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CHRI Press Release-6 March 2010.
CHRI (Commonwealth Human Rights Initiatives) is deeply concerned at the continued restrictions and threats to opposition parties in the run up to Rwanda�s Presidential elections on 9 August 2010 and urges the Rwandan Government to take immediate steps to ensure respect for the basic, universal rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly of opposition parties. The absence of these rights is tantamount to breaches of the Commonwealth’s fundamental political principles that insist on free and fair elections (Harare Declaration 1991).

On Commonwealth day, 8 March 2010, CHRI once again brings to the notice of the Commonwealth Secretary General the growing number of concerns surrounding political freedoms in Rwanda. Despite grave representations by CHRI and others about the appropriateness of Rwanda�s readiness for membership, given its record on human rights and its questionable role in the conflict in the Congo, Rwanda was unconditionally admitted to the Commonwealth as its newest member at the Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago last November.

Rwanda�s membership requires that it honours and complies with the Commonwealth�s fundamental political principles which include respect for civil society and human rights. The Chair of a new opposition party, United Democratic Forces (UDF) has written to the Secretary General of the Commonwealth alleging state orchestrated harassment, describing violence against herself and colleagues as well as outlining the restrictive environment facing opposition parties in their electoral challenge to the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).

Under Article 13 of the Rwandan constitution it is an offence to engage in �revisionism� or �negationism� (denial of the genocide). These are so broadly defined to include anyone who disagrees with the ruling RPF�s account of the Genocide. On the 25th of February the Ministry for Security in Rwanda issued a statement saying that any politician who �slanders the country� or is �against public unity� would be punished. In addition the Minister for Local Government has reportedly threatened to crackdown on unregistered political parties who are members of the Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties. Further opposition parties have alleged that the government is making it hard to register by continually changing registration rules; the National Electoral Commission which regulates these matters is controlled by the members of the RPF. A number of opposition parties have also complained that they face repeated harassment from government officials and the members of the RPF.

It is imperative that the Government of Rwanda thoroughly investigates, in a manner satisfactory to opposition parties, the many incidents of intimidation and bring those responsible to justice. It should also ensure that its electoral processes are consistent with UN and Commonwealth standards for free and fair elections.

CHRI urges the Commonwealth Secretary General to insist that the Rwandan government makes every effort to create genuine democratic political atmosphere in the country prior August 2010 elections. We call upon the Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma, in his meetings this week with President Kagame, to urge him to ensure that in these first Rwanda elections as a Commonwealth member, the standards are patently free and fair and in compliance with Commonwealth values.
Maja Daruwala
Director, CHRI
Website: http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/

The New Times newspaper of spreading false propaganda about her aide, Joseph Ntawangundi.

A few days after Victoire Ingabire and her assistant Joseph Ntawangundi were nearly lynched by a rowdy group of local militia in the administration offices, the New Times newspaper – mouthpiece of the ruling RPF party of President Paul Kagame – reported that Ntawangundi was a fugitive long wanted by the Gacaca court on charges related to the 1994 genocide.

Here is what The New Times (http://www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=14163&article=25610) publishes in an article titled:

Ingabire�s assistant a Gacaca fugitive:
� Handed 19 yrs in absentia

KIGALI – Victoire Ingabire�s assistant, Joseph Ntawangundi, the man who came to the limelight in the saga at Kinyinya Sector, is a wanted Genocide fugitive who, in 2007, was sentenced in absentia to 19 years in prison by a Gacaca Court.

Ntawangundi was found guilty by the Gacaca court in Rusenyi cell, Gitwe sector in the former Kibungo Province, present day Ngoma, for killing two young people only identified as Nsabimana and Hategeka.

The two were students of IAVE Gitwe Secondary School in Kibungo where he was a director at the time. He was also found guilty of conspiring with militias to murder eight other people.

According to Beline Uwineza, the coordinator of Gacaca in the Eastern Province, Ntawangundi fled in 1994 to Benaco Refugee Camp in Tanzania before finding his way to Europe.

�His file and arrest warrant have been around. His case was a category two type. We were surprised when we saw his pictures in the news media after all these years,� she said.
�The arrest warrant is still valid of course. The next step will be to make sure he serves his jail term. Gacaca will do everything within its means to bring him to book�.

Witnesses testified that Ntawangundi being the director of the school, many students ran to him for protection during the Genocide, but that he kept turning them away and they would then be killed by militias lurking outside.

The two children he killed had also run to him for protection.

He is one of the thousands of people whom Gacaca has sentenced in absentia.

This is the second time that someone connected to the presidential aspirant is discovered to have links to the killings of innocent people during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

Ingabire�s own mother, Therese Dusabe, had also been found guilty earlier on two separate occasions and sentenced to 30 years and life respectively.

