DEBATE CONFERENCE ON THE SITUATION OF THE FDU INKINGI PARTY IN RWANDA

By  Eugene NDAHAYO
FDU-INKINGI Support Committee
President

Brussels, November 22, 2010

On November 20, 2010 the FDU-INKINGI Support Committee organized an open debate- conference devoted to the following topics: evaluation of the 10 month-presence of the party in Rwanda and steps to strengthen the support for the party and its leadership; national unity and reconciliation; the future of the UN mapping report on war crimes and crimes against humanity or genocide crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Members of the Support Committee expressed serious concerns over the stations of the cross undergone by the FDU-INKINGI and its Chair, Ms. Victoire INGABIRE, since her return on January16, 2010, to register the party and ensure its implementation in the country. They recalled and condemned the tortures inflicted to Ms. Victoire INGABIRE UMUHOZA by General Paul Kagame's dictatorship: defamation, intimidation, harassment, physical and moral torture, her house arrest for more than six months and her imprisonment in inhumane conditions since October 14, 2010.

Despite all those barricades on the road to democracy, Ms. Victoire INGABIRE and her team managed to peacefully expose the true nature of the regime: a dictatorship dominated by the RPF state party, a one man's rule, jailing and eliminating physically, if necessary, political opponents and critical journalists. We are facing a regime that has crippled both the judiciary and the legislative, which has sealed off the political space and has stifled the civil society and especially the media.

Members of the Support Committee urge Rwandans loving democratic values to remain engaged and not give in before these systematic persecutions and imprisonments of opposition leaders, namely Ms. Victoire INGABIRE, Mr. Bernard NTAGANDA and Mr. Déo MUSHAYIDI. The time for change has come. Our fight is democratic and will overcome the regime by all non violent means.

Concerning unity and reconciliation, the Support Committee is convinced of the richness brought by the ethnic, regional and social diversity of the Rwandan people. It continues to believe that, given the gravity of crimes against humanity, only a fair trial can serve as a solid foundation for national cohesion. Reconciliation will be effective and will only be meaningful when it will involve all Rwandans, starting with the reconciliation between victims, held hostage today by extremists from both ethnic groups. Reconciliation will be possible when all parties will respect the victims' rights to grieve.

Regarding the recent UN Mapping Report on war crimes and crimes against humanity or genocide crimes committed in the DRC mainly by the Rwandan Patriotic Army on the Hutu refugees and Congolese people, the Support Committee urges the UN to do everything possible to create an urgent ad hoc international tribunal to try such crimes. Subsequent amendments to the status and competency of the already existing International Criminal Court in The Hagues (ICC) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha could be an option.

All the speakers renewed their admiration, sympathy and solidarity to the Netherlands based family of Ms. Victoire INGABIRE, the FDU-INKINGI Chair.

Related Materials:
Bruxelles : bilan de 10 mois de présence du parti politique FDU-Inkingi au Rwanda

Rwanda – Belgique : La mobilisation parlementaire occidentale s’intensifie pour Victoire Ingabire

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza's Petition Signed by A Thousand!