Rwandan Opposition Leader Sentenced to 8 Years

Rwanda as a country has been through quite a lot in the last decade or so. Most of you have probably heard of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, where the Hutu ethnic group-led government and army slaughtered 800,000 Tutsis (the other main ethnic group) and moderate Hutus. Rwanda has surprisingly risen far above the genocide in recent years, however. After a traditional court dealt with the perpetrators (international courts hadn’t a clue what to do with so many people guilty of horrific hacking murders), the country was set on the road to recovery by Paul Kagame, leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front and sixth elected President of Rwanda, first after the Genocide.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda (Tutsi)

President Kagame has been cited as a hero but also a dictator, as he’s turned Rwanda’s economy around, cleaned up the streets and the government (Rwanda has very little corruption), but also put a damper on a couple of  little things, like freedom of the press and freedom of speech.

Yesterday, the top opposition leader in Rwanda, Victoire Ingabire, was convicted to eight years in prison for treason, specifically for threatening national security and “minimizing the genocide.” It is extremely hard to be an opposition politician in Rwanda, which was why she had been in exile as leader of the United Democratic Front for many years, only returning in 2010, to be pretty promptly arrested. Her most unpopular views? That Hutu people should be recognized in the National Genocide Memorial (Hutu moderates were also killed by Hutu extremists) and that ethnic groups should not be taboos (talking about ethnic groups has essentially been banned, as the whole idea of ethnic groups didn’t work so well in 1994).

Victoire Ingabire, opposition leader (Hutu)

Random Kate Thoughts: Rwanda, like Singapore, is often given as an example of benevolent dictatorship. Like a phoenix, it sprang from nothing to flourish in just under a decade, which is extremely admirable, economically but also the fact that over 50% of the Senate is female, which is quite unusual in the world. The country has recovered significantly from the Genocide and Rwandans (or Rwandese, whichever you prefer) are generally happy with their current government. That said, the limitations on freedoms are not something I can get on board with. Kagame has been accused of some pretty bad things (making war in the DRC, stifling opposition, war crimes, the usual), and arresting your main opposition leader and throwing her in jail for eight years… doesn’t look so great for him. But that’s just my opinion. Don’t shoot the messenger.