President Paul Kagame hounding politicians and journalists who are against his regime
The international community led by countries like the United States, Great Britain and France, are today being accused of encouraging Rwandan President Paul Kagame to act with impunity.
A statement issued by the Rwanda National Council (RNC) to which Col Patrick Karegeya who was murdered in a Johannesburg hotel room on New Year’s Eve belonged, says the assassination and incarceration of the country’s opposition leaders in particular and Rwandans in general has now reached “unacceptable levels”. It said Rwanda’s political figures and journalists critical of the Kagame regime inside and outside the tiny East African country, are being hounded by the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) which has handed long jail terms to its opponents.
According to the RNC, those handed lengthy prison terms for opposing Kagame include Deo Mushayidi of PDP Inkinzi, Victoire Ingabire who leads the opposition FDU-Inkingi and who was given a 15-year prison term; Dr Theoneste Niyitegeka who also received a 15-year jail term after challenging Kagame for the presidency in 2003; Bernard Ntaganda, president of PS Imberakuli who is serving a four-year jail term and Sylvain Sibomana, Secretary General of FDU-Inkingi who is serving a two-year jail term.
The RNC statement, a copy of which was handed to The London Evening Post claimed that since 1994, Kagame’s government has committed “horrendous abuses of human rights in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)”. It said these include war crimes, crimes against humanity and possibly acts of genocide. “Political space has been closed, press freedoms curtailed, civil society silenced, and Rwanda [is] in a state of permanent siege, fear and insecurity reminiscent of the pre-1994 genocide period,” the RNC claims. It accused President Kagame of rejecti9ng “peace and dialogue” and embarking on a violent path of assassinating and jailing his opponents and “declaring war on all Rwandans who demand freedom”.
In the wake of the assassination of Col Karegeya, the Rwanda opposition says it finds it incredible that a person the West views as a respectable African leader could openly admit to his government’s involvement in the assassination of a political opponent. Quoting the Associated Press, the RNC said President Kagame had been quoted by the AP as saying: “You cannot betray Rwanda and get away with it. There are consequences for betraying your country…It’s a matter of time, whoever betrayed the nation cannot escape the consequences.” FULL STORY