EngRegional
HRW forgets Rwanda is a sovereign state that abides by rule of law
Through its recent so-called
report in a series of attacks on the RPF-led government, Human Rights Watch
(HRW) went as far as preaching to Rwanda how to ‘behave’ during the upcoming
July elections.
Clémentine de Montjoye, HRW’s
boss in Africa, wrote the “report”, quoting herself claiming that “the threat
of physical harm, arbitrary judicial proceedings, and long prison sentences,
which can often lead to torture, have effectively deterred many Rwandans from
engaging in opposition activities and demanding accountability from their
political leaders.”
“The authorities should end
arbitrary detentions and guarantee the rights to freedom of expression,
association, and peaceful assembly, essential to genuinely free and fair
elections,” declared De Montjoye.
De Montjoye was refused entry
to Rwanda on May 13, after misrepresenting the purpose of her visit to
immigration officers.
“There has been no engagement
between the Government of Rwanda and HRW for many years and no agreement that
permits HRW to operate in Rwanda. As HRW has consistently fabricated reports
and distorted the reality of Rwanda, they can do so without forcing visits or
being present in Rwanda,” clarified the Rwandan government in a statement dated
May 18.
With HRW’s latest report, De
Montjoye was revenging on the denied access. HRW has never been transparent
when it comes to Rwanda. For the past three decades, the New-York-based rights
organization, has been relentlessly pushing a divisive agenda against the
government of Rwanda. When it comes to Rwanda, HRW is a political advocacy
group and its credibility is doubted, as exposed by Richard Johnson, a retired
US diplomat, in a paper titled: “The Travesty of Human Rights on Rwanda,”
published in March 2013.
There is nothing good from
Rwanda in the eyes of HRW. Every single achievement by Kigali is tarnished in
the organization’s reports.
As Rwanda is gearing up for
presidential and parliamentary elections, De Montjoye was coming to Kigali in a
bid to legitimize HRW’s poisonous narrative against the country and its
authorities.
The same happened in 2017,
when HRW accused the Rwandan government of killing 37 people. Suddenly, several
of the people it reported dead were found alive and shown to the world to see,
the next morning.
In October 2023, HRW claimed
that it had interviewed over 150 people who fled the abuses in Rwanda, or
abroad. But, the individuals interviewed were members of terrorist groups
operating in exile to overthrow current democratically elected government.
In a sinister attempt to
legitimize their 2024 fabricated report, De Montjoye was sent to Rwanda for
“independent scrutiny”. But HRW evil agenda was exposed very early.
Rwanda is a sovereign country.
HRW should acknowledge that and forget about preaching to the country how to
behave, because it is not the first time elections are going to be held,
peacefully.
The World Justice Project
(WJP) Rule of Law Index 2023 ranked Rwanda first out of 34 countries in
Sub-Saharan Africa, and 41st out of 142 globally.
HRW’s allegations are
baseless. No evidence was documented to back them, and no HRW staff was in the
country talking to citizens and authorities.
The ‘rights watchdog’ needs to cease its attacks on Rwanda because there are credible reports that highlight that HRW's agenda against Rwanda has never been advocating human rights. The organisation serves as a political tool to bully the RPF-led government.
