Rwanda: Escalating repression against political opposition

News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International

AI INDEX: AFR 47/004/2003 22 April 2003

Rwanda: Escalating repression against political opposition

Amnesty International calls on the Rwandese government to ensure the
security of individuals named in the March 2003 parliamentary commission
report that requests the dissolution of the opposition Mouvement
Démocratique Républicain (MDR), Democratic Republican Movement political
party.

On 15 April the Rwandese Parliament voted to dissolve the MDR after
overwhelmingly approving the parliamentary commission report that accused
the MDR of propagating a "divisive" ideology. Forty-seven individuals were
named in the report, including two government ministers, five deputies in
the Transitional National Assembly, three high-ranking military officers
and an ambassador.

"The recent purge of MDR party members and alleged supporters prior to a
scheduled May constitutional referendum along with the August presidential
and October parliamentary elections, is a blatant infringement of these
individuals' human rights," the organization said.

The parliamentary commission's report goes beyond the dissolution of the
principle opposition political party, in its attack on the Ligue rwandaise
pour la promotion et la defense des droits de l'homme, (The Rwandan League
for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights), LIPRODHOR - the leading
independent human rights non-governmental organization in Rwanda. In a
plenary session of the parliament, the parliamentary commission's Vice
President accused LIPRODHOR of obtaining foreign funding for the MDR.
Likewise, the media have been under pressure with journalists arrested and,
or forced to flee the country for publishing editorials or political
cartoons critical of the current government's actions against the MDR.

Nine years after the 1994 genocide and armed conflict, Rwanda is
approaching a crossroads as the transition period defined by the Arusha
Accords comes to an end. Despite the promise of new beginning, partisan
restrictions on political and civil liberties are hindering national
reconciliation and the transition to democracy.

The unfounded allegations against the individuals mentioned in the report
appear to be part of a government-orchestrated crackdown on the political
opposition. Rwandese security forces have compiled reports of clandestine
meetings allegedly held by the MDR in the Kigali and Cyangugu areas to
promote its "divisive" ideology, vague terminology used by the government
to disenfranchise the political opposition in an election year.

The parliament's action endangers the lives and well-being of all those
named in the report. One named individual, parliamentarian Dr. Leonard
Hitimana, "disappeared" on 7 April. President Paul Kagame demanded the
resignation of another individual named in the report, Celestin Kabanda,
Secretary of State for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. The
government has publicly called for the ostracizing of these individuals
from public life.

Apparently fearing for their safety, two high-ranking military officers
named in the report, former Minister of Defence, Brigadier-General Emmanuel
Habyarimana and the Army Representative to Parliament, Lieutenant-Colonel
Balthazar Ndengeyinka, fled to Uganda on 30 March.

It is clear that relatives, staff and friends of those named in the report
are also at risk. Damien Musayidizi, the Secretary to the Minister of
Defence and former secretary to Emmanuel Habyarimana "disappeared" on 3
April. Major Félicien Ngirabatware, Director of the Ruhengeri Military
School and personal friend of Brig. Gen Emmanuel Habyarimana, is allegedly
being detained incommunicado at the Kami military detention facility in
Kigali following his arrest on 1 April.

Amnesty International further calls on the Rwandese government to protect
the basic rights to freedom of opinion and expression and peaceful assembly
and association. These rights should be enjoyed by all peaceful political
and other civil society organizations, including the MDR.

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