Rwanda: A Citizen’s Call to Action
By Frank
Samvura
Gicumbi District
Northern Province
Rwanda
December 18, 2013
Martin Niemöller once said: “First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak out because I
wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Socialists, and I didn’t speak out
because I wasn’t a Socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I
didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for me, and
there was no one left to speak for me…”
 |
| Pastor Martin Niemöller |
Pastor Martin Niemöller was an anti-communist
theologian who supported Hitler’s rise to power. He became deeply disillusioned
when he realized the Führer’s autocratic propensities, and became the leader of
a group of German clergymen opposed to Hitler. He was arrested in 1937 and sent
to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Released in 1945 by the Allies Forces,
Niemöller continued his career in Germany as a clergyman and a leading voice of
reconciliation. His testimony has become humanity’s rebuke to foolish inertia.
We cannot, and must not remain silent as despotism continues to wreak havoc in
our motherland.
Back in April 1996, I attended a week-long workshop
in West Africa with an American woman from Oklahoma City. When I told her that
I was from Rwanda, she was excited and wanted to know more. It was obvious that
she had read all the official propaganda. We sat down on a terrace café for
nearly half an hour. I gave her some key facts and did my best to avoid
controversies. She listened carefully and at the end told me “I don’t believe
in any of your stories”. She went her way, and I went my way. Two years later,
I had just picked up my lunch tray at a Nairobi Anglican Church canteen when I
heard a female voice calling my name. “Frank, is that you?” “Yes, Linda. It’s
me”. I replied. We sat down for a little over an hour this time. I quietly
enjoyed my ugali, beef stew and githeri (beans and corn). Linda spoke non-stop.
She had just been expelled from Rwanda after her work permit was revoked. She
narrated the horrors she witnessed in Ruhengeri and Gikongoro. I made no
comment. At the end she asked me “do you remember what I told you in West
Africa?” Her words still reverberated in my ears. I said “Yes”. Then she said
“I’m sorry. You were right. We’ve been misled”. And that was the last time I
saw Linda.
Linda lived in Rwanda at a time when nobody cared.
It was as if those who were being killed deserved to die. The world was tired
of watching live TV feeds with people were being hacked to death. This was a
time similar to the early days of Nazism in Germany. Some of us chose to stay
on the sidelines, hoping we would be safe. We were dead wrong, exactly like
Pastor Martin Niemöller six decades earlier. We thought the new regime in
Kigali was only after those who led the genocide. History has proven us wrong.
After finishing off all political and military enemies both inside and outside
Rwanda, the regime has now turned its guns on ordinary citizens; just like you
and me. Highly respected and successful citizens such as Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa
are on the run, and their properties confiscated. General Faustin Kayumba
Nyamwasa and his soldiers who were once hailed as freedom fighters are being flushed out of their hideouts in neighboring countries and beyond to face the
gallows like petty criminals. The civil society has been neutralized; NGOs shut
down or kicked out of the country; the media muted and any alternative voice
muzzled.
 |
Victoire Ingabire speaks to her supporters
in front of the Supreme Court in Kigali,
Rwanda, on December 13, 2013
|
Two weeks after his release from prison on 11th
February 1990, President Mandela said “The
collapse of good conscience and the absence of accountability and public
scrutiny have led to crimes against humanity and violations of international
law”. The Rwandan judiciary has lost its conscience. Otherwise, how would
you justify the sentencing of Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza to 15 years in
prison? Is it because of the concocted criminal charges or just because she
championed a free and democratic society? The Rwandan Supreme Court is accountable
to whom? Not to their conscience or the people of Rwanda, but to one man. Imperialism
has taken roots in Rwanda. The judiciary has lost its independence. We are
doomed.
We must all stand up and resist oppression. Pastor
Martin Niemöller supported Hitler to rise to power. He remained silent as he
watched others around him, one by one, fall victim to Nazi terror, remaining
aloof because it was not “me”. And when
“they” finally came for “him”, he was all alone! President Obama said the
following at the Mandela commemoration ceremony on December 10, 2013: “There are too many leaders who claim
solidarity with Madiba's struggle for freedom, but do not tolerate dissent from
their own people. And there are too many of us who stand on the sidelines,
comfortable in complacency or cynicism when our voices must be heard".
