Human Rights Watch call to end attacks on Rwandan opposition

By Ann Garrison
The Digital Journal
February 10, 2010

The FDU-Inkingi Party, the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, and the Parti Social-Imberakuri all report harassment, threats, bureaucratic road blocks, and even arrest to prevent them from fielding candidates in Rwanda's 2010 presidential election.

Now the BBC, Reuters, and AFP, are all covering the Human Rights Watch report published Feb. 10, titled Rwanda: End Attacks on Opposition Parties.

In the report, Georgette Gagnon, Africa director, says: "Rwanda has a long way to go. Despite the facade of occasional elections, the government essentially runs a one-party state. And ironically, it is the genocide that has provided the government with a cover for repression."

On Feb. 10, hundreds of people protested in front of the embassy in Brussels, Belgium, against repression and dictatorship in Rwanda.

Many now ask how the Washington Post, New York Times, and the U.S. State Department will respond.

Rwanda is America's closest ally in Africa, with an army of 70,000 to 100,000 serving in accordance with U.S. foreign policy all over Africa.
 
Hillary Clinton also spoke at the 2009 African Growth and Opportunities Conference in Nairobi where she called Rwanda "the beacon of hope for Africa."

Observers are also looking to see how Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will respond; both championed Rwanda's application to enter the Commonwealth last November, despite the adamant objections of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Group.

Various media reports on this subject can be found online here:

• BBC: Rwanda leaders "bullying critics"

• Reuters South Africa: Rwanda opposition faces intimidation

• AFP: Rights watchdog slams attacks on Rwanda opposition

• AFP: Rwanda clamping down

• Afro News!: Rwanda urged to cease hostilities