In its latest smear campaign - a 115-page ‘report’ - Human Rights Watch (HRW) claims to have documented over a dozen killings, kidnappings or attempted kidnappings, enforced disappearances, and physical attacks targeting Rwandans living abroad.

"The Rwandan government sought to use global police cooperation, including Interpol Red Notices, judicial mechanisms, and extradition requests to seek deportations of critics or dissidents back to Rwanda," the report alleges.

HRW claimed that the death of Rwandan journalist Williams Ntwali, in January, is suspicious.

Following the incident, a road accident, Rwanda National Police’s Traffic and Road Safety Department revealed that the accident happened on January 18, at 02: 50a.m in the Kicukiro District of Kigali.

The sad accident was a result of over speeding between a vehicle and a taxi-motorcycle. Ntwali was the passenger on the motorcycle, and he died instantly.

The Kicukiro primary court slapped a fine of Rwf 1million to Moise Emmanuel Bagirishya, the driver who was involved in the accident that led to Ntwali’s death.

Ntwali’s unfortunate death was politicized and blamed on Rwanda with no evidence. According to sources, HRW lost an active correspondent in Ntwali.

The motive of the allegation is not because HRW does not understand that Rwandans are not immune to motor road accidents, but to advance its agenda against Rwanda’s leadership with allegations of repression and persecution journalists.

HRW further accused the Rwandan government of kidnappings or attempted kidnappings and enforced disappearances, with examples of Joseph Mazimpaka alias Joseph Bahati Mbanda, Noel Zihabamwe and his brothers as well as Cassien Ntamuhanga.

Mazimpaka is genocide fugitive and Ntamuhanga is a terror convict. They are both on the run after escaping from prisons in Southern Rwanda on different occasions.

Historically, the Rwandan government has used diplomatic channels when issuing international arrest warrants for criminals to be brought to book. The prosecution from both Tanzania and Mozambique collaborates with Rwandan authorities, hence Rwanda would never invest in kidnapping but is always requesting prosecutors from other countries to arrest wanted criminals.

The case of Noel Zihabamwe and his brothers, is bizarre as he only fabricated lies to qualify for Australian asylum.

Zihabamwe’s brothers crossed to Uganda after renting out their land and selling some of their houses. The family’s neighbours, in Huye District, Southern Rwanda, told The Great Lakes Eye that Zihabamwe’s brothers used to regularly sneak back to Rwanda to collect rent money.

Alleging that Rwanda attempted to kidnap them individuals is illogical. HRW’s report lacked sufficient information and relied on faked ‘anonymous’ sources.

For almost a decade, HRW never ceased to mention Kayumba Nyamwasa in its annual reports on Rwanda, with allegations that the Rwandan government targets Rwandans living abroad. It has been alleging that Kayumba narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in South Africa in June 2010.

How could an assassination carried out in South Africa be related to Rwanda?

In mid-August, while presenting to Parliamentarians the latest crime statistics for South Africa, covering the first quarter of the 2023/2024 administrative year – which runs from April to June 2023 – South African Police minister Bheki Cele noted that 6,228 murders were recorded over a period of three months, averaging 68 murders a day in the country.

In the 2009/2010 fiscal year, South Africa recorded 16,834 murders and 17,410 attempted murders. The 2013 Global Study on Homicide showed that South Africa’s homicide rates was 30.0 per 100,000 habitants.

Kayumba has no immunity from those murders, and he is likely to be affected by the high rate of homicide in South Africa just like other habitants. Claiming that any attack against Kayumba is carried out by “Rwandan operatives” is a senseless statement.

The HRW keeps on recycling the same allegations to bully, tarnish and isolate Rwanda’s leadership.