Mystery death – call for justice
MYSTERY surrounds the death of a Rwandan opposition party spokesperson after she was detained by men in police uniforms, but her boss, Victoire Ingabire, who was jailed by Rwanda on what some critics say were trumped-up charges, has called for justice, the East African reported.
Ingabire, the leader of the Unified Democratic Forces (UDF) – a coalition of exiled Rwandan opposition groups with a large base of active members in Rwanda, Europe, the US and Canada – who served eight years of a 15-year sentence on “terrorism” charges, has called for those responsible to be brought to justice following the death of her spokesperson, Anselme Mutuyimana on Sunday.
According to Ingabire, who was previously a candidate for Rwanda’s 2010 elections and planned to challenge incumbent Paul Kagame before she was incarcerated, witnesses to Mutuyimana’s disappearance saw her bundled into a red car by men in police uniform in the Mahoko area of Rwanda’s Western Province.
It was not immediately clear how 30-year-old Mutuyimana died, although her brother said his sister’s body had no visible wounds, despite blood coming from her mouth.
Rwandan authorities said they were investigating the death.
“The investigation has started. No suspects so far,” said the spokesperson for the Rwanda Investigation Bureau, Modeste Mbabazi.
However, suspicions have been raised because although Kagame has won international and regional praise for transforming the country’s economy, he is accused by human rights activists and organisations of running a repressive regime that brooks no criticism or political challenge.
In addition to that criticism, Rwanda has a history of “disappearing” political opponents, assassinating political rivals abroad and imprisoning journalists and other critics on what are alleged to be fabricated political charges while the media is heavily censored.
Kagame is also on record for warning political opponents that they were traitors and that they “would be dealt with”.
Andre Kagwa, the Democratic Green Party’s vice-president, is just one of a number of dissidents found dead inside Rwanda in unsolved cases in recent years.
Relations between South Africa and Rwanda have also soured over the assassination in 2014 of former Rwandan intelligence chief Patrick Karegeya, who was found murdered in a Joburg hotel room.
Karageya was a former ally of Kagame when they fought together in the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) against Hutu extremists who slaughtered at least 800 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus during the 1994 genocide.
However, when the former intelligence chief questioned human rights abuses, he and Kagame fell out.
According to a recent court case in Joburg, the South African authorities have the details of those responsible for the murder and how they left the country.
Questions have been raised as to why no previous action was taken and the South African police have been tasked with further investigation.