According to FDU-Inkingi’s chair Victoire Ingabire, this Gacaca story is a pure lie as Joseph Ntawangundi had left Rwanda in 1993! Read Victoire Ingabire’s press release explaining why in the article: Kigali � Case of Joseph Ntawangundi: Another Evidence of Gacaca Courts Farce in Rwanda.
This is again another proof that the Kagame regime would continue to recourse to any sort of of lies and character assassination propaganda, in order to bar the opposition from fairly challenging him in the upcoming presidential elections.

Victoire Ingabire

Victoire Ingabire has sent on Wednesday a protest letter to the Rwandese government, denouncing what she called: �administration backed lynching and harassments by sections of secret services, the police and the army.�
Here is the content of the letter sent:
�Today at 11:25, responding to an invitation by the authorities of Kinyinya Sector (Gasabo District) to collect our administrative papers, Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, the Chairperson of UDF-INKINGI narrowly survived a prepared lynch mob. Within the administration premises, my assistant, Joseph Ntawangundi, was savagely dragged out of the car, beaten and stabbed. It is only after one hour that the police stopped the lynching.
I escaped the mob. The militia snatched my handbag containing my identity card, my passport, and other valuable belongings. Joseph Ntawangundi severely injured, his clothes torn apart was rushed to King Faycal Hospital for emergency treatment.
This is just the latest in a growing list of blatant attacks and harassments that compromise public confidence in our security systems. Militia lynching, the reign of terror being carried out by certain sectors of the administration, security services and the police forces are unacceptable.
It is with great regret that we must take issue with the on-going aggressive surveillance and tailing by Secret Services and Army officers coupled with police harassments and intimidation against the UDF-INKINGI leader, Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza.
We mainly refer to these other incidents:
� Wednesday 27th January 2010, Nyagasambu (Kigali). Exercising our rights to freedom of movements in our country, our two vehicles were ordered by police officers to pull off. Drivers� Licenses and vehicles registration papers were confiscated. The official charge was �careless driving� and a FRW 50,000 fine was levied. Unable to substantiate the allegations on spot, the officers confirmed that they received orders from their hierarchy to stop our vehicles.
� The same day, we have been tailed by an army vehicle with men in uniforms between Rwamagana and Kibungo and all the way back. The mobile surveillance continued with cars wearing civilian plates. The surveillance was extensively carried on in an intimidating fashion even while shopping vegetables in both Rwamagana and Kibungo public markets.
� Sunday 17th January 2010, 2 manned vehicles tailed us from Kigali to Gitarama and all the way back;
� Since 16th January 2010 to date, we have been submitted to a 24-hour intensive surveillance.
We call on all relevant authorities to investigate the militia lynching within Kinyinya Sector premises, harassments by sections of Secret services, the Police and the military. It is time the authorities take action and ensure we are allowed to carry out our work and to enjoy our rights to free movements without any harassment.
We don�t believe this brutality, terror, militia lynching and those harassments are, for some reason, beyond the control of the government.�

This letter was addressed to Hon. Minister of Local Government, Hon. Minister of Defense, Hon. Minister of Internal Security, RDF Commander and Commissioner General of Police with copies to H.E. General Paul KAGAME (President of Rwanda), The Right Hon. Mr. Bernard MAKUZA (Prime Minister) and Diplomatic Missions in Kigali.

The formerly exiled opposition politician returned to Rwanda on January 16 and has publicly expressed her intentions of challenging President Paul Kagame during the forthcoming presidential elections.

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza

After the physical attack perpetrated against Victoire Ingabire in Kigali on Wednesday, UDF INKINGI alias FDU Inkingi issues a declaration condemning the Kagame government:
�UDF INKINGI hold the government responsible of that incident, as it took place in a government building, without any intervention at all from the authority. This is a grotesque and horrific practice of terror towards an opposition candidate.
This is just the latest in a growing list of blatant attacks and harassments that compromise public confidence in our security systems. The reign of terror being carried out by certain sectors of the administration, the police forces and militia lynching is unacceptable.
We mainly refer to other incidents that occurred on Wednesday 27th January 2010, at Nyagasambu (Kigali). Exercising our rights to freedom of movements in our country, our two vehicles were ordered by police officers to pull off. Drivers� Licenses and vehicles registration papers were confiscated. The official charge was �careless driving�. Unable to substantiate the allegations on spot, the officers confirmed that they received orders from their hierarchy to stop our vehicles.
This is notwithstanding the numerous hate editorials of a section of public and hate media.
UDF INKINGI warns that these coward acts of intimidation will not deter the party from its resolve to push ahead for more democratization of the country.
UDF INKINGI calls on the government to face its responsibilities and stop these acts which may jeopardize the whole electoral process.”

At her arrival at the International Airport of Kanombe- Kigali this Saturday 16 January, 2010, Mrs Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, addressed a very powerful message to the Rwandan People in Kinyarwanda. Here is the official translation of her speech as posted on FDU-Inkingi’s website:

I am back home.

