Rwanda Briefing by

General Kayumba Nyamwasa

Former Rwandan Army Chief of Staff and Ambassador to India

Col. Patrick Karegeya

Former Chief of External Security Services

Dr Theogene Rudasingwa

Former Secretary General, RPF; Ambassador to the United States and Chief of Staff to the President

Gerald Gahima

Former Prosecutor General of the Republic of Rwanda and Vice President of the Supreme Court

I.      Introduction

In 1994, Rwanda suffered a tragedy that left over one million of its citizens dead as a result of war and genocide.  The war and genocide resulted in immense suffering to millions more.  The war and genocide have had far-reaching repercussions for both Rwanda and the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa as a whole.

Rwanda’s recovery from the ravages of war and genocide is generally regarded as a rare success story in post-conflict reconstruction.  Visitors to the country are impressed by its economic growth, security situation and cleanliness, as well as the orderliness of its people and the efficiency with which its institutions conduct business.  To its passionate friends, Rwanda is a shining example of democratisation, reformation, and an effective and efficient government.  Supporters of the Rwandan government largely attribute Rwanda’s success in post-war reconstruction to President Paul Kagame.  The rebel general-turned-civilian politician cultivates a cult-image as the sole hero of the country’s achievements.  President Kagame is perceived by most outsiders as both invincible and indispensable to national and regional stability.

There is, however, more to Rwanda and Paul Kagame than new buildings, clean streets, and efficient government than President Kagame’s famous friends in high places in Europe and America care to admit.  Rwanda is essentially a hard-line, one-party, secretive police state with a façade of democracy.  The ruling party, the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), has closed space for political participation.  The RPF does not tolerate political opposition or open competition for power.  The government ensures its monopoly of power by means of draconian restrictions on the exercise of the fundamental human rights of citizens.  The press, civil society and opposition parties are deprived of freedom to operate freely.  President Kagame and the ruling party that he leads depend on repression to stay in power. 

State institutions, especially law enforcement agencies, the judiciary and security services, serve to protect the RPF’s, and ultimately Kagame’s power monopoly instead of protecting the fundamental human rights of citizens.  Repression has again become particularly acute in recent months.  There have been assassination attempts, killings and enforced disappearances of members of the press and political opposition within and outside Rwanda.  Purges of political enemies, real and imagined, within the ruling party government continue unabated.  These purges have now been extended to the military.  A climate of fear and terror has enveloped the nation.

Rwanda is in crisis. The situation that prevails raises serious questions about the country’s future. Are the country’s development achievements sustainable?  Can Rwanda continue to be peaceful while the government continues to be repressive and the majority of the people consider the government illegitimate?  How do we balance individual freedoms and the requirement for a stable community?  How should citizens respond when rulers mistake the state to be their personal estate and deprive their subjects of their inalienable rights?  Should they resist peacefully or take up arms?  If armed conflict is ill-advised, given its potential to cause human suffering, how else then can citizens reclaim their rights to hold the government accountable?  What strategies would help Rwanda avoid violent conflict that appears inevitable and to set it on the path towards peaceful resolution of the problems that drive conflict in Rwandan society?

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