By Kelly MacGarrigle
Problem Statement
President Kagame, a former soldier in the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), is a favorite among Western leaders who have praised the advances made by his administration. Despite the significant advances made by Rwadanda post-genocide, the country still faces significant issues regarding human rights abuses and its role in perpetuating violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). After detailing the complete history of the Rwandan government’s achievements and abuses, the need to address the offenses will be balanced with US strategic and diplomatic interests in the region. Additionally, it is vital to balance progress with a need to hold Rwanda to account through a full investigation into human rights abuses both committed or supported by the administration.
Background
After the Rwandan genocide of 1994, between the Hutus (majority) and Tutsis (minority), a large amount of Hutu leaders who had participated in the genocide fled the nation to the neighboring country of Zaire (now the DRC). Rwanda was essential to creating the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL), also sending their troops to fight in the Congolese Civil Wars (Prunier).
Figure 1: Regional Effects of the Rwandan Genocide
Source: BBC 2014
Kagame had multiple goals for his intervention – to pursue Hutu rebel leaders, to set up a puppet regime in Kinshasa by overthrowing Zaire’s leader, repatriating Tutsis from refugee camps in the Eastern DRC to replenish Rwanda’s depleted population, and to expand Rwandan territory by annexing the Eastern half of Zaire (Hedlund). Rwanda benefited significantly from illegal mineral exploitation of mining sites in Kivu, funneling illegal profits through Rwanda to clean the conflict minerals for distribution in global markets (Eichstaedt).
During this time, the US-supported Kagame’s government, viewing Kagame as a leading figure in US-aligned democratic “New African Leaders” (Prunier 340). However, even in the early days of the alliance, there were significant issues with Kagame, including his past leadership of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which began the Rwandan Civil War before the genocide, pursued a retaliatory genocidal policy in Zaire/the DRC, along with suppressing domestic opposition in Kigali (Ibid, 1-2). With Kagame’s election to the national presidency in 2000, his hold on power only tightened, resulting in twenty straight years of one-party rule. At the same time, the country has achieved commendable advances in terms of social progress, with 61.3% of parliamentary seats held by women, universal health care covering almost 90% of the country, and a successful bid to vaccinate all Rwandan girls against cervical cancer, along with economic initiatives and environmental protections (Campbell). However, these advances cannot overshadow the significant human rights abuses of Kagame and his security forces.
Rwandan opposition leaders who have fled the country have been assassinated in exile, with multiple experts placing the blame for the executions on Kagame. Abdallah Bamporiki, the coordinator of the Rwandan National Congress, was shot in South Africa in what his party calls a “targeted killing by Rwanda’s government,” in a “pattern of murders” ordered by the government in Kigali against opposition leaders (Bariyo). Within Rwanda, Eugene Ndereyimana, a representative for the FDU-Inkingi, an unregistered coalition of opposition parties, traveled to a political meeting in July 2019 before going missing en route. He is one of five members of the FDU that have gone missing under mysterious circumstances,” in combination with killings in other African nations.
Even before opposition leaders disappear or turn up dead, they face intense intimidation. Ndereyimana, before his disappearance, was “arbitrarily detained by military officers at a local police station,” a common complaint against the security forces of Rwanda (Fox). When Rwandans attempt to stand against Kagame for President, such as Diane Rwigara (Figure 2), they are often jailed, along with their family (both Rwigara’s mother and sister were also jailed).
Supporters of Rwigara were threatened that they would be “accused of working with terror groups” or were tortured. In prison, Rwigara and her family were deprived of food, kept in solitary confinement, and handcuffed “day and night” (Reuters).
Additional charges listed by Human Rights Watch included the “enforced disappearance of Paul Rusesabagina, an RPF critic who was captured by the Rwandan police and denied access to a lawyer. Another critic, Kizito Mihigo, was found dead in his cell of an “alleged suicide” after saying that security forces were forcing him to provide false testimony. Other opponents have been jailed on charges of “inciting insurrection and tarnishing the government’s image” along with “spreading false information with the intent to create a hostile international opinion against the Rwandan State,” with prosecutors ignoring allegations of torture and witness tampering. Kagame’s government has also forced journalists to halt publication on pieces that are critical of governmental actions, along with any mention of human rights violations (HRW).
