US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to meet with Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Thursday August 11 during a brief visit to Rwanda, the third and final leg of his African tour after South Africa and the Republic. Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
His visit to Kigali comes a day after his talks in DR Congo which largely focused on Rwandan support for a rebel group operating in eastern DRC, largely documented by a UN report released in early August.
“Journalists and politicians imprisoned”
Arrived Wednesday evening in Kigali, the American diplomat should also discuss the human rights situation in Rwanda, regularly denounced by civil society and international NGOs.
"
The failure to respond to Rwanda's appalling human rights record has only encouraged the country's officials to pursue abuses, even beyond its borders
," said Lewis Mudge, the director for Central Africa of the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a press release published on Monday.
The human rights NGO called on Antony Blinken to “
urgently (in Kigali) state that there will be consequences for government repression and abuses in Rwanda and beyond
”.
Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire echoed HRW in telling AFP that Blinken should "
raise the issue of imprisoned journalists and politicians
" for opposing Paul Kagame's government.
"
Blinken must ask our government to open up a political space to all those who want to participate actively in political life
," said Victoire Ingabire, who herself spent six years in prison for "
terrorism
".
Read alsoThe DRC calls for the condemnation of Rwanda for the war in a protected area
The US Secretary of State is also expected to raise the case of Paul Rusesabagina, the hero of “
Hotel Rwanda
” who has been serving a 25-year prison sentence since last year and has permanent resident status in the United States.
This African tour by Antony Blinken comes a few days after a parallel tour by his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who passed through Congo, Uganda, Egypt and Ethiopia.
