Rwandan opposition threatened by ruling RPF

by Ann Garrison Friday, Feb. 12, 2010 at 3:31 PM

Rwandan President Paul Kagame and the ruling RPF Party have been preventing opposition candidates from registering and fielding candidates in Rwanda's August 2010 presidential election and their excuse is always genocide, the 1994 Rwanda Genocide. But, leading opposition candidate Victoire Ingabiré Umuhoza disputes the history of the 1994 genocide, at great risk.

Victoire Ingabiré Umuhoza, Rwanda's leading opposition presidential candidate, now believes that she could be arrested at any time. Digital Journal spoke to Mrs. Ingabiré on the phone and created this video to elaborate on the audio interview.

Joseph Ntawangundi, an aide to FDU-Inkingi presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, was arrested, imprisoned, and charged with the crime of genocide on Feb. 6.

The arrest happened three days after a mob in civilian clothes assaulted Ntawangundi and Ingabiré as the two waited for papers to register their party and her candidacy at a government office in Rwanda's capital city, Kigali. Ingabiré was not injured in the assault but assailants stole her passport and national identification papers.

"I could be arrested at any moment," Ingabiré said, in a telephone call on Sunday, February 7th, from Kigali Rwanda.

Frank Habineza, interim chair of another opposition party, the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, says that he could be arrested at any moment now as well, and asks, "Who will be next?"

"The international community should act now," Habineza says, "before it's too late."

Text and news video at http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/287315.

Original: Rwandan opposition threatened by ruling RPF