The time for action is now. Let’s put aside our
differences and cynicism and fight oppression. You and I are the next targets
of the regime in Kigali. We may be struggling to make ends meet; send our
children to school; but the regime in Kigali is busy fabricating criminal charges
against us. They are contemplating every single opportunity to squash all those
“perceived” to be enemies of the aristocracy.
As we gather with friends and family during this
festive season to celebrate the birth of our redeemer Jesus Christ and usher in
a new year, let’s not forget that the regime in Kigali has no more enemies left
other than you and me. They will come for us, unless we go for them. Our voices
must be heard.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
A TERRORIST YESTERDAY AND A HERO TODAY - IN THE SHADOW OF MANDELA’S LEGACY
 |
| Nelson Mandela in prison |
By Freddy Wangabo MweneNgabo
Executive Director, ECAAIR
339
York Street,
Unit B08
Fredericton, Canada
Postal Code, E3B 3P5
Tel: +1(506) 259-4440
Today,
we celebrate the life of President Nelson Madiba Mandela. The world has lost a
true leader, Africa has lost a true son and South Africa has lost a father. The sacrifices made by Mr.
Mandela for his nation South Africa are great examples and a source of inspiration for
all the young and old across nations. For those of us from countries under
occupation and brutality such as my homeland Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
we truly have a lot to learn from Mandela.
Mr. Mandela was
an anti-apartheid revolutionary born on 18 July 1918 and who died on 5 December 2013. He was
married to Everlyn Ntoko Mase whom he divorced in 1957; Winnie Madikizela whom
he divorced in 1996 and his current wife Graca Machel (married in 1998) the window
of the former Mozambican President Samoral Michel. Mr. Mandela is the father of
8 children.
In 1962 he was
arrested, convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the state, and sentenced to life
imprisonment. Mr. Mandela served over 27 years in prison, initially on Robben Island, and after Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison. He was released in 1990, thanks to local escalating
civil strife and international pressure on the government of the moderate apartheid
President Frederik W. de Klerk with whom Mr. Mandela shared the Nobel Peace
Prize later in 1993. In 1994, Mr. Mandela became South Africa's first black president serving only a 4 years term
ending in 1999.
I can’t imagine
what Mr. Mandela had to go through spending 27 years in jail and servitude for the
sake of his nation. As a former political prisoner myself in my home country (“the
very very Democratic” Republic of Congo-DRC), I can identify with the torture
and trauma he must have had to endure over the years.
There are a lot
of inspirational sacrifices made by Mr. Mandela which can serve as learning examples
for all nations and ages and I find particularly fascinating his abilities to
unify South Africa with a vision of a Rainbow nation, and his desire to forgive
and reconcile not only ensured harmony and peace but also served to heal the
wounded ones.
Mr. Mandela has also been very brave and vocal
in defending other oppressed nations. His voice to free Palestine from the oppressive hand of Israel came at a time when he desperately needed the
support of the pro-Israel western powers. This move was seen as provocative,
politically unconventional, and socially and economically unacceptable by
western nations especially by the United States and their western allies. In addition, in 1990 and
1991, Mr. Mandela consecutively visited Presidents Muammar Qaddafi of Libya and Fidel Castro
of the communist nation of Cuba. Although Cuba and the United States of America have got a lot in common and there are many reasons and
gains for shaping their diplomatic relations with each other, it can be argued
that the Cuban-USA relations have been at times bitter, hypocritical, dangerous
and combative. Therefore at the time it was a very bold and principled stand
for any leader to visit Cuba least of all Mr. Mandela. As a result some people
viewed Mr. Mandela as a traitor while others viewed him as a terrorist.
Until 2008,
Nelson Mandela was on the U.S. terrorist Watch List and was designated a terrorist
for challenging apartheid and his fight for equality and freedom of his people.
It was therefore an interesting twist of fate to hear Mr. Barack Hussein Obama,
the U.S. President praising the good work of Mr. Mandela during his speech at
the Nelson Mandela Memorial Service in South Africa this week and would no doubt have brought a smile of
satisfaction to Mandela’s face.
On a personal
level I remember, in Fredericton, New Brunswick-Canada; at the time I was
deciding to observe a hunger strike against injustices in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) being told by my boss that I would be put on the list
of terrorists and never be allowed to travel. It is therefore gratifying and
inspirational to me personally to learn from Nelson Mandela’s life and example.
