Latest news with #Hutus
2 days ago
- Politics
Rwandan opposition leader arrested over alleged plot against authorities
KIGALI, Rwanda -- A prominent opposition leader in Rwanda has been arrested on charges she assisted an alleged plot to incite public unrest. Victoire Ingabire was arrested on Thursday and is being detained in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Her team of international lawyers in a statement called her arrest 'baseless and politically motivated.' The Rwanda Investigations Bureau links Ingabire to alleged subversion after her name was mentioned in an ongoing criminal case against nine people accused of plotting to overthrow the government of President Paul Kagame. The Rwanda Investigations Bureau said it was probing her alleged role in creating a criminal gang. Ingabire appeared in court Thursday to be questioned by prosecutors who charged that she had been communicating with the nine suspects. Among the suspects is a journalist named Theoneste Nsengimana. The rest are members of the DALFA-Umurinzi group, a party led by Ingabire that is not recognized by authorities. Ingabire previously led the FDU-Inkingi group, a coalition of opposition parties that also was never permitted to register with the government. Ingabire spent 16 years in exile in the Netherlands and returned to Rwanda to launch an opposition political movement in 2010 but was imprisoned before she could contest the presidential election. She was later found guilty of conspiracy to undermine the government and denying Rwanda's 1994 genocide, charges she denied. Sentenced to 15 years, she was freed in 2018 after obtaining presidential pardon. But Kagame has since threatened Ingabire with a possible return to jail. In 2020 the president said that Ingabire should not be shocked if she is locked up again. Her lawyers say she has committed no crimes. 'This re-arrest is simply the latest step in an ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation which the Rwandan government has been carrying out' against Ingabire, the statement from her lawyers said. Three decades after a genocide that killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, Rwanda's president has won international praise for presiding over a peaceful and rapid economic recovery. But Kagame has faced criticism for what human rights groups say are widespread abuses, a muzzling of independent media and suppression of political opposition. He denies the accusations. ____
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Rwandan opposition leader arrested over alleged plot against authorities
KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — A prominent opposition leader in Rwanda has been arrested on charges she assisted an alleged plot to incite public unrest. Victoire Ingabire was arrested on Thursday and is being detained in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Her team of international lawyers in a statement called her arrest 'baseless and politically motivated.' The Rwanda Investigations Bureau links Ingabire to alleged subversion after her name was mentioned in an ongoing criminal case against nine people accused of plotting to overthrow the government of President Paul Kagame. The Rwanda Investigations Bureau said it was probing her alleged role in creating a criminal gang. Ingabire appeared in court Thursday to be questioned by prosecutors who charged that she had been communicating with the nine suspects. Among the suspects is a journalist named Theoneste Nsengimana. The rest are members of the DALFA-Umurinzi group, a party led by Ingabire that is not recognized by authorities. Ingabire previously led the FDU-Inkingi group, a coalition of opposition parties that also was never permitted to register with the government. Ingabire spent 16 years in exile in the Netherlands and returned to Rwanda to launch an opposition political movement in 2010 but was imprisoned before she could contest the presidential election. She was later found guilty of conspiracy to undermine the government and denying Rwanda's 1994 genocide, charges she denied. Sentenced to 15 years, she was freed in 2018 after obtaining presidential pardon. But Kagame has since threatened Ingabire with a possible return to jail. In 2020 the president said that Ingabire should not be shocked if she is locked up again. Her lawyers say she has committed no crimes. 'This re-arrest is simply the latest step in an ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation which the Rwandan government has been carrying out' against Ingabire, the statement from her lawyers said. Three decades after a genocide that killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, Rwanda's president has won international praise for presiding over a peaceful and rapid economic recovery.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Rwandan opposition leader arrested over alleged plot against authorities
KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — A prominent opposition leader in Rwanda has been arrested on charges she assisted an alleged plot to incite public unrest. Victoire Ingabire was arrested on Thursday and is being detained in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Her team of international lawyers in a statement called her arrest 'baseless and politically motivated.' The Rwanda Investigations Bureau links Ingabire to alleged subversion after her name was mentioned in an ongoing criminal case against nine people accused of plotting to overthrow the government of President Paul Kagame. The Rwanda Investigations Bureau said it was probing her alleged role in creating a criminal gang. Ingabire appeared in court Thursday to be questioned by prosecutors who charged that she had been communicating with the nine suspects. Among the suspects is a journalist named Theoneste Nsengimana. The rest are members of the DALFA-Umurinzi group, a party led by Ingabire that is not recognized by authorities. Ingabire previously led the FDU-Inkingi group, a coalition of opposition parties that also was never permitted to register with the government. Ingabire spent 16 years in exile in the Netherlands and returned to Rwanda to launch an opposition political movement in 2010 but was imprisoned before she could contest the presidential election. She was later found guilty of conspiracy to undermine the government and denying Rwanda's 1994 genocide, charges she denied. Sentenced to 15 years, she was freed in 2018 after obtaining presidential pardon. But Kagame has since threatened Ingabire with a possible return to jail. In 2020 the president said that Ingabire should not be shocked if she is locked up again. Her lawyers say she has committed no crimes. 