PROTEST: – He is a criminal, says a refugee from Rwanda about the president who mingle with Norwegian politicians and the Crown Prince this week.
RWANDA
– He should not mingle with international leaders. He is a criminal, says Jeanne Mukamurenzi who fled to Norway from Rwanda during the 1994 genocide.
She was eight years during flight, as she ran through the woods to Congo after his parents had been killed. She now lives in Trondheim.
Yesterday demonstrated Mukamurenzi along with a group of refugees from Congo, Burundi and Rwanda in front of the Radisson SAS hotel in Oslo.
The occasion was an educational conference where Kagame has been invited together with, among others, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
TOTALITARIAN DIRECTION
The protesters demand that the Norwegian government is putting pressure on the Rwandan president Paul Kagame. His regime is criticized for to develop in a totalitarian direction, and to prolong the ongoing bloody conflict in Congo.
Some of the refugees had traveled far from other Norwegian cities to protest against the president. They believe he suppresses the opposition in the country and contributes to increased ethnic tensions.
In the first period of presidency, he was supported by Western leaders. Later military support is scaled down, and relations with the West have cooled.
– SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HERE
Fulbert Habiyambere is a political refugee from Kagame government.
– He prisons and killing political opponents and does not contribute to a free debate, says Habiyambere.
Kagame came to power in Rwanda in 2000. In 2010, he was reelected with 93 percent of the vote. Diplomats and analysts were reluctant to approve the election because of poor implementation and lack of with opponents.
– There is a lack of open debate in Rwanda. There has not been any real political reconciliation after the genocide, says Habiyambere.
The Norwegian citizen Emmanuel Munyaruguru from Tromsø has been missing since he got involved in humanitarian work in Rwanda last year. According to the protesters, he is now a political prisoner.
State Secretary Hans Brattskar says Kagame is the UN Secretary General appointed as the promoter group for MDGs.
– Education is important both for political and economic development, and is in itself a human right. For a country like Rwanda is to invest in education very important. The conference in Oslo gathers 400 participants, including a number of heads of state and ministers, to attend important meetings about education.
kristian.aaser@klassekampen.no
http://www.klassekampen.no/article/20150708/ARTICLE/150709974