MANDELA’S FAILURES AND WEAKNESSES
Nevertheless I
still find it striking seeing how Mandela’s story is now being fictionalized to
make one universal truth. Although I regard
Mr. Mandela as a true South African freedom fighter and a peace maker at the
same time I know that like any leader he had his failures and weaknesses
including some of his deliberate political omissions and unusual silence over injustices,
wars and genocide in other parts of the world.
Mr. Mandela’s deliberate political omissions and
silence over injustices in some of these instances can be seen as siding with the
oppressors and examples can be drawn from the Rwandan Genocide.
On April 6, 1994, when Rwandans started brutal killings of each
other; the world stood idly by and watched the slaughtering. Lasting over 100
days (3 ½ months), the Rwanda genocide left approximately 800,000 Tutsis and moderate
Hutus dead. Mr. Mandela, though he had
power and influence as an African statesman did not do enough to either prevent
or stop this genocide in Rwanda at the time. Mr. Mandela’s silence and lack of
actions were similar to that of his trusted friends Mr. Bill Clinton at that
time President of the USA, Mr. Tony Blair at that time Prime Minister of the UK and Mr. Koffi Annan at that time United Nations General
Secretary. Although these four leaders have accepted guilt over the Rwandan
genocide for their lack of actions during the genocide they have in
compensation set a goal to support and maintain their groomed friend, Paul
Kagame President of Rwanda, in power in spite of the high human cost he has been
involved in throughout the whole the Great Lakes Region of Africa.
The other indisputable
truth about Mr. Mandela’s silence can be drawn from my homeland, the Democratic
republic of Congo
(DRC).
Since 1998 to
date, the DRC has been devastated by war sometimes referred to as the
"African world war" killing between 5.4 and 8 million people, with
over 2, 5 million internally displaced, 2 million forced to cross the boarders
as refugees, thousands of children coerced by fighting militia groups and 48
women raped every hour at least for the reported cases. The war in Democratic
Republic of Congo is also known as the world's deadliest since the World War II.
While some people
may argue that Mr. Mandela was not vocal on the Rwandan genocide and did not
take actions to either prevent or end it, because he was newly in power then
and he had to be cautious; the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) was completely different.
The war crimes,
the genocide and the multiple invasions of Democratic Republic of Congo as
documented by numerous reports including those by the United Nations have all
taken place with Mr. Mandela very well positioned to intervene and make a
lasting legacy for the poor Congolese people.
Considering that
Mr. Mandela left presidency in 1999, with his profile and respect among nations
at a height; more than anybody else on earth Mr. Mandela had nothing to lose and
indeed had a moral responsibility to defend peace in the Democratic Republic of
Congo. Given the magnitude of atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo it
will be very hard to argue that Mr. Mandela knew about injustice in Palestine and not the injustice and genocide that was going on
in my country the Democratic Republic of Congo. His silence therefore in the face
of the Democratic Republic of Congo situation was all the more baffling and at
odds with his global stance and profile. It was also all the more striking when
we as Congolese remember contributions Mobutu and the Congolese in general had
made towards the ANC’s fight against apartheid long before it became
fashionable to be identified with the cause. I remember president Mobutu’s
speech of 1973 at the United Nations General Assembly being the first of its
kind in exposing and condemning the apartheid regime of South Africa. In that same speech Mobutu condemned and broke
diplomatic relations with Israel for allowing a state visit to Israel by the foreign affairs minister of South Africa Dr. Pieter Mulder.
I may confidently assert that Mr. Mandela’s silence
and failures to speak up against the proxy wars, invasions, mass killings and
genocide that were perpetrated against Congolese has significantly contributed
to my peoples suffering in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has led most
Congolese to view him as having identified, joined and stood with our
oppressors against us.
Being from the Greats Lakes Region of Africa and the
Democratic Republic of Congo in particular and being involved in many struggles
to free my nation; while Mr. Mandela presents to me a challenge to forgive and
reconcile communities, I can also say that Mr. Mandela had his failures and
weaknesses and like many leaders, his mistakes came at a greater cost to some
poor people and nations. The story of his legacy therefore cannot simply be
narrated in a one sided reality that is “Black and white”.
I can empathize with the people of South Africa in
their recognition of Mr. Mandela as their hero and share in their moment of
grief for his passing on and I certainly respect and adore his courage to free
his nation, but as a Congolese of conscience I would struggle to see him in
quite the same way as my hero or the father of African liberty like he is being
portrayed to be by western nations and media.
