Belgium engineering ‘Forbidden Stories’ to undermine Rwanda

Author: Josephine Kalembe

• 2024-06-10 05:30:00

View of Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, at Night.

In late May, the world woke up to the Europe-based media pressure group “Forbidden Stories”, announcing they put 50 journalists from 11 different countries to work, ‘investigating’ Rwanda.

The politically motivated campaigners from Forbidden Stories, planned a series of media hit pieces on Rwanda. The file was divided into eight episodes which were the subject of a very detailed extensive media coverage in Le Monde and on Radio France, in Le Soir of Belgium, The Guardian of the UK, Der Spiegel of Germany, NRC of the Netherlands and Haaretz of Israel.

The project is reported to have cost USD$2 million. However, one question has remained unanswered: who footed the bill of this smear campaign against Rwanda? Who paid these journalists and international media houses with a so-called glowing reputation?

With all these questions hanging in the air, The Great Lakes Eye investigation desk reached out to several sources, who revealed that the government of Belgium had a major involvement in sponsoring the Forbidden Stories project.

One source pointed out that Belgium's involvement is significant in the consortium. Most of journalists and media organizations involved are Belgian. Many of the individuals who testified in the Forbidden Stories are self-exiled Rwandans based in Belgium. Belgian officials were interviewed and quoted as reliable sources in the stories.

The Forbidden Stories consortium reported that according to Belgian government sources, Rwanda resorted to “active monitoring” and “acts of violence” against the Rwandan diaspora in Belgium.

“These activities, as well as “efforts to influence Belgian political and public opinion,” constitute “unacceptable” activities, even if Rwanda may have legitimate objectives, such as combating denialism, hate speech, and the funding of armed groups,” reads part of the report. It adds that the Belgian Intelligence Service considers that a “paranoia” within the diaspora could lead its members to erroneously attribute deaths to the activities of Rwandan intelligence.

The Belgian military intelligence services (GISS), then declared that ‘better relationship with Rwanda’ would be welcome and are working on it. This of course goes hand in hand with respect for sovereignty and the certainty that partners refrain from taking measures that could compromise these relations.

For any outsider this might look like Brussels is genuinely interested in mending relations with Rwanda, and chose an ‘impartial side’ in the so-called investigations, but it is far from the truth.

Kigali-Brussels relations have been frosty for almost a year now, following Belgium's refusal to accredit Ambassador Vincent Karega as Kigali’s new envoy to Brussels.

To date, there is still no Rwandan Ambassador to Belgium. In a March 2024 interview with Jeune Afrique, President Paul Kagame stated that Rwanda would not propose another candidate, simply because Belgium did not provide tangible explanations to why they refused Karega.

Supporting the Forbidden Stories, and the “bombshell of revelations” about the Rwandan government’s terrible deeds would give the Belgian government the justifications they badly need, for denying Rwanda’s proposed ambassador.

The decision by the Belgian government was not because they had an issue with Karega personally. Brussels has issues with the government of Rwanda.

In 2018, when Karega was still Rwanda’s envoy to South Africa, two Belgians died. Investigations were conducted in South Africa and Belgium, and the South African police ruled the two deaths as suicides. To date, Brussels is convinced that Rwanda had a hand in the deaths, which is absurd since Rwanda is not responsible for any foreign citizen in foreign countries.

It is not the first time Belgium has supported detractors of Rwanda. The former has given a huge platform to Jambo Asbl, an organisation formed by genocide deniers and extremists in exile and has gone as far as elevating them in political positions.

'Forbidden Stories' was not intended to inform, or enlighten, the public. It was planned and executed to smear and destroy the Rwandan government, and the government of Belgium is sponsoring the sinister plot.