Skip to main content

[RwandaLibre] The East African - 1 hour ago: Kagame faces off with US over human-rights abuses

 

Kagame faces off with US over human-rights abuses

The East African - 1 hour ago
By Joint Report The EastAfrican
Posted Saturday, June 7 2014 at 15:26

US special envoy for the Great Lakes Region Russell Feingold speaks
with President Paul Kagame in Kigali. Photo/FILE

In Summary
Rwandan security organs have in recent months conducted operations in
the northwestern part of the country, rounding up dozens of people
suspected of working with FDLR.

US government expressed concern that Rwandan authorities had held
individuals incommunicado for periods of up to two months before
presenting them in court.

Rwanda is in the spotlight over claims of human rights abuses, with
the US State Department expressing concern over "the arrest and
disappearance of dozens of Rwandan citizens," which has drawn a sharp
reaction from President Paul Kagame.

Related Stories
Rwanda to 'arrest or shoot' anyone posing a security threat

President Kagame said Rwanda would continue to arrest or "even shoot
on the spot" individuals who wish to destabilise the country's
security.

Rwandan security organs have in recent months conducted operations in
the northwestern part of the country, rounding up dozens of people
suspected of working with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of
Rwanda (FDLR). The DR Congo-based rebel outfit is linked to the 1994
genocide against the Tutsi.

The US government expressed concern that Rwandan authorities had held
individuals incommunicado for periods of up to two months before
presenting them in court.

READ: Diplomatic pressure over human rights

"We are encouraged that Rwandan authorities have recently taken steps
to bring a number of these individuals before a court. Nonetheless,
the United States remains concerned that there are additional
individuals who may still be held incommunicado and without due
process of law. We are also concerned by credible reports that
individual journalists were threatened, and that the Government of
Rwanda ordered the suspension of a call-in radio programme that
provided citizens with a platform to discuss current events," the
Department of State said in a statement.

The State Department's June 4 call for the Rwanda government "to
respect the rights under Rwandan law and international human rights
law of the individuals detained and arrested" followed an attack on
Human Rights Watch that had made the claims, two days earlier by
Rwanda's Ministry of Justice.

In a commentary, published by Rwanda's New Times newspaper, the
ministry accused HRW of engaging in "a deliberate, sustained and
politically motivated propaganda campaign against the government of
Rwanda."

READ: Rwanda govt trashes HRW 'disappearances' report

The ministry added that "HRW seems to have become more overtly the
campaign mouthpiece of the FDLR, the armed genocidaires who after
committing genocide in Rwanda in 1994, were given safe passage to
eastern DR Congo and have been accorded, ever since, a lucrative safe
haven and shelter from justice."

And, while addressing residents of Nyabihu district in the
northwestern part of the country, President Kagame rebutted the US
statement within hours: "Those who talk about disappearances ... we will
continue to arrest more suspects and if possible shoot in broad
daylight those who intend to destabilise our country.

"My government would not tolerate anyone who wished to throw grenades
at innocent citizens and babies in the name of politics. Those who
have a problem with the government should come to me instead of
throwing grenades at innocent civilians and babies. I should be the
one responsible, but they also know the consequences of coming for
me," the president said.

On Wednesday, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo
responded to the accusations of disappearances, saying that the
government was dealing with a specific security challenge in the north
of the country, where FDLR and their associates have been infiltrating
and recruiting fighters.

She said a judicial process was underway to try suspects accused of
masterminding grenade attacks in different parts of the country, and
that the issue had been discussed with diplomats.

"In all instances, police and security agencies in Rwanda have acted
lawfully. Accused individuals are entitled to, and receive, due
process. Suggestions otherwise, including claims of disappearances,
are false. We call on all parties to refrain from discourse and
actions that embolden the FDLR and its allies, and thereby endanger
the lives of Rwandans. Rwandan authorities, like in any other country,
will act swiftly and decisively to address such threats. The people of
Rwanda deserve no less," Ms Mushikiwabo said.

Carina Tertsakian, the HRW's senior researcher on Rwanda, said the
critical US statement was "similar" to the assessment published by
Human Rights Watch on May 16. "We welcome that," the London-based HRW
official said in a telephone interview, referring to the US rebuke.