Finally, I believe Mandela’s role in the Democratic Republic
of Congo’s conflicts is relevant to us as Canadians in view of our material and
resource contributions towards maintaining MONUSCO, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, our stance for global peace and even
more importantly our extensive corporate investments in the Democratic Republic
of Congo. I believe it behooves all Canadians to be well informed and maintain a
balanced view of issues affecting my country the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
About
the Author:
Freddy Wangabo MweneNgabo is a renowned human rights activist from
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) currently living in exile in Canada
since 2009. Before coming to Canada
he has been jailed several times in the DRC because of his work for human
rights.
Last year,
in Canada,
he observed a 48-days hunger strike to influence the government of Prime
Minister Stephen Harper to either boycott or take a leadership role through the
2012 Francophone Summit in Kinshasa
if the government there cannot conduct its business by respecting democratic
principles and stopping atrocities against civilians.
With regard to the above article, Freddy Wangabo MweneNgabo
particularly finds it striking how Mandela’s story is knowingly being written
as a fiction to make one universal truth.
Although Mr. Freddy Wangabo MweneNgabo regards Mr. Mandela as a
true South African freedom fighter and a true peace maker, at the same time, he
is aware of Mandela’s failures and weaknesses including some of his deliberate
political omissions and unusual silence over injustices, wars and genocide in other parts of the world.
Should you have any question, concern or would
like to discuss this article with him, please feel free to contact him at wangabof@yahoo.fr.
Related
Stories:
Rwanda's Ingabire: political prisoner or terrorist?
By Stephanie Aglietti | AFP – Fri, Dec 13, 2013
 |
Victoire Ingabire speaks to her supporters
in front of the Supreme Court
in Kigali,
Rwanda,
on December 13, 2013
|
A political prisoner to supporters but a convicted terrorist to Rwandan justice, Victoire Ingabire, who was jailed for 15 years Friday on appeal, divides opinion in the small central African nation.
Arrested in October 2010, months after returning from 16 years in exile in the Netherlands, Ingabire has been a rare outspoken critic and challenger to the iron-fisted rule of President Paul Kagame.
The 45-year-old mother of three children heads the Unified Democratic Forces (UDF), an opposition group not recognised as a political party in Rwanda.
Her return to the country was deeply controversial.
After laying flowers at the genocide memorial in Kigali, commemorating the 1994 slaughter of some 800,000 people, mainly minority Tutsis, Ingabire called for perpetrators of crimes against the Hutu majority also to be pursued, sparking a furious reaction.
"She wanted to play the ethnic card," said a Supreme Court lawyer.
Last April, Ingabire, who maintains her innocence and boycotted much of her trial by remaining in her cell, was sentenced to eight years in jail for terrorism and genocide denial.
Though she was found not guilty of spreading genocide ideology and "setting up an armed group", prosecution lawyers appealed and called for her jail time to be extended to 25 years.
At the demand of prosecutors, the court in Kigali on Friday increased Ingabire's jail term to 15 years, but rejected some of the charges against her.
The prosecution accused her of collaborating with rebels who fled to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after carrying out the genocide, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda(FDLR).
But others are sceptical.
"I don't think she has links with the FDLR," said Anneke Verbraeken, a Dutch journalist who has followed her career, but she added that Ingabire had been "naive and had not always chosen her followers wisely".
Ingabire's husband, Lin Muyizere, insists that if she had any discussions with the rebels, it was to make clear how she opposed integration with them.
"The armed struggle was not her field," he said.
Politically ambitious
Born in 1968, Ingabire was raised by her grandparents in the picturesque western Rwandan town of Gisenyi on the shores of Lake Kivu, and later studied in the capital Kigali before working in the finance ministry.
A Hutu, Ingabire left Rwanda for the Netherlands for economic training in March 1994, just two weeks before the shooting down of the airplane of Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana, which triggered the genocide.
Later joined by her husband and granted asylum in the Netherlands in 1995, she worked as an accountant for an American company.
But Rwanda remained close to her heart and she set up a charity to support Rwandans who had fled after the genocide into grim camps in eastern Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"Victoire never wanted to move to the Netherlands," said her husband, adding that she wanted "Rwandans to reconcile."
In 1997, she joined and later chaired an opposition political group set up by refugees in the neighbouring DR Congo, the Republican Rally for Democracy in Rwanda (RDR), before in 2003 leading the coalition Union of Rwandan Democratic Forces (UFDR).
