Rwanda: Under International Pressure, General Kagame Increases Budget for External Intelligence
Sources within the Rwandan government inform AfroAmerica Network that General Paul Kagame has ordered a large increase in the budget allocated to External Intelligence Services.
Photo: Professor Linda Melvern in StockHolm on April 11, 2012 defending Human Rights Record of Rwandan Government.
According to the sources, General Paul Kagame ordered the increase after an extensive report from Rwandan embassies in the West and in major African Countries and from intelligence operatives in the West, Uganda, and South Africa pointing to better and more coordinated lobbies from the opposition and the increasingly critical reports from Non Government Organizations (NGO) and governments.
Reports increasingly critical of Rwandan government's poor human rights record
One such latest reports that triggered a more aggressive approach and hence an increased budget is the Annual Country Report on Human Rights Practices on Rwanda for 2012 , presented by the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to the US Congress. In his first report as Secretary of State, John Kerry highlights the following about the Human Rights and practices in Rwanda:
The most important human rights problems in the country[ NDLR: Rwanda] remained the government's targeting of journalists, political opponents, and human rights advocates for harassment, arrest, and abuse; disregard for the rule of law among security forces and the judiciary; restrictions on civil liberties; and support of rebel groups in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Other major human rights problems included arbitrary or unlawful killings, both within the country and abroad; disappearances; torture; harsh conditions in prisons and detention centers; arbitrary arrest; prolonged pretrial detention; executive interference in the judiciary; and government infringement on citizens' privacy rights. The government restricted freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, and to a lesser extent, religion. Security for refugees and asylum seekers was inadequate. Corruption was a problem, and the government restricted and harassed local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Violence and discrimination against women and children occurred, including the recruitment by the M23 armed group of Rwandan and refugee minors as child soldiers.
It is not just the US State Department. In November 2012, the British Parliament held a hearing on the suspension of economic aid to the Rwandan Government following accusations of supporting Congolese M23 rebels. In the preparation for the hearings, the Rwandan government hired academics and lobbies to present its version and defend its interests. Perhaps as a prelude of the concerns of Rwanda government about the international pressure and the increasing opposition, the experts hired by Rwandan focused more on the threat of the growing external opposition against the Rwandan ruling party, Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), than the accusations themselves. One such expert hired by Rwandan GIvernment, Professor Linda Melvern, Investigative journalist, told the British parliament that the problem Rwanda faces is "a continuing campaign to destabilise and try to eventually destroy by force the current Rwandan government…". Linda Melvern went on to accuse France. "There have also been accusations in France that former French military officers and mercenaries have tried to destabilise the Rwandan government with claims that the current President Paul Kagame is responsible for the assassination of his predecessor, " she said.
Then she pointed to supposed Hutu power in North America and Western Europe.
"To try to report the current political reality of Rwanda without mentioning the activities of the Hutu Power movement and its continued presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in Europe and in North America, is simply biased reporting."
She specifically singled out one opposition group, the Rally for Unity and Democracy (RUD-Urunana) and told the British Parliament: "There is detailed evidence on the RUD‐Urunana recently provided to US investigators including documents on the group's communication networks and money transfers. The leadership of this group, which is more efficient than that of the FDLR, resides in North America and it has considerable skills a lobbying operations."
Rwandan Experts Using False Accusations Against Opposition to Absolve Rwandan Government of Crimes
Dr. Phil Clark, a lecturer in comparative and international politics at SOAS, University of London,another expert close to the Rwandan government casted doubts on accusations against both the Rwandan government and the Rwandan opposition groups and told the British Parliament:
"Second, a general problem with many GoE (NDLR: UN Group of Experts) analyses in eastern DRC, which is also apparent in the June 2012 report, is a tendency to ascribe criminal liability to armed groups in the Kivu provinces on the basis of scant evidence or without specific explanations of how the identity of the liable groups was deduced. The GoE tends to state either that violations were committed by particular groups without indicating how this information was gathered or that the organisation has 'received reports' containing this information, without further specification. For example, a GoE report on 29 November 2010 states:
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NGOs, especially Human Rights Group: Evils in Rwandan Government Sight
Recently, Rwandan Government and its operatives have been on a crusade against Non Government Organizations (NGOs) that have not pledged allegiance to the Government. One NGO that has been particularly targeted is the US based Human Rights Watch (HRW). Barely a month passes by without a diatribe from a Rwandan government official or an article in one of a multitude of Rwandan Intelligence controlled or owned media targeting Human Rights Watch or its leader Kenneth Roth. Human Rights Watch has been particularly targeted after
it published a report summarized in this statement in front of the British Parliament in November 2012: "Human Rights Watch has documented serious human rights abuses by the M23 rebels in the DRC, including deliberate killings of civilians, summary executions,rapes, and forced recruitment, including of children. Some of these abuses amount to war crimes. Human Rights Watch has also documented extensive Rwandan military support for the M23, including the deployment of Rwandan troops in Congo to support M23 operations, the forced recruitment of Rwandans to fight with the M23, and the provision of weapons and ammunition to the M23. Through this support, Rwandan military officials may be complicit in war crimes. Independently from Human Rights Watch, the United Nations Group of Experts on the DRC has produced similar findings. During a visit to Kigali in October 2012, Human Rights Watch staff raised the issue of Rwandan military support for the M23 with major international donors, embassies and high commissions. None of them disputed that the Rwandan military has been backing the M23." Since then, Kenneth Roth, the head of Human Rights Watch (HRW), appears to have become a marked man for the Rwandan Government and General Paul Kagame.
Unfortunately for General Paul Kagame, it is not just HRW. Other international and national NGOs, including Reporters Without Borders, Freedom House, Amnesty International, LIPRODHOR and Youth Association for Human Rights Promotion and Development (AJPRODHO- JIJUKIRWA) appears to have lent fuel to HRW. This happens when the Rwandan opposition in the diaspora has become restless, is being better organized and seemingly smelling the end an era in Rwanda and the Great Lakes Region of America. Perhaps, that is why the increase of the budget.
Budget to be Managed by External Intelligence Services within Embassies
"Kagame gave specific orders to the external intelligence agents in some Rwanda embassies," the sources within the Rwandan government told AfroAmerica Network. The orders are to follow and thwart efforts by the opposition groups or members based in targeted countries. Hence the money budgeted will be used to organize actions to counter the rallies against General Paul Kagame's visits to these countries, to recruit experts and journalists to write positive reports on Rwanda, to infiltrate opposition groups, and to have defamatory articles written against opposition members of human rights organizations and NGOs critical of the Rwandan leaders published by credible media.
According to the sources, the money will be managed by the following Rwandan embassy staff and intelligence operatives:
1. Shakila K. Umutoni, based in Canada.
2. Linda Cadet Kalimba, based in United Kingdom.
3. Lt.col James Burabyo, based in Uganda.
4. Joseph Uwamungu, based in Belgium.
5. Didier Rutembesa, based in South Africa..
For the purpose of the mission, the five members of the embassy staff will be assisted by:
a) Rene Rutagungira, a businessman based in Uganda.
b) Leon Ntakirutimana Mageshi, based in Uganda. He is also accused of being involved in the murder of the Rwandan journalist Charles Ingabire.
c) Jimmy Uwizeye, based in London.
d) Ignitius Mugabo, an intelligence operative.
Whether the mission will be successful or not, General Paul Kagame has been clear:"Alleviate the international pressure on him and his government. Stop the opposition groups based in the diaspora and human rights organizations from spreading criticisms against him and his government".
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