Rwanda President Paul Kagame während der Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz 2017 (Credit: Wikipedia/ securityconference.org)
By Atwine Allen – DIPLOMATIC TIMES CORRESPONDENT
KAMPALA, UGANDA – Rwandan President Paul Kagame who has taken over as the new chairman of Commonwealth club, has been criticized for his treatment of opponents at home and abroad and gross human rights abuses. Kagame has managed to charm many western leaders including former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and now current UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is smitten by the Rwanda leader, despite claims of presiding over a tyrannical regime the past two decades. At the same time, some say Kagame is a mis-understood visionary leader for his championing of women’s rights. One of the major abuses by the new Commonwealth chair was the arrest and persecution of Diane Shima Rwigara, a prominent critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, in Kigali , Rwanda 2017. The former presidential candidate wrote a scathing open letter to President Kagame in 2019 accusing him of condoning political murders.
Human Rights Activist Diane Shima Rwigara Accuses President Kagame of Condoning Political Murders
Diane Shima Rwigara, Human Rights Activist and leader of People Salvation Movement – ITABAZA. (Source: Facebook.com)
Rwigara, Rwanda’s most well-known opposition politician and activist, accused the president of condoning the murder of people who criticize his government. Rwigara wrote the letter to speak out about a prison guard who was killed after complaining about unrest in his prison which left some prisoners injured.
In the 2019 open letter to President Kagame, Rwigara stated in part:
“We rightly accuse the international community for remaining silent during the Genocide. Yet, 25 years later, we are forced to stand aside and watch helplessly, as our loved ones become victims of cruel, inhumane politics. How long can this last? Your Excellence, the international community has rightly congratulated Rwanda for abolishing the death penalty. But I am forced to ask: why are our fellow citizens continually the object of extrajudicial executions?”
President Kagame has until recently decided to show some level of respect for womens rights. This he did by engaging women at 61.3 percent -nearly triple the worlds average. Kagame’s leadership was accused of orchestrating the kidnap and death of his political opponents in order to silence dissent . Patrick Karegeya ,was his former intelligence chief, who was strangled in a hotel room while living in exile in South Africa in 2014. One of his major critic , Kayumba Nyamwas , Rwanda’s former Army Chief of staff -who also went into exile n South Africa has survived two assassinations due to onslaught against opposition.
Reports of Refugees Killed
Kagame’s administration is accused of having a reputation of killing 12 refugees in 2018. Records have it most of the 4,000 people that have been estimated to have been deported by Israel to Rwanda have run out of the country for human abuses perpetrated by the country. Till date political activism and a truly independent civil society are almost non-existent for fears of prosecution by the administration.
UK Gives Rwanda $158 Million For Immigration Deal
In April, the UK and Rwanda signed a controversial immigration deal in which those who enter Britain illegally will be deported to the eastern African state. For its part in the scheme, Rwanda will net $158 Million U.S. A dramatic last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights June 15 forced the UK to cancel its first scheduled deportation flight to East African nation Rwanda. Human Rights groups call the UK-Rwanda migrant plan “cruel, racist, and inhumane”. The offshore migrant scheme sparked international outrage.
Even Rwandan much acclaimed reputation of being the first country in the world with a female major city in parliament , currently at 61.3% for the Lower House , has been criticised as a lame legislature ever in the history of the world because they have been unable to check Kagame’s political excesses and abuses.
The Lower and Upper House are alleged to be complicit in the adoption of laws and rules that are aimed at abusing Rwandan’s civil liberties. Victoire Ingabire and Bernard Ntaganda, two of the country’s vocal opposition leaders have spent most of their time in exile and jail with the Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) ban of their political parties and activities.
Lack of Freedom of Press and Expression in Kagame’s Rwanda
The press and bloggers are not left out as most of them are not free to express themselves on political and policy issues challenging the government . Several reporters are now on trial and some have been sent to jail.
“Most people on YouTube are being silenced and given heavy sentences that would be associated more with state security crimes,” Lewis Mudge, HRW’s Central Africa director once told international news agency’
Despite being the poster child of Africa, Kagame’s iron grip on power even after 20 years is said to be the most abusive in African history.