"Ingabire was chosen because her hands were not dirty," unlike other opposition members accused of involvement in the genocide, said Verbraeken.
"She was also young, and men in the party thought they could handle her."
But they quickly became disillusioned, a source close to the movement in exile said.
"Her last meetings in Brussels in late 2009 were quite spectacular... she had acquired charisma... and a taste for power," the source said.
In 2006, Ingabire backed the creation of yet another opposition movement, the United Democratic Forces, which she still heads.
"It took me some time before taking her seriously," admits analyst Kris Berwouts, who knew her during her exile. "I found it difficult to imagine that someone who left Rwanda before the genocide and that had never returned could threaten the regime."
On The Kigali Trial of 2013: History Repeats Itself!
By Frank Samvura
Gicumbi District
Northern Province
Rwanda
14 December 2013
 |
Jomo Kenyatta is arrested
|
On Tuesday 12 December 2013, the whole world looked south, to celebrate the life of a man who was once labelled as a terrorist and sentenced to life in prison. Nelson Mandela dedicated his entire life to fighting against injustice and inequality. He defeated the powerful Apartheid government that jailed him for 27 long years without firing a single shot, and was elected first black President of the Republic of South Africa. Did Mandela jailers know that the fake Rivonia trial of 1963 was the tipping point of his struggle for racial equality in South Africa?What a great week we had! Last Thursday 12 December 2013, I was delighted to see the sons and daughters of Kenya’s Mau-Mau freedom fighters lead a colourful ceremony to celebrate 50 years of the independence of East and Central Africa’s largest economy. I would bet that when British colonialists unjustly sentenced and jailed Mzee Jomo Kenyatta for 7 years on 8th April 1953, they never thought he would emerge victorious to be the founding father of the new independent nation. Did the judges of the fake Kapenguria trial know they had strengthened an old man determined to free the people of Kenya?
 |
| Victoire Ingabire at her trial |
This week was surely a week that some of us will never forget. I hate it when the 13th day of the month falls on a Friday. Either something bad happens to me, or it happens to an individual that I respect or love. On Friday 13 December 2013, Mme Victoire Umuhoza Ingabire was unjustly sentenced to 15 years in prison. Like Mandela and his comrades at the Rivonia trial, Mrs. Ingabire is being accused of plotting to overthrow an oppressive regime. My body was brewing with anger and disgust the moment I heard the news on BBC. But later in the evening, as I lay down on my bed, the following words came back to my mind: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Many believe that Martin Luther King’s prophecy of August 28, 1963 materialized the day Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. This is the same President who eulogized Nelson Mandela on December 10, 2013 saying: “There are too many of us who happily embrace Madiba's legacy of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality. There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba's struggle for freedom, but do not tolerate dissent from their own people".
 |
| Nelson Mandela in prison |
I ended up sleeping extremely well on this Friday December 13, 2013. Why? Because the Supreme Court has just given Mme Victoire Ingabire another reason to fight against oppression and injustice in Rwanda. Like Kenyatta and Mandela, Ingabire will emerge victorious and free the people of Rwanda. No wonder why Ingabire was name “Victoire” or “Victory”. I’m convinced, more than ever, that my children and grand-children will one day gather at the Victoire Ingabire Amahoro Stadium in Kigali to commemorate the life of the first woman President of the Republic of Rwanda. Her name will be the hottest brand in the country. My youngest grand-daughters will have to work hard in School to be accepted at the prestigious Victoire Ingabire School of Leadership for girls. Every man and woman will want to have in his wallet an East African bank note bearing Ingabire’s image.
History repeats itself. The Kapengurai trial of 1953 was a fake. The Rivonia trial of 1963 was a phoney. And the Kigali trial of 2013 is a sham. No matter what happens, Ingabire will always be remembered for her fight for the voiceless, marginalized and consistently humiliated people of Rwanda. A dream always comes true.
