| Rwanda maintains its relations with the United States have not changed despite Washington’s criticism of Kigali over alleged arbitrary arrests and calls for the government to respect freedom of expression. «The relationship between the United States and Rwanda have not changed over the last many years,» Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo told reporters on June 20.
There is no such a thing as countries agreeing 100 percent on everything being done in each one of the countries.»
Earlier in June Washington said it was «deeply concerned by the arrest and disappearance of dozens of Rwandan citizens» as well as «credible reports» of threats to journalists.
Rwanda swiftly rejected the criticism, saying that it was responding to threats from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) — remnants of the Hutu group linked to the 1994 genocide in which at least 800,000 mainly Tutsis died.
«The concerns of alleged disappearances when somebody is in the hands of the police or justice, that doesn’t mean that the person has disappeared,» she Mushikiwabo, adding Rwanda would not tolerate insecurity.
«Security is a very serious matter, it is for Rwanda as it is for the United States or any other country, and we will handle any acts of insecurity very robustly,» Mushikiwabo added. «That is not changing. We also make sure that everything is done in accordance with our own laws.»
Western nations supported Kagame after the 1994 Tutsi genocide but have increasingly been critical due to his government’s purported abuses against critics and alleged interference in Democratic Republic of Congo.
Human Rights Watch in May reported an increasing number of forcible disappearances in Rwanda and said there were «indications of involvement of state agents.»
Rwanda accused the New York-based group of spreading the equivalent of «political propaganda for terrorist groups.»
In the same week Mushikiwabo responded to allegations of abuse of human rights, the government released Agnes Uwimana Nkusi, a journalist who has ben in jail for four years in jail for writing articles critical of President Paul Kagame.
Nkusi, then-editor of the Umurabyo newspaper, was arrested in 2010 and convicted the following year for defamation, causing divisions, and denying Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.
«I am very happy to get out of jail and I will continue my career,» she told reporters as she left jail, adding she would continue to write critical articles of the government.
«I’m not afraid because of my four-year sentence…I have no regrets, I am determined to do my job until I die.»
Her sentence of 17 years was cut to four in 2012, after the Supreme Court cleared her of genocide denial and promoting ethnic divisions.
Convictions for defamation for insulting President Paul Kagame and inciting public disorder were upheld.
Rights group Amnesty International condemned the imprisonment of the journalist. The media watchdog ranked Rwanda 162nd out of 180 countries in its 2014 press freedom index
Souce: Independent.co.ug |