Latest news with #PaulKagame
Al Arabiya
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Rwandan Opposition Leader Arrested Over Alleged Plot Against Authorities
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 sixteen 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 fifteen years, she was freed in 2018 after obtaining a 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.
Arab News
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Rwanda arrests opposition leader, says investigative body
KIGALI: Rwanda has arrested prominent opposition leader Victoire Ingabire, who is being held at a detention facility in the capital Kigali on charges of inciting the public and creating a criminal organization, a state investigative agency was freed in 2018 after serving six years of a 15-year jail sentence handed to her in 2012 following her conviction on charges related to conspiring to form an armed group and seeking to minimize the 1994 is now accused of 'playing a role in creating a criminal organization and engaging in acts that incite public disorder,' the Rwanda Investigations Bureau said in a statement late on did not say when she would be charged in who heads unregistered opposition party DALFA–Umurinzi, returned from exile in the Netherlands to contest a presidential election in 2010, but was barred from standing after being accused of genocide year President Paul Kagame, in power for a quarter of a century, won re-election after securing 99.18 percent of the vote, according to the electoral is lauded for transforming Rwanda from the ruins of the 1994 genocide to a thriving economy but his reputation has also been tainted by longstanding accusations of rights abuses and supporting rebels in neighboring Democratic Republic of denies the allegations.
Reuters
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Rwanda arrests opposition leader, says investigative body
KIGALI, June 20 (Reuters) - Rwanda has arrested prominent opposition leader Victoire Ingabire, who is being held at a detention facility in the capital Kigali on charges of inciting the public and creating a criminal organisation, a state investigative agency said. Ingabire was freed in 2018 after serving six years of a 15-year jail sentence handed to her in 2012 following her conviction on charges related to conspiring to form an armed group and seeking to minimise the 1994 genocide. She is now accused of "playing a role in creating a criminal organisation and engaging in acts that incite public disorder," the Rwanda Investigations Bureau said in a statement late on Thursday. It did not say when she would be charged in court. Ingabire, who heads unregistered opposition party DALFA–Umurinzi, returned from exile in the Netherlands to contest a presidential election in 2010, but was barred from standing after being accused of genocide denial. Last year President Paul Kagame, in power for a quarter of a century, won re-election after securing 99.18% of the vote, according to the electoral body. Kagame is lauded for transforming Rwanda from the ruins of the 1994 genocide to a thriving economy but his reputation has also been tainted by longstanding accusations of rights abuses and supporting rebels in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. He denies the allegations.
Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Congo and Rwanda will sign a peace deal on June 27, a major step in ending fighting in eastern Congo
DAKAR, Senegal — Congo and Rwanda will sign a peace agreement in Washington on June 27 that aims to ending fighting in eastern Congo, the two countries and the U.S. State Department said. Congo has accused Rwanda of backing M23 rebels in its mineral-rich eastern region across the border with Rwanda. U.N. experts say the rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from Rwanda, which has denied backing M23. The decades-long conflict escalated in January, when the M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic Congolese city of Goma, followed by the town of Bukavu in February. The draft agreement includes 'provisions on respect for territorial integrity and a prohibition of hostilities; disengagement, disarmament, and conditional integration of non-state armed groups,' the joint statement said Wednesday. The agreement also includes a commitment to respecting territorial integrity and the conditional integration of non-state armed groups. Congo and Rwanda are not formally at war and in the past had held peace talks that have largely stalled, including those hosted by Qatar. Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups, told The Associated Press in April that international sanctions and Congo's proposed minerals deal with the United States in search of peace would not stop the fighting. M23 is one of about 100 armed factions vying for control in eastern Congo. But unlike the others, they are mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who failed to integrate into the Congolese army. The group says it is defending ethnic Tutsis and Congolese of Rwandan origin from discrimination, although critics say their Rwanda-backed campaign is a pretext for economic and political influence over eastern Congo. Rwanda's longtime President Paul Kagame accuses Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi of overlooking the concerns of the ethnic Tutsis and ignoring previous peace agreements. Mcmakin writes for the Associated Press.
Western Telegraph
a day ago
- Politics
- Western Telegraph
Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda will sign peace deal on June 27
Congo has accused Rwanda of backing M23 rebels in its mineral-rich eastern region across the border with Rwanda. UN experts say the rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from Rwanda, which has denied backing M23. The decades-long conflict escalated in January, when the M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic Congolese city of Goma, followed by the town of Bukavu in February. The draft agreement includes 'provisions on respect for territorial integrity and a prohibition of hostilities; disengagement, disarmament, and conditional integration of non-state armed groups', the joint statement said on Wednesday. The agreement also includes a commitment to respecting territorial integrity and the conditional integration of non-state armed groups. Congo and Rwanda are not formally at war and in the past had held peace talks that have largely stalled, including those hosted by Qatar. Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups, told The Associated Press in April that international sanctions and Congo's proposed minerals deal with the United States in search of peace would not stop the fighting. M23 is one of about 100 armed factions vying for control in eastern Congo. But unlike the others, they are mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who failed to integrate into the Congolese army. The group says it is defending ethnic Tutsis and Congolese of Rwandan origin from discrimination, although critics say their Rwanda-backed campaign is a pretext for economic and political influence over eastern Congo. Rwanda's long-time president Paul Kagame accuses Congolese president Felix Tshisekedi of overlooking the concerns of the ethnic Tutsis and ignoring previous peace agreements.