Rwanda: La condamnation de Madame Victoire Ingabire à 15 ans de prison est un verdict contre l’ensemble de l’opposition démocratique
La condamnation de Madame Victoire Ingabire, Présidente
des FDU-INKINGI, à 15 ans de prison ferme, loin d’être un cas isolé, est un
signal fort que le gouvernement du FPR envoie à l’ensemble de l’opposition
démocratique. En effet, les charges aujourd’hui retenues contre elle, sont à
quelques détails près, les mêmes que celles retenues contre les autres chefs de
l’opposition condamnés par la justice rwandaise, à savoir : Deo Mushayidi,
Président du PDP-IMANZI et Bernard Ntaganda, Président du PS-IMBERAKURI. Mme
Ingabire expie les « péchés » de toute l’opposition démocratique.
Pourtant, au cours des audiences, elle a prouvé, au-delà
de tout doute raisonnable, que les charges retenues contre elles n’étaient
étayées par aucune preuve ni un quelconque fait vérifiable. Ce qui révèle un
procès purement politique.
Lors de sa condamnation à 8 ans par la Haute Cour, Mme
Ingabire était accusée de conspiration contre le régime en place et de
minimisation du génocide. La Cour Suprême y a ajouté le crime de propagation de
rumeurs. La conspiration contre le régime était fondée sur l’entretien d’une
prétendue rébellion armée : la CDF dont l’existence a été démolie, au cours des
audiences à la Cour Suprême, par les mêmes témoins, désabusés, que le Procureur
avait pourtant auparavant produits devant la Haute Cour. Un nouveau témoin a
même révélé, avec force détails, comment le plan avait été échafaudé au camp de
rééducation de Mutobo, Ruhengeri.La plateforme FDU-INKINGI, IHURIRO-RNC,
AMAHORO-PC exprime son soutien inconditionnel à Madame Victoire Ingabire. Elle
réitère qu’elle ne se laissera pas intimidée par l’instrumentalisation de la
justice par le régime du FPR pour contrer l’opposition. Le régime de Kigali
croit qu’en emprisonnant Madame Ingabire, éteindra cette dernière
politiquement, l’éloignera de son combat politique et dissuadera le reste de
l’opposition démocratique. Il se trompe. La lutte de Madame Ingabire pour une
société libre et démocratique et pour le vivre ensemble entre rwandais est en
effet plus forte qu’elle. Elle ne pourra pas s’en départir.
La plateforme FDU-INKINGI, IHURIRO-RNC, AMAHORO-PC en
appelle au peuple rwandais, afin qu’il prenne en mains son destin et revendique
ses droits civiques. Personne d’autre ne le fera à sa place. La plateforme
restera à ses côtés, prête à canaliser ses revendications. Elle s’adresse
également aux amis du Rwanda, pour qu’ils usent de leur influence auprès du
régime du FPR, afin de l’amener à la raison et d’ouvrir l’espace politique, tel
que demandé par le parlement européen dans sa résolution 2013/2641(RSP).
Fait le 13 Decembre 2013.
Pour la Plateforme,
Dr. Nkiko
Nsengimana
Coordinateur
FDU-INKINGI
Lausanne, Swisse
Etienne Masozera
Président
AMAHORO-PC
Ottawa, Canada
Dr. Theogene
Rudasingwa
Coordinateur
IHURIRO-RNC
Washington DC, Etats-Unis
Rwanda: 15 ans de prison pour l'opposante Victoire Ingabire
«Il ne faut pas avoir peur, on continue notre lutte. Le temps et l'histoire sont de notre côté (...) donc ne vous découragez pas on continue la lutte», a lancé vendredi à ses partisans Mme Ingabire en quittant menottée le tribunal, les saluant comme à son habitude de ses pouces levés.
Par STÉPHANIE
AGLIETTI
Kigali
13 décembre 2013
La Cour suprême du Rwanda a alourdi à 15 ans de prison vendredi en appel la condamnation de l'opposante rwandaise Victoire Ingabire, condamnée en première instance à 8 ans d'emprisonnement pour «conspiration contre les autorités par le terrorisme et la guerre» et «minimisation du génocide» de 1994.
Rejetant l'appel formé par Mme Ingabire, les magistrats, siégeant en tant que tribunal d'appel, ont confirmé vendredi le jugement de culpabilité de ces deux chefs et l'ont en outre déclarée coupable de «propagation de rumeurs dans l'intention d'inciter le public à la violence», chef dont elle avait été acquittée en première instance.
La Cour suprême a cependant confirmé l'acquittement des chefs de «propagation de l'idéologie de génocide» et «mise en place d'un groupe armé», estimant que «les preuves disponibles n'étaient pas suffisantes pour condamner» Mme Ingabire, âgée de 45 ans, et détenue depuis octobre 2010.