'This re-arrest is simply the latest step in an ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation which the Rwandan government has been carrying out' against Ingabire, the statement from her lawyers said. Three decades after a genocide that killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, Rwanda's president has won international praise for presiding over a peaceful and rapid economic recovery. But Kagame has faced criticism for what human rights groups say are widespread abuses, a muzzling of independent media and suppression of political opposition. He denies the accusations. ____ AP's Africa coverage at:
LeMonde
3 days ago
- Politics
- LeMonde
DR Congo and Rwanda initial a preliminary peace agreement, will formally sign document in Washington
Representatives of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have initialed a peace agreement aimed at ending the conflict in eastern DRC – a document to be formally signed on June 27, a joint statement said Wednesday, June 18. The text, which builds on a declaration of principles signed in April, "includes provisions on respect for territorial integrity and a prohibition of hostilities" in eastern DRC, according to the statement released by the two nations, as well as the United States and Qatar, which acted as mediators. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will witness the signing in Washington later this month, the statement said. The deal was reached during three days of "constructive dialogue regarding political, security, and economic interests" between DRC and Rwandan officials in the US capital, it said. The text also includes provisions on "disengagement, disarmament, and conditional integration of non-state armed groups." The anti-government M23 armed group – which US and UN experts say receives military backing from Kigali – launched a lightning offensive at the start of the year in eastern DR Congo. It took control of Goma in late January followed by the city of Bukavu, and has set up governing structures in the regions under its control. Thousands of people have been killed. The resource-rich eastern DRC, which borders Rwanda, has been plagued by violence for three decades, with a resurgence since M23 went on a renewed offensive at the end of 2021. Rwanda had said last month that a definitive peace agreement to end the crisis with its neighbor would be signed in mid-June in Washington. Kigali denies it offers any military support to the M23 but says its security has long been threatened by armed groups in eastern DRC, notably the FDLR, a group created by ethnic Hutus who massacred Tutsis during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Rwandan immigrant accused of lying on visa paperwork to get into the US after helping in African nation's genocide
A Rwandan immigrant has been arrested in Dayton, Ohio for allegedly lying about his involvement in the Rwandan genocide, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Vincent Nzigiymfura, 65 — otherwise known as Vincent Mfura — has been charged with visa fraud and two counts of attempted naturalization fraud, according to the DOJ. 'As alleged, Vincent Nzigiyimfura directed and encouraged murders during the genocide in Rwanda and then lied to U.S. authorities to start a new life in this country,' the DOJ Criminal Division's head Matthew Galeotti said. 'The United States is not a safe haven for human rights violators. Those, like the defendant, who commit immigration fraud to hide their violent pasts will be charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.' According to the indictment, Nzigiyimfura worked as a businessman and a butcher in Rwanda and helped lead the genocide against the Tutsis. The court alleges that Nzigiyimfura helped plan the killing of Tutsis and provided the Hutus with weapons and transportation. After the genocide ended in 1994, Nzigiyimfura fled to Malawi before moving to the U.S., according to the Department of Justice. He allegedly gave the U.S. falsified documents that claim he "left Rwanda in 1994 due to the Genocide.' If convicted, Nzigiyimfura could be sentenced to 30 years in prison. Though the charges are new, it was no secret that Nzigiyimfura had taken refuge in the U.S. According to a report in The New Times — a Rwandan news publication — Nzigiyimfura was spotted in the U.S. as far back as 2019. In their report, Nzigiyimfura is referred to as the "Butcher of Nyanza" and noted that an indictment from Rwanda requesting his arrest had been sent to the U.S. Rwandan Prosecutor General Jean Bosco Mutangana told the paper in 2019 that the nation had already alerted the U.S to Nzigiyimfura's presence and had asked for help bringing him to justice. 'We have requested our counterparts in the US to take up the matter, if indeed the man is on their territory. We have furnished them with all the necessary evidence to ensure he is held accountable for the atrocities he committed in Southern Province,' he said. The report notes that while the U.S. has never directly extradited a fugitive to Rwanada for participating in genocide, it has expelled people for immigration fraud. Nzigiyimfura is facing charges related not to his alleged genocide participation, but his immigration status.
