Rwandan Government Condemned by United Nations for Repression Against Journalists

by AfroAmerica Network on January 25, 2011

UN Condemns Rwanda for Repression Against Journalists

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Photo: Umurabyo Editor, Agnes Nkusi Uwimana and her lawyer, in a Rwandan court.

The US Delegate to the United Nations Council on Human Rights, John Mariz, has accused the Rwandan Government of repression against journalists, which has lead to bloodshed and violence, in a meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland on January 24, 2010.

John Mariz, while calling for the protection of journalists, told the 47 members forming the UN Council on human rights: “While acknowledging Rwanda’s painful history with the misuse of the media to foment violence, we note that the suppression of free speech has also led to bloodshed and violence. We remain concerned with the lack of progress in allowing media organs to speak freely without fear of punishment. ”

The concern from the US was supported by the British Delegate, Ambassador Peter Gooderham, who said that Great Britain is “concerned about restrictions on freedom of speech and the suspension of independent newspapers”. Peter Gooderham went as far as blaming Rwanda for the murders of journalists, including the Umuvugizi deputy editor Jean-Leonard Rugambage, allegedly assas

sinated by Rwandan intelligences operatives in June 2010 and the imprisonment of two females journalists of Umurabyo newspaper, especially the editor Ms. Agnes Nkusi Uwimana, condemned earlier this month to 33 years jail term and her co-writer, Saidath Mukakibibi awaiting trial.

Switzerland, France, and Canada echoed the concerns raised by the US and Great Britain and condemned the recent laws enacted by the Rwandan Government and which claim to fight against genocide and “genocide ideology” . Delegates from these countries argued that these laws are used to repress the freedom of speech and press. could easily be misused or misinterpreted.

The overwhelming convergence between Great Britain, the US, and Canada, usually the staunch supporters of the Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame and France, a former enemy, turned careful cooperator over last year marks a departure that may not bode well for the Rwandan Government.

Meanwhile, AfroAmerica Network has learned that the condemnation has further fueled divisions and fractures within the RPF junta, with some, especially the faction led by his wife Janet Kagame and that includes Tutsis who returned from Burundi, openly putting pressure on Paul Kagame to open a political space, at least with some of the opposition groups in the diaspora.

The open appeal to Paul Kagame by his closest aides has surprised even the sources that were used to seeing Paul Kagame unchallenged, at least that openly.