Paul Kagame - Human Rights

Human Rights

In June 2006, the International Federation of Human Rights and Human Rights Watch described what they called "serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by the Rwanda Patriotic Army".

According to The Economist, Kagame "allows less political space and press freedom at home than Robert Mugabe does in Zimbabwe", and "nyone who poses the slightest political threat to the regime is dealt with ruthlessly". He has been accused of using strict laws against stirring up ethnic hatred, or "divisionism," to stifle dissent.

In spite of intimidation against opposition journalists, publications - both domestic and foreign - fiercely critical of Kagame are often sold freely in Kigali. Adam Hochschild, in a New York Times book review of Jason Stearns' book "Dancing in the Glory of Monsters," wrote, "ow this media-savvy autocrat has managed to convince so many American journalists, diplomats, and political leaders that he is a great statesman is worth a book in itself."

The United States government in 2006 described the human rights record of the Kagame government as "mediocre", citing the "disappearances" of political dissidents, as well as arbitrary arrests and acts of violence, torture and murders committed by police. US authorities listed human rights problems including the existence of political prisoners and limited freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion.

Reporters Without Borders listed Rwanda in 147th place out of 169 for freedom of the press in 2007, and reported that "Rwandan journalists suffer permanent hostility from their government and surveillance by the security services". It cited cases of journalists being threatened, harassed and arrested for criticising the government. According to Reporters Without Borders, "President Paul Kagame and his government have never accepted that the press should be guaranteed genuine freedom." In 2010, the BBC reported that a Rwandan website, Umuvugizi (Kinyarwanda for 'the Spokesperson'), was shut down by the government. In 2011, Kagame took issue with a British journalist on Twitter after the journalist's tweets asserted that Kagame is "despotic."