The government of Rwanda has accused rights group, the Human Rights Watch of violating agreements with the country and publishing “reports that tarnish the image of the country”.
Rwanda has decided not to renew a cooperation agreement with Human Rights Watch, according to an official of Rwanda’s Ministry of Justice.
The official, Providence Umurungi told the news website New Times that under the agreement signed with Human Rights Watch, Rwanda is entitled to have knowledge of reports before they are published and also offer an explanation.
Providence Umurungi who is the Head of International Justice and Judicial Cooperation Department at the ministry said HRW “even if they are not satisfied with the explanations we provide them, they should include that, and the government’s point of view in their publication. But, they (HRW) did not do that over all the past years.”
She is further quoted as saying that “Instead, you find the reports they make are not researched, and have no proof. They rush to publish reports that tarnish the image of the country instead of recognising the efforts made in terms of human rights.”
Rwanda also accused HRW of not seeking to protect the rights of people with Umurungi saying “It is obvious that HRW’s agenda is something else, other than defending human rights”.
Rwanda clashed with HRW after the rights group on July 13, 2017 published a report titled, “All Thieves Must Be Killed. Extrajudicial Executions in Western Rwanda”, in which it alleged that Rwandan security forces had summarily executed at least 37 suspected petty offenders in Western Province between July 2016 and March 2017.
On October 13, 2017, Rwanda’s National Commission for Human Rights presented findings of its inquiry into the allegations and it disproved the claims.
Human Rights Watch is yet to respond to the pronouncements of the Rwandan official.
Source: Africafeeds.com
