my friend Bernard Ntaganda is here too, there is Charles Ntakirutinka and other forgotten ones that nobody is talking about anymore.

Yes, it�s true I am living the prison life but neither death nor prison are an end in itself nor for me nor for anyone longing for freedom for his people as a whole.

They will keep me in jail but they will never have my conscience, even after my death if they decide to end my life on earth.

If I should die, I am ready. But freedom and truth, justice and mutual respect between the Rwandan, peace for all Rwandans and for all Africa� that, they will survive through other citizens who have believed and still believe in them.

Arise my people.

Deo Mushayidi


October 17, 2010   3 Comments