By Claude Gatebuke
Let me start with a congratulations to Laure Uwase on your appointment to the group of experts reviewing Belgium’s legacy of colonialism in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. I hope you and the other Africans on the panel will make Africa proud. But I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the drama and temper tantrums staged by the Rwandan government and it’s various branches in response to your appointment. So here goes:👇🏿
She fled Rwanda as a Toddler in the midst of genocide and war that took hundreds of thousands of lives. She was 2 years old and fortunate to make it out alive. She eventually ended up in Belgium and made the best of her opportunities outside of her homeland. She has dedicated herself to a career as a lawyer and also a human rights activist. Her activism focusing on atrocities and human rights abuses by Rwanda’s regime led by Paul Kagame has earned her the wrath of the dictator and his minions in the government. She’s constantly under harrasment by officials and supporters of the Rwandan government who would like for her to either be silent about their atrocities at a minimum or to turn into a supporter of their government.
Recently, she was appointed to a panel (including Congolese and Burundians) of experts on Belgian Colonialism in the Great Lakes Region of Africa where Rwanda is located. As expected, the Rwandan government which brags about having the highest percentage of women in parliament in the world has succumbed to the wishes of the country’s dictator Paul Kagame and his military and are petitioning to have the young woman removed from the panel. Mind you, this is a military dictatorship led by mass murderers, some of whom such as generals Patrick Nyamvumba, Jean Bosco Kazura as well as Theos Badege have been appointed to international bodies such as UN “Peacekeeping” missions for the 2 generals and Interpol for Theos Badege (also involved in the torture of recently assassinated beloved gospel singer Kizito Mihigo).
Why does the Rwandan government oppose a survivor of atrocities whose life was spared at 2 years old by luckily able to escape? Because the regime is guilty of human rights abuses and she’s not shy about calling out those abuses. Because the regime has committed mass atrocities and she has not shied away from speaking up on such atrocities. So any achievements on her part are met with opposition from the regime even outside of Rwanda. Her pursuit by the dictatorship is reminiscent of Rwanda’s military pursuit of refugees in Congo where they killed over 200,000 women, men and children among those refugees in an invasion that has killed over 6 million Congolese, mostly children.
The more the Kagame regime pursues those who fled their atrocities, the more the story of their atrocities must be shared with the world.