"It does go a bit further than before," she observed.

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Washington-rebukes-Kigali-over-human-rights-abuses/-/2558/2340362/-/d89yrx/-/index.html

--
SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
Google+: https://plus.google.com/110493390983174363421/posts
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9B4024D0AE764F3D
http://www.youtube.com/user/sibomanaxyz999
***Online Time:15H30-20H30, heure de Montréal.***Fuseau horaire domestique:
heure normale de la côte Est des Etats-Unis et Canada (GMT-05:00)***

__._,_.___

Posted by: Jean Bosco Sibomana <sibomanaxyz999@gmail.com>
Reply via web post Reply to sender Reply to group Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
.To post a message: RwandaLibre@yahoogroups.com; .To join: RwandaLibre-subscribe@yahoogroups.com; .To unsubscribe from this group,send an email to:
RwandaLibre-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
_____________________________________________________

More news:  http://www.amakurunamateka.com ; http://www.ikangurambaga.com ; http://rwandalibre.blogspot.co.uk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-SVP, considérer  environnement   avant toute  impression de  cet e-mail ou les pièces jointes.
======
-Please consider the environment before printing this email or any attachments.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

.

__,_._,___

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

[RwandaLibre] Rwanda : 19 ans après les massacres de Kibeho restent toujours impunis

  http://www.fdu-rwanda.com/ Rwanda : 19 ans après les massacres de Kibeho restent toujours impunis avril 22, 2014     Ce 22 avril 2014 est un triste anniversaire. Souvenons-nous, en effet, c'est à cette date que plus de 8'000 réfugiés dans le camp de Kibeho furent tués à l'arme lourde et aux lance-roquettes des soldats du Front Patriotique Rwandais. Des dizaines de milliers de rescapés du camp qui ont tenté ensuite de s'échapper ont été froidement abattus sur leur chemin de retour, les uns, jetés dans des fosses communes, d'autres, jonchés tout le long des routes, d'autres enfin, tout simplement disparus, sans la moindre trace.   Le camp de réfugiés de Kibeho abritait près de 200000 personnes. Que l'on se rappelle, c'est peu avant le 17 avril 1995 que, sous le prétexte fallacieux de démantèlement de prétendus arsenaux d'armes, six bataillons de l'armée du FPR (2000 hommes) et de la...

[AfricaRealities.com] Rwanda court hears case to block third presidential term

  Wednesday's supreme court case was quickly adjourned after the lawyer for the Democratic Green Party failed to appear. One party official told Reuters lawyers had been fearful about taking on the case.  The court panel of nine judges led by Chief Justice Sam Rugege adjourned and set the next hearing for July 29. http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0PI11X20150708?irpc=932 Email Facebook Twitter By Clement Uwiringiyimana KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda's main opposition party opened a case in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking to prevent constitutional change that would allow President Paul Kagame to run for a third term seven-year in office. The debate about term limits and challenges to veteran leaders has flared in several places in Africa. The United States and other Western nations have been pressing African leaders to stick to constitutional rules on presidential terms. Wednesday's supreme court case was quickly adjourned...

[AfricaWatch] Rwanda 2014: 24 years after the Ugandan invasion

  http://sfbayview.com/2014/rwanda-2014-24-years-after-the-ugandan-invasion/#.U1cA6yfqdSQ.facebook Rwanda 2014: 24 years after the Ugandan invasion April 17, 2014 4 by  Ann Garrison KPFA Evening News, broadcast April 13, 2014 Claude Gatebuke survived the mass killing in Rwanda and founded the African Great Lakes Action Network (AGLAN) to promote truth and reconciliation in Rwanda and the rest of the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Twenty-four years after the Ugandan invasion of Rwanda in October 1990, both the history of the four-year war that followed and realities of life on the ground in Rwanda today are fiercely disputed. Claude Gatebuke survived the violence and founded the African Great Lakes Action Network (AGLAN) to promote truth and reconciliation in Rwanda and the rest of the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Transcript KPFA Evening News Anchor Anthony Fest : The United Nations commemorated the mass killing that came to be known ...

-“The enemies of Freedom do not argue ; they shout and they shoot.”

-“The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.”

-“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”

-“I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.”

IRIN - Great Lakes

UN News Centre - Africa