«Il ne faut pas avoir peur, on continue notre lutte. Le temps et l'histoire sont de notre côté (...) donc ne vous découragez pas on continue la lutte», a lancé vendredi à ses partisans Mme Ingabire en quittant menottée le tribunal, les saluant comme à son habitude de ses pouces levés.
Le Parquet avait requis en appel 25 ans de prison. Tant Mme Ingabire, qui niait l'ensemble des charges, que le Parquet avaient fait appel du jugement de première instance.
«On est déçu bien sûr, mais (...) on va attendre le jugement écrit qui sera disponible à partir de l'année prochaine, on va le lire longuement et on va réfléchir à la suite», a réagi l'avocat britannique de l'opposante, Iain Edwards, sans autre précision.
M. Edwards avait annoncé à l'issue du procès de première instance son intention de porter l'affaire devant la Cour africaine des droits de l'Homme, à Arusha (Tanzanie) en cas d'échec de l'appel.
Le verdict n'est «pas une surprise», a souligné Boniface Twagirimana, vice-président des Forces démocratiques unifiées (FDU), parti dont Mme Ingabire est la présidente, non reconnu légalement par Kigali.
«Nous nous y attendions. La plupart de nos membres sont en prison. Nous n'allons pas abandonner le combat», a-t-il ajouté.
Le Parquet s'est de son côté dit satisfait. «Le plus important c'est le fait que la Cour suprême ait corrigé l'infraction de propagation de rumeur», a déclaré Alain Mukuralinda, l'un des procureurs ayant requis contre Mme Ingabire.
Le tribunal de première instance «avait décidé que Mme Ingabire avait commis cette infraction, mais avait ajouté que l'on n'avait pas démontré qu'il y avait eu des conséquences (...) alors que la loi n'est pas écrite ainsi», a-t-il expliqué.
La Cour suprême a en outre rejeté vendredi l'appel d'un coaccusé de Mme Ingabire, Vital Uwumurenyi, et confirmé sa condamnation à 4 ans et 6 mois de prison, dont un an avec sursis, prononcé en première instance pour «conspiration contre les autorités par le terrorisme et la guerre» et «complicité de terrorisme».
Les juges ont également rejeté l'appel formé par le Parquet contre les condamnations - clémentes - prononcées contre les trois autres coaccusés de Mme Ingabire, libres après avoir purgé leur peine.
Les quatre coaccusés de Mme Ingabire avaient reconnu au procès être d'anciens membres de la rébellion des Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR), qualifiée de mouvement «terroriste» par Kigali, et avaient affirmé que l'opposante leur avait remis de l'argent pour mettre sur pied un groupe armé en vue d'attaquer le Rwanda.
Amnesty International avait qualifié d'«inique» le procès en première instance de l'opposante, estimant la procédure «non conforme aux normes internationales».
À l'étranger lorsqu'a éclaté le génocide de 1994, Victoire Ingabire n'est revenue dans son pays qu'en 2010, pour tenter - en vain - de se présenter à la présidentielle contre le chef de l'État sortant Paul Kagame, qui l'avait emporté avec 93 % des voix.
Le jour même de son retour, elle avait demandé au mémorial du génocide à Kigali que les auteurs de crimes contre les Hutu soient aussi jugés. Des propos qui selon Kigali niaient la réalité du génocide au cours duquel 800 000 personnes selon l'ONU, essentiellement des Tutsi, ont été tuées.
Rwanda : Political prisoner, Victoire Ingabire will forever embody our democratic struggle
By Dr. Emmanuel Mwiseneza
Commissioner for Information and Communication
Brussels, 13 December 2013
Dear compatriots, dear friends of Rwanda, all of you who love peace, freedom and democracy,
The verdict has been rendered and it is devastating. Indeed, our party Chair, Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, has just unjustly been sentenced to 15 years in prison. The verdict of the Supreme Court extended the first judgement of the High Court dated 30 October 2012.
Our first words go to our party Chair, Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza to whom we express our unwavering support and promise to continue the fight she initiated until the total conquest of our rights and freedoms and the total liberation of the Rwandan people from the yoke of dictatorship under which it has been languishing for nearly two decades.
Our words also go to the family of the political prisoner, which has consented to so many sacrifices in the interests of the Rwandan people and which today is deprived of a mother or a wife.
