KIBUNGO, Rwanda — Some residents of this southeastern town recently met up secretly at a makeshift bus stop to discuss the fate of young opposition leader Eugene Ndereyimana.
“Where is he now? Is he alive, or was he killed by police?” asked one of the town elders, who asked that his name be withheld to protect his safety. “What kind of country is this where one cannot speak freely?
“He is not the first one to go missing,” he added. “We are losing our people in mysterious ways.”
Mr. Ndereyimana, 29, disappeared two months ago on his way to a youth meeting organized by United Democratic Forces of Rwanda (FDU-Inkingi), a coalition of small opposition parties that banded together to oppose Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his long-ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
Mr. Ndereyimana was a vocal opponent of Mr. Kagame, who has been in power for nearly two decades. He was especially popular among the young.
Mr. Ndereyimana is the latest Rwandan opposition leader to disappear, be imprisoned or be killed. The country has been hailed abroad for its political and economic development since the genocide 25 years ago but has come under increasing criticism for human rights violations.
“On the international stage, Rwanda is a model of law and order, yet we are seeing a spate of violent and brazen attacks against opposition members go unpunished,” Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “Rwanda’s partners and donors should be raising questions