Rwanda: A Citizen’s Weekly Open Letter to Paul Kagame-May 12, 2010

By Aimable Mugara
Rwanda Human Rights and Democracy
May 12, 2010

H. E. General Paul Kagame
Office of the President
Republic of Rwanda
P.O. Box 15 Urugwiro Village
Kigali – Rwanda
Fax: +250 572431

Copy:

Prosecutor General
Martin Ngoga
National Public Prosecution Authority
BP 1328
Kigali – Rwanda
Fax: +250 589501

Commissioner General Emmanuel Gasana
Rwandan National Police
Kigali – Rwanda
Fax: +250 586602

Chief Executive Officer
Editor-in-Chief
The New Times Publications SARL
Immeuble Aigle Blanc
P.O. Box 4953
Kigali – Rwanda


A Citizen’s Weekly Open Letter to General Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda

Dear General,

There are 14 weeks left before the presidential elections. This is my ninth letter and there are 14 letters left. This week, the usual injustice that has come to symbolize Rwanda continues. Opposition politicians continue to be denied the fundamental human right to register their political parties. Some of them continue to be harassed using criminal charges trumped up by the ruling party in order to prevent them from having their name on the presidential ballot; resulting in the disenfranchisement of the population. Some presidential advisors continue to write in foreign media defending the indefensible actions of the government. It appears that everything is business as usual in the land of Rwanda where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is virtually outlawed.

I continue to be fascinated by the party registration process in Rwanda. Whereas real democratic countries have an independent commission or board in charge of party registration, in Rwanda it seems that it is the ruling party that decides which opposition parties can be registered or not. No wonder the ruling party denies the registration of any party deemed to have the potential to win the elections. A truly classic example of how absolute power corrupts absolutely.

It was interesting to see your advisor Dr. Kimonyo writing in the Huffington Post asking the important question of “Who Qualifies to Judge Rwanda?” Your advisor seems to be under the impression that no one has the right to judge Rwanda unless the person doing the judging was a victim of the 1994 genocide. With all due respect to the survivors of the 1994 genocide, I respectfully disagree that they are the only ones whose opinion about Rwanda should count. I really think that anyone who uses basic fundamental human rights as the benchmark qualifies to judge Rwanda. Because the only true way to say “Never Again” is by establishing the rule of law based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, every single article.

Your other advisor, Mr. Fairbanks just before that in his article titled “Nothing Good Comes Out of Africa” had made a lot of declarations that are either exaggerations or outright incorrect. Fortunately, Mr. Tom Rhodes, the Africa Program Coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists soon responded in the same forum to the many misguided points made by your advisor. Among the many points that Mr. Rhodes clarifies is the fact that the main reason why opposition leader Mrs. Ingabire was granted bail was because the state prosecutor could not provide sufficient evidence to prove the allegations leveled against her.

Mr. President, it is not too late to right the ship. It is not too late to abide by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is not too late to stop the disenfranchisement of the population. It is not too late to stop the harassment of opposition politicians. All that is needed is the political will to do the right thing. The will to go in the history books as having brought true democracy to Rwanda. Will you rise up to the challenge? Or will you follow in the footsteps of previous rulers who did not establish fundamental rights in Rwanda? Your choice.

Aimable Mugara
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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