‘We need help’: Community leader faces alleged threats and intimidation. A Sydney-based community leader who refused to be an agent of influence for the Rwandan government in Australia now fears his two brothers have been killed.
Noel Zihabamwe, a human rights advocate who fled Rwanda as a refugee and settled in Australia in 2006, reported that his safety was allegedly threatened during a community meeting in Sydney in late 2017. He said his brothers were abducted after he reported the alleged threats to Australian authorities and the media.
In an email to Mr Zihabamwe, NSW Police said his situation was “well documented and known to NSW Police”. While it had a “comprehensive report” on “conduct amounting to threats” against him, the police could not investigate further or seek a prosecution for “diplomatic” reasons.
Former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop had advised Mr Zihabamwe to report the matter to police in a letter to his local MP, Chris Hayes. Ms Bishop said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was “aware of the alleged threats” and would raise the matter with the Rwandan government.
A month after Mr Zihabamwe raised concerns about the alleged threats in the media, he said his two brothers were abducted from a bus in Rwanda in September last year.
He was initially advised against going public about the abduction and to use diplomatic channels to locate them. Mr Zihabamwe now presumes they are dead and has decided to speak publicly about his situation in the hope it will help him locate his brothers. And, if necessary, allow him to provide “appropriate funeral rites and a final resting place for them”.
“We are seeking the help of the international community to pressure the Rwandan government to restore democratic rights to all Rwandan citizens and to cease the targeted killings, kidnappings, illegal arrests and campaign of intimidation of former citizens who are living overseas,” he said.
According to Mr Zihabamwe, his two brothers were on a bus to the Nyagatare District in eastern Rwanda on September 28 last year. He said Rwandan police allegedly flagged down the bus and called the brothers out by name. They have not been seen since.
Mr Zihabamwe says his two brothers were not politically active, but simple family men.
“My brothers have at no time undertaken any activities that could be considered as political, have never expressed anti-government sentiments publicly and have never been members of a political party,” he said.
“I have never in a public forum expressed opposition to the incumbent regime, but I have been deemed as being in opposition to them because I have made the Australian government aware of illicit activities of the regime within Australia including harassment of Australian Rwandans who fled the regime.”
Mr Zihabamwe said he had remained “politically neutral” but had advocated for the restoration of human rights “for all current and former Rwandan citizens irrespective of their location”.
“In order to intimidate me into complying with their wishes, the Rwandan government abducted my two brothers so that I would renounce my previous stance … They often use this method of kidnapping or murdering family members in Rwanda of people who are based overseas,” he said.
A member of Sydney’s Rwandan community, who attended a public meeting in Sydney in late 2017, said someone affiliated with the Rwandan government had allegedly threatened Mr Zihabamwe’s safety.
“The main threat was to say that Noel is standing on a high hill with his people and that it could collapse at any time and no one will survive. He also said that the Rwandan government is strong and that they could use force at any time and that it would be used against Noel,” the witness said. The person had also allegedly gestured “that there was a gun pointed at Noel and that the Rwandan government would pull it as soon as the opportunity arose”.
Mr Zihabamwe co-wrote a book, One Thousand Hills, which is loosely based on his life and the horror of the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Mr Zihabamwe spent part of his childhood in an orphanage after his parents and many other family members were killed. The book won the NSW Premier’s Young People’s History prize in 2016.
A NSW Police spokesman said the alleged threat against Mr Zihabamwe was initially investigated by North Sydney police who sought advice from the Protection Operations Unit, Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Command. The POU made an assessment that a prosecution could not be pursued for diplomatic reasons.
“The incident was reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which is the most appropriate course of action in these circumstances,” the spokesman said.
In its submission to a federal government inquiry into issues facing diaspora communities in Australia, the Refugee Council of Australia said the safety of people in diaspora communities had been threatened. It said the cases involved individuals from a number of African countries including Rwanda, as well as China.
It said the foreign interference, ranging from foreign government surveillance, harassment and intimidation through to threats and/or violence against family or friends in other countries, aimed to silence and control members of a diaspora community.
ASIO’s submission to the inquiry said that some foreign governments “seek to interfere in diaspora communities to control or quash opposition or dissent deemed to be a threat to their government”.
“Such interference has included threats of harm to individuals and/or their families, both in Australia and abroad. In some cases, foreign governments will seek to use members of the diaspora community in Australia to monitor, direct and influence the activities of the same diaspora communities.”
A spokeswoman for ASIO said it “does not comment on individuals”.
Immigration Minister Alan Tudge told the National Press Club in August that he was concerned about the reach of some foreign governments into Australia’s multicultural communities.
“Despite now being proud Australians, some communities are still seen by their former home countries as ‘their diaspora’ – to be harassed or exploited to further the national cause,” he said. “Some who criticise their former country are silenced through threats and intimidation, including to family members back in their country of heritage.
“Others are persuaded or forced to monitor or harass members of their own community who may hold views contrary to those of the governing regimes in their former countries.”
Michael Roux, Honorary Consul General of Rwanda in Australia, said he was not aware of any reports about alleged threats against Rwandan refugees in Australia, including Mr Zihabamwe, and had received no reports about his missing brothers.
“The government has a clear policy of non-interference with the diaspora in foreign countries,” he said. “There is no attempt to tell diaspora members what they should do. The country has a support mechanism for Rwandans abroad but there is no politics to my knowledge involved in any of that.”
Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye, High Commissioner of The Republic of Rwanda in Australia, said he was not aware of any alleged threats against Australian citizens. “Rwanda and Australia enjoy strong bilateral ties, and thus any issue that might arise would be discussed through existing diplomatic channels,” he said.
A DFAT spokesman said the Australian government took the alleged threats made towards an Australian citizen seriously.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware of these concerns, and has raised them with the Rwandan government,” the spokesman said.
“The department has also reaffirmed with the Rwandan government the importance of freedom of expression and the right of all Australians to exercise this right free from intimidation.’’
A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs said the Australian government “will continue to take strong action to deter acts of foreign interference as the threat evolves, defend against them when they occur, and uphold our laws”.
Dr Leon Hartwell is a political analyst specialising in Africa and the Balkans.