Rwandans, my beloved people,

16 years in exile was an eternity. Today, I am back home.

A lot has happened. The summum was the genocide, the massacres and war crimes. Millions of Rwandans have been killed. Each family is still mourning the victims. The current regime has been unable to deliver any sound solution. A genuine national reconciliation process is still a dream. Rwandans are still terrorised.

My message is clear: I object to violence.We must put an end to any form of violence, if not, the violence will finish us. Peace is my motto, my guiding principle.

In exile, 3 years ago we launched the United Democratic Forces, UDF-INKINGI, with clear objectives:

- To set up a genuine multi-party democratic system;
- To create the right conditions conducive for an all-inclusive national dialogue;
- To put an end to impunity and to create the right social and political atmosphere for the healing of all the surviving victims without any segregation;
- To put an end to discrimination and to guarantee equal opportunity to all the Rwandan citizens;
- To repatriate refugees and to ensure their resettlement and re-integration;
- To reorganize the national economy to suit national aspirations and;
- To put to rest all pretences of expansionism and to contribute towards the restoration of peace and security in the region.

The time is now to come back home. Because it is time to uproot for good the “INGOYI” or all forms of dictatorship, violence, intimidations, victor’s justice, impunity, all sorts of discrimination.

We have the conviction that the building of a State must be based on the respect of the dignity of the human person, his freedom and rights, and on accountability. It is time to quietly spread the word and break the pervasive apathy. The time is now and the right people are you, Rwandans. Foreigners and the international community, have distantly witnessed on their televisions the genocide and the massacres. Do they see the oppression, the misery, the despair, the militarisation, the dictatorship? If yes, what are they doing? Business.

I am empowered by warm greetings and blessings of your exiled sisters and brothers. They are on your side. They know the immensity of your sacrifices.

I am a daughter and a mother, moved by the misery and humiliations of my people. I don’t need an army to defeat the dictatorship. All we need is determination, commitment and patience. The sacrifices of all committed people will overcome our misery and these endless crisis in our motherland. The upcoming presidential elections are not an end to this process.

To you all courageous Rwandans, who directly and silently endured those humiliations, your tears of sorrow and pain are a permanent call. Your “silence for survival” has inspired this non-violent revolution.We don’t need another war in our country. Too much blood has been poured. Enough is enough. The color of blood is red.� So is the mark on the faces and the eyes of criminals.

It’s still premature to call you for public meetings, demonstrations and sit-ins. We need first to raise our awareness. But if your lives are in danger, peacefully attend the political meetings of your oppressors and their tools. This will allow you to better know them and their methods.

All we need is a free and fair election with total transparency of vote counting by the public and in public.

The debate about eventual current or past positive performances of the regime is mere propaganda. They have tools, public or private media and a well experienced brain-washing publicity.

Yes many will be seduced by those luxurious buildings and residences and totally miss the misery, the pain, the despair, the discrimination, the hunger, poor health, or other dictatorial practices imposed to our people.

Together we shall overcome.

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza

As promised to all Rwandans in exile, Mrs Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, accompanied by three un-named UDF-Inkingi�s grassroots members, has left Amsterdam on Friday, January 15, 2010, thus ending her sixteen years of exile.� At her departure in Amsterdam, Mrs. Ingabire received a warm farewell from her family members and from members of UDF-Inkingi.

She did it.

After a short stop in Nairobi, Kenya, Mrs. Ingabire proceeded to Kigali where she arrived� this Saturday, January 16, 2010 early in the afternoon.

As announced by the UDF-Inkingi / FDU-Inkingi,

The main purpose of Mrs. Ingabire�s trip to Rwanda is to reconnect with her country at the grassroots level, to go and meet with the real countryside, beyond the Potemkin village that is Kigali. Mrs. Ingabire will also initiate discussions with all concerned parties, especially the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), in order to remove the obstacles that my impede the registration and establishment of UDF-Inkingi structures in Rwanda like facilitating granting passports to all UDF-Inkingi�s leaders and staff that have yet to be deployed to Rwanda. Finally, Mrs. Ingabire is expected to give some impetus to development of legal, institutional and financial frameworks so that the forthcoming presidential elections can be fair, free and transparent.

In doing so, despite the obstacles set forth in their path by the RPF ruling party in Kigali, UDF-Inkingi intend to give a chance for peace, by choosing such a peaceful and legal option for Rwandans to really have a choice on August 9, 2010.

The United Democratic Forces (UDF-Inkingi) call upon all Rwandans to welcome Mrs. Victoire INGABIRE UMUHOZA and her delegation with warm and fraternal greetings without any fear. They also call upon the Rwandan official bodies, particularly security agencies, to demonstrate their readiness to serve all citizens, including when these citizens express views that are contrary to those of the ruling party in the interest of the Rwandan people as a whole.

via Rwanda FDU-UDF : UDF-Inkingi Presidential Candidate Left Amsterdam for Rwanda.