Finally, our words are addressed to all members of FDU-Inkingi and all democrats from all the folks, to tell them: “do not be discouraged, the fight has just begun”. Nothing can stop the aspiration of a people for freedom and democracy. Wherever dictatorial regimes have tried to prevent the people from accessing its deep-rooted aspiration, they failed. Certainly, it often took men and women of exceptional courage to get them to fold back their plans. Ms. Victoire Ingabire is one of those.
Let us recall that the decision of FDU-Inkingi to do politics in Rwanda was made after reviewing all options to restore the democratic rule in Rwanda in face of a dictatorial regime. The peaceful option we chose seemed to be the best to avoid eternal power shift through bloodshed. We always think that too much blood has already been shed in our country and it was important that the Rwandan regime understood that by such an action, we gave it an offer of peace and reconciliation in order to save the Rwandan people from the sufferings of the past.
We will not go through all the incidents that marred this trial from the High Court to the Supreme Court and were identified by both Human Rights NGOs (AI, HRW, etc.) and diplomatic representations who attended the proceedings (intimidation of the accused and her defense counsel, harassment of the accused by special emissaries, unequal treatment between the prosecution and the defense, the use of non retroactive laws, manufactured evidence, intimidation of defense witnesses, etc.).
We will neither dwell on lynching and attacks orchestrated by the government to which Ms. Victoire Ingabire was subjected upon her arrival in Rwanda, attacks by the highest authorities of the state including the President of the Republic and which showed from the start the intent of the dictatorship to specifically block the road to our party Chair and to FDU-Inkingi in general, in order to prevent them from entering the democratic competition.
Let us also remember, that the persecution of FDU-Inkingi’s Chair, Ms. Victoire Ingabire was accompanied by that of the party’s Interim Secretary General, Mr. Sylvain Sibomana and other members of FDU-Inkingi, including even her staff in order to isolate her, to weaken her and undermine all structures of the party. Currently, other members of FDU-Inkingi have been convicted and/or are awaiting convictions for reasons that are purely political, such as the fact of attending the trial hearings of Ms. Victoire Ingabire. These include Mr. Venant Abayisenga, Mr. Emmanuel Byukusenge, Ms. Leonille Gasengayire, Ms. Jenny Irakoze Flora, Mr. Marcel Nahimana, Mr. Samuel Hitimana, Mr. Christian Tuganemungu, Mr. Norbert Ufitamahoro, Mr. Valens Uwilingiyimana, Mr. Venuste Uwiringiyimana, and other members who have been persecuted in total indifference and trampling of laws yet established by the regime.
The leaders of other opposition parties such Deo Mushayidi, Bernard Ntaganda, Dr. Theoneste Niyitegeka, etc. are also languishing in prison for political reasons.
With the conviction of FDU-Inkingi’s Chair, Ms. Victoire Ingabire, the conviction of its Interim Secretary General, Mr. Sylvain Sibomana, as well as the ongoing trials of other party members, the Rwandan government hopes to prevent them from exercising their constitutional rights and to decapitate our party; thanks to the laws the government has tailored in order to padlock the political arena.
We hereby recognize the leadership of our party Chair and our party Interim Secretary General because their fight, which is just and legitimate, is also ours. Imprisoned or not, Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza will remain the beacon that will lead us to total democratic victory.
We’ve already said it at the outset that this trial is political. Nevertheless, we wanted to give to the Rwandan justice system a chance to prove whether it is really independent from the political power. Today’s verdict and those that preceded it, definitively prove that we are facing a political conflict that requires a political solution.
This is why we once again solemnly request direct negotiations with the Rwandan government to find appropriate and lasting solutions to problems of democracy, governance, justice, reconciliation, etc. to prevent other mayhem and to enable all components of the Rwandan people to live together in mutual respect and to guarantee the rights and freedoms of everyone.
We condemn such acts that are outrageous for a respectful state and call upon the international community, Rwanda’s donors, friends of Rwanda, the countries of the Great Lakes region in Africa, the United Nations, the European Union and all the people who love peace and democracy to use their influence and request the Rwandan government to release Ms. Victoire Ingabire and all other political prisoners and accept democratic rules by letting all political parties to freely operate in compliance with the Constitution.
To the Rwandan regime, we reiterate once again, our appeal so that it may exercise restraint and regain its senses.
Thank you for your attention.
