Skip to main content

[Rwanda Forum] Rwanda Letter about Victoire Ingabire

Brussels, 18 December 2015

Dear High Representative,

After 16 years of exile in the Netherlands, Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, president of the

Unified Democratic Forces FDU-Inkingi, a coalition of Rwandan opposition parties, returned

to Rwanda to run for presidential elections scheduled for August 2010. On 14th October she

was arrested after weeks of police harassment, intimidation and media lynching, charged

with genocide ideology, genocide denial, and conspiracy against the regime. Charges

commonly used to silence any opposition in a country where freedom of expression is

severely curtailed.

After a flawed trial, condemned among others by Amnesty International, Human Rights

Watch and the Foundation Jean Jaurès, she was sentenced in first 8 years in prison. On

appeal, the sentence was increased to 15 years. Yet, the Supreme Court had invalidated

some of the evidences used to convict her in the first place.

Having lost all confidence in the justice of her country led by an authoritarian regime, she

filed an application with the African Court of Human Rights and Peoples based in Arusha,

Tanzania.

Nominated for Sakharov Prize in 2012, the fate of this mother, nicknamed by her followers

as the Rwandan Aung San Suu Kyi, should challenge us. Pursuant to the resolution of our

Parliament 2013/2641 (RSP) of 25 may 2013, we ask the European Commission to officially

request the immediate release of Madam Ingabire. In the meantime, we urge the

Commission to take action to improve her prison conditions by ensuring, among others, a

free and easy access to legal counsel and her recognition as a political prisoner. We stress

the urgent need of periodic visits of EU observers to evaluate the situation.

The case of Ms Victoire Ingabire is just the tip of the iceberg. On Friday 4th December 2015,

her party deputy, Boniface Twagirimana, narrowly escaped a kidnap attempt. Thanks to the

quick reaction of bypassers, he was taken to a police station where he spent 24 hours

before being released without charges, since the kidnap attempt had been thwarted. This

crackdown on opposition comes in the wake of a constitutional review referendum

scheduled on 18 December 2015 that will allow the incumbent president to stay in power

for another 17 years at least, contrary to the constitution which limits his term in office to

two terms.

 

Lola Sánchez Caldentey

Rosa Estaràs Ferragut

Jordi Sebastià

Juan Carlos Girauta Vidal

Estefanía Torres

Miguel Urbán

Xavier Benito

Fabio de Masi

Tania Gonzalez

Reinhard Bütikofer

Maria Heubuch

Yanick Jadot

Ernest Urtasun

Ernest Maragall

José Bové

Karima Delli

Josep-Maria Terricabras

Julia Reda

Jean Lambert

Bart Staes

Marie-Christine Vergiat

Pascal Durand

Ian Hudghton

Tatjana Zdanoka

Bronis Ropè

Stelios Kouloglou

Ana María Gomes

Norbert Neuser

Barbara Spinelli

Luis de Grandes Pascual

Kostadinka Kuneva

Michèle Rivasi

Terry Reintke

António Marinho e Pinto

Gabi Zimmer

Ivo Vajgl

Laura Ferrara

José Inácio Faria

Dimitrios Papadimoulis

Marlene Mizzi

Beatriz Becerra

Izascun Bilbao

Liliana Rodrigues

Malin Björk

Teresa Gimenez barbat

Hilde Vautmans

Kostas Chrysogonos

Doru Frunzulica

Santiago Fisas Ayxelà

Claude Rolin

Jean-Luc Schaffhauser

Elly Schlein

Merja Kyllönen

Stefan Eck

Nathalie Griesbeck

Ignazio Corrao

Fabio Massimo Castaldo

Ramona Manescu

Brando Benifei

Javier Nart

María Teresa Giménez

Francesc Gambús

Nessa Childers

Johannes Cornelis Van Baalen

--
________________________________________________________________
-Ushobora kohereza message yawe kuri : rwandaforum@googlegroups.com
-Ushobora kwiyandikisha kuri iyo groupe wandikira: rwandaforum+subscribe@googlegroups.com
-Ushobora kwikura kuri iyo groupe wandikira: rwandaforum+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
-Contact: rwandaforumonline@gmail.com
____________________________________________________
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Rwanda Forum" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rwandaforum+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rwandaforum/CAEe4F%3DcWm%3D0T_WB-cMNHKjSiZFmXsS6PbfU1P1K%3D%3DuM1PN921w%40mail.gmail.com.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

[Rwanda Forum] As Conflict Rages in Congo, President Offers U.S. Minerals Deal - The New York Times

 As Conflict Rages in Congo, President Offers U.S. Minerals Deal - The New York Times "The only language Kagame understands is force," Mr. Tshisekedi said. "Diplomacy is not in his DNA." https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/world/africa/congo-rwanda-tshisekedi-interview.html What Congo's President Thinks of Rwanda: A 'Mania to Be the Apex Predator' As vast swaths of Congolese territory are seized by a Rwandan-backed armed group, Congo's president looks to make a minerals deal with the United States. Feb. 22, 2025, 5:00 a.m. ET President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo arriving to cast his vote at a polling station in Kinshasa in 2023. Guerchom Ndebo for The New York Times In his first interview since an armed group backed by Rwanda seized swaths of his country's territory this year, Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, offered the United States and Europe a stake in his country...
Post a Comment
Read more

Re : [Rwanda Forum] DRC: Congo's constitutional court upholds election results, declares President Tshisekedi the winner.

L'homme aux milliers de promesses dont aucune n'a jamais été  tenue... On va voir si son slogan de campagne de chasser KAGAME et de libérer toute la RDC n'aura été qu'une simple fabrication, comme son faux diplôme... Ou alors c'est lui qui pourraît être chassé avant 🤔  En tout cas on aura tout vu... Autant l'état de délabrement de ce pays est tellement affligeant,  autant la mentalité de ceux qui l'habitent fait peur... Par où commencer ? Seul DIEU peut  faire un miracle 🙆🙏🙆 Madochka-Bica  De : 'Nzi Nink' via Rwanda Forum <rwandaforum@googlegroups.com> Envoyé : mercredi 10 janvier 2024 03:12 À : Nzi Nink <nzinink@yahoo.com> Objet : [Rwanda Forum] DRC: Congo's constitutional court upholds election results, declares President Tshisekedi the winner.    DRC: Congo's constitutional court upholds election results, declares President Tshisekedi the winner. https://apnews.com/a...
Post a Comment
Read more

[Rwanda Forum] L’importance de la réactivation de la CEPGL pour promouvoir la coopération et la prévention des conflits dans la région des Grands Lacs africains

L'importance de la réactivation de la CEPGL pour promouvoir la coopération et la prévention des conflits dans la région des Grands Lacs africains La Communauté Économique des Pays des Grands Lacs (CEPGL) est une organisation régionale créée en 1976 par le Burundi, la République démocratique du Congo (à l'époque Zaïre) et le Rwanda. Son objectif fondamental était de renforcer la coopération économique, sociale et politique entre ces pays voisins afin de favoriser la stabilité régionale et éviter les conflits récurrents dans cette région marquée par des tensions ethniques et politiques. More : https://rwandanrightsalliance.blogspot.com/2025/03/limportance-de-la-reactivation-de-la.html   -- ________________________________________________________________ -Ushobora kwiyandikisha kuri iyo groupe wandikira: rwandaforum+subscribe@googlegroups.com -Ushobora kwikura kuri iyo groupe wandikira: rwandaforum+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com Contact: rwand...
Post a Comment
Read more