Proposed Solution
In order to follow US policy of maintaining high standards of democracy and human rights worldwide, it is critical to establish a solid foundational knowledge of the precise situation within Rwanda under Kagame and follow the claims made by opposition parties surrounding assassinations, censorship, and extrajudicial actions undertaken by the government. While previous reports on human rights in Rwanda are a good start, it fails to address specific issues of extrajudicial killings, focusing more heavily on the specific violations of democracy. Additionally, it removes governmental culpability for killings, placing blame onto rogue agents within the police forces. Once this knowledge base has been established, the State Department should issue a public statement speaking out against Rwanda and Kagame’s actions to pressure the administration to incorporate democratic norms and international oversight. A combination of election observers, UN envoys, and consultants for security sector reform will be included in an action plan.
The ideal action plan respects Rwanda’s sovereignty over its governmental processes, but the current process of enforced disappearances is a clear violation of international law. Firstly, all jailed opposition leaders and political organizers should be granted access to a lawyer of their choice and the opportunity to speak to that legal counsel in private, without fear of intimidation or threat of torture, along with regular access to family and doctors for physical and mental wellness checks. Additionally, jailed critics must be granted the ability to challenge their arrests’ legality with a lawyer of their choice before a tribunal with international observers. However, these reforms will only address overt arbitrary detention and will not address covert assassination in surrounding countries. Those issues will require coordinated international pressure, sanctions, and security observation – and the US cannot unilaterally intervene. Above all, high standards of human rights must be maintained worldwide, which aligns with US foreign policy’s moral and practical policy objectives.
Thus far, Kagame has avoided international censure because of his “brash indignation toward any indictments” and by utilizing the memory of the 1994 genocide to deflect criticism.
Figure 3: President Paul Kagame
Source: Bloomberg 2018
Kagame is seen as the “hero and savior of Rwanda,” who should be given extensive leeway with which to maintain stability and extend his time in power. Beyond the individual human rights abuses, which are leading to the degradation of Rwandan democracy and the transition to despotism, is the eerily familiar environment of Rwanda, which is increasingly resembling its 1994 self. The Kagame government, through its actions, is “recreating” the “economic, social, and political” environment that led to outbreaks of ethnic violence in Rwanda, culminating in the genocide (Goehring 79). Even though it will take decades for the nation to heal from the scars of genocide fully, the healing process must take place under a democratic government, with corresponding peace and stability. An inclusive and just society with stable institutions is the best way to prevent a new outbreak of ethnic violence and allow the nation to grow to its full potential.
Bibliography
Bariyo, Nicholas. “Exiled Rwandan Opposition Figure Killed in South Africa.” Wall Street Journal, 21 February 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/exiled-rwandan-opposition-figure-killed-in-south-africa-11614015999.
Campbell, John. “Alongside Real Progress, Kagame’s Human Rights Abuses Persist.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, 31 July 2019, www.cfr.org/blog/alongside-real-progress-kagames-human-rights-abuses-persist.
Eichstaedt, Peter. Consuming the Congo: War and Conflict Minerals in the World’s Deadliest Place. Lawrence Hill Books, 2016, Chicago.
Fallon, Patrick. “President Kagame.” Photo. Bloomberg News, 15 September 2018, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-15/rwandan-president-pardons-jailed-opposition-leader-activist.
Fox, Kara. “Opposition Members Keep Going ‘Missing’ in Rwanda. Few Expect Them to Return.” CNN, 27 July 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/27/africa/rwanda-opposition-disappearances-intl/index.html.
Goehrung, Ryan. “At Issue: Ethnicity, Violence, and the Narrative of Genocide: the Dangers of a Third-Term in Rwanda.” African Studies Quarterly, vol. 17, no. 1, 2017.
Hedlund, Anna. Hutu Rebels: Exile Warriors in the Eastern Congo (The Ethnography of Political Violence). University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019, Philadelphia.
Human Rights Watch. “World Report 2021: Rights Trends in Rwanda.” Human Rights Watch, 13 January 2021, www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/rwanda#.
Jullien, Maud. “Rwanda Genocide: ‘Domino Effect’ in DR Congo.” Photo. BBC News, BBC, 10 April, 2014, www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26946982.
Prunier, Gérard. Africa’s World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe. 1st ed., Oxford University Press, 2012.Uwiringiyimana, Clement. “Critic of Rwanda’s President Asks for Freedom in Court.” Reuters, 1 October, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/instant-article/idUSKBN1CL2L6.