This week Rwanda has made several international headlines. The most celebrated one being the conclusion of a Rwandan report by an over zeleous Rwandan commission which names former French officials including : the late president Francois Mitterand, and two former prime ministers as genocide accomplices. This development is nothing new. The French and the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan regime have had major differences in the past which culminated in the closure of the French Embassy in Kigali last year. Part of the feud is an arrest warrant issued by a French judge last year accusing Rwanda's Paul Kagame of deliberately assassinating the former president in an attempt to seize power forcefully. The underlying fact here being that Kagame shares the responsibility having triggered the killings. This is a notion that Rwanda's regime opposes vehemently and are exhaustedly trying to uproot.
The other major news headline was the arrest of 10 people suspected of treason . Other charges they face are possession of illegal flags and seditious writings. The state operated New Times describes the writings as a hand-written letter expressing solidarity with the FDLR leadership.It is reportedly unsigned. They all face life sentences if found guilty.
Do this two news-feeds warn the world of a deteriorating dictatorial regime that aims at getting its legitimacy through self pity while inflicting untold pain on its masses?
To answer this question we must look critically into the way the commission was organized. All the committee's members were RPF members. Rwanda's RPF which has been in power for 14 years only started investigating the death of the country's former president after both French and Spanish courts threatened to bring some of its senior members too justice for crimes against humanity. With this in mind, the credibility of the commission is left wanting.
The second issue that demands our attention is the absence of opposing political parties and a zero tolerance to independent media. This is why the regime has shamelessly gone to the extreme of dictating people's daily lives-what one should eat, wear and read.
Its time for the International community to pressure the Kigali regime for democratic changes. Neglect of human rights is a peril that may lead to such astounding nightmare as genocide. With the approaching september elections, the world should remain vigilant.
The occurrences of these two events leads to questions concerning Rwanda's democratic future. It remains to be seen how willing Rwanda is ready to accept pluralism, respect for human rights and true democracy. In the meantime, witch hunting, political assassinations and arbitrarily arrests Must (and will) continue.
