RIB report indicates that genocide ideology cases decreased overtime considering the reduction of similar cases to 447 between April 2018 and April 2019 from 505 received between April 2017 and April 2018.
Twagirayezu explained that the majority of genocide ideology suspects are over 30 years old, born before the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Article 4 of the law relating to the punishment of the crime of genocide ideology and related crimes states that genocide ideology is an aggregate of thoughts characterized by conduct, speeches, documents and other acts aiming at exterminating or inciting others to exterminate people basing on ethnic group, origin, nationality, region, color, physical appearance, sex, language, religion or political opinion, committed in normal periods or during war.
If convicted the person is liable to imprisonment of five to seven years and a fine of Rwf 500,000 to Rwf 1 million.
He made the call yesterday as he co-chaired the Annual Broadband Commission meeting hosted by Facebook at their Headquarters in San Francisco city of California State.
The meeting was also attended by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao and the Vice-President for Mobile and Global Access Policy at Facebook, Kevin Martin.
President Kagame said the sessions go straight to the heart of our priorities of the Broadband Commission and highlighted, in particular, the issue of harmful content.
He revealed that the session will hear an important report from the working group on child safety online and consider the creation of a new working group, led by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), focused on hate speech and disinformation.
“Large-scale violence is always preceded by a process of dehumanization, through the spread of ideas that justify killing. We had a situation like this in my country 25 years ago. That is why we work to ensure that ideologies of hatred and division have no place in our public domain,” he said.
President Kagame said that there was no internet in Rwanda in 1994 that radicalization is therefore not a new phenomenon, much less a by-product of modern social media.
He noted that while the challenges of today are not qualitatively different, technology has indeed changed the landscape in two important ways. The first is speed where the internet is an accelerant costing very little to reach a lot of people very quickly. The second is the absence of accountability.
“Individuals, who cause harm, can do so anonymously. It should properly be regarded as a form of cyber-crime. We do not need special rules and regulations for the virtual world. Nor is there any valid reason to constrain basic freedoms, or limit access to broadband. That would only slow development, and further deepen global inequalities,” he said.
“We simply need the means to enforce our laws, and hold individuals accountable for what they do online, just as we do offline,” added Kagame.
He said that access to broadband and infrastructure should go hand in hand. Noting that a lot is being done to move towards the goal of universal access to broadband by 2030.
President Kagame also met with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg on the sidelines of Broadband Commission meeting for sustainable development held at Facebook headquarters.
The Broadband Commission was set up in 2010 to boost the role of technology in international budget planning and promoting broadband in all countries.
The previous meeting was held in September 2018 in New York.
The incident took place today morning when the old woman carrying a sack containing farmyard manure met his niece who hit her with a hoe who died on spot.
The suspected man lives with his parents from where he came to kill the grandmother who lived in their neighborhood.
Residents of the area have told IGIHE that the suspect is a mentally-ill patient.
The Executive Secretary of Cyinzuzi sector, Zazou Sebagabo Nkuzimana has told IGIHE that the suspect had no criminal record.
Sebagabo requested residents to provide timely information on crime suspects and collaborate with local security officers to counter crime.
The suspect has been handed to Rwanda Investigation Bureau, Murambi station while the body of the deceased was taken to Rutongo hospital for postmortem.
The event which took place on Saturday 27th April 2019 was attended by over 150 participants of whom the majority are Rwandans living in North Dakota and their friends. It was preceded by a walk to remember held in Dickson State University and marked by lighting the flame of hope and reflecting of Rwanda’s resilience experience over the past 25 years after the genocide.
Eric Baziga, one of Rwandans living in North Dakota, shared a talk on preparation and execution of genocide and urged participants to desist genocide ideology.
Dr. Steven Doherty who represented Dickson University hailed the courage of Rwandans after genocide and promised that history of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi will be introduced among courses at the school so that the future leaders become fully aware of consequences of discrimination.
The president of Rwandan diaspora in North Dakota, Théodore Havugimana requested Rwandans not to drown in sorrow but strive for self-dignity and rebuild the country.
Mr. Frank Kayijuka, the First Counselor at the Rwandan Embassy in USA reflected on Rwanda’s bad history that led to genocide and thanked the bravery of RPF Inkotanyi soldiers for stopping genocide.
He also tasked everyone to scale up efforts to resist genocide denials and trivialization.
The incident took place yesterday midnight as the young man, 22, forcibly pulled a Tecno phone from a man walking on foot.
The Executive Secretary of Gitega sector, Gabriel Mutuyimana has told IGIHE that the suspect was shot as he tried to stab with a knife the phone’s owner.
“Security officials shot the suspect as they saw him after grabbing the phone and getting ready to stab him with a knife,” he said.
Mutuyimana explained that the man whose phone was robbed fled soon as he heard gunfire. The suspect had no identifications.
The phone and the knife of the thief were taken to Nyarugenge police station.
The incident took place today morning in the wee hours in Cyimo village, Keza cell of Masaka sector in Kicukiro district to the home of Captain Pascal Gapasi.
The police spokesperson in Kigali city, CIP Marie Gorette has told IGIHE that the thief was shot attempting to hack the policeman with a knife.
“Policemen who were on patrol passing nearby the home of Capt Gapasi saw a thief piercing the house. The thief was shot dead as he attempted to stab one of them who went to seize him,” she said.
“We always appeal to citizens to install security lamps outside the house and switching it on all the night. Policemen saw the thief because the lamp was on. They should close doors properly before sleeping and alert police for suspected security hazards,” added Gorette.
The nine Rwandans released on Saturday join a large number of Rwandans deported from Uganda after enduring torture in prisons on unfounded accusations.
As they narrate, some of those Rwandans deported to Rwanda on Saturday through Kagitumba border in Nyagatare district were ferociously tortured and forced to join Kayumba Nyamwasa’s rebel group.
The nine deportees include women incarcerated with their husbands and children, young men among others who were tortured in Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI).
Simon Bakoreyebusa, 27, born in Ruhango district went to Uganda in March 2018. He was arrested by Kinyarwanda speaking soldiers in Mbarara on 4th April 2018 where he was working in an enterprise processing juices.
He narrates how he was taken to CMI barracks in Makindye and transferred to the main headquarters in Mbuya, Kampala.
Bakoreyebusa said he was jailed with other 28 Rwandans who were all tortured.
Bakoreyubusa reflected how he was on several occasions forced to acknowledge that he was a spy of Rwanda to be granted refuge or taken to the rebel group of Kayumba Nyamwasa which he declined.
“I endured extreme sufferings from beatings asking me to accept that I am Rwanda’s spy which I repeatedly denied. They asked me to accept on condition that it could give me a chance to get refugee status or recruit me to the army of Kayumba. They told me ‘If you don’t accept we shall kill you’. I replied that I would rather die than accepting uncommitted offenses,” he narrated.
Bakoreyubusa said, he was never taken to court but would face intense torture whenever he asked about his allegations.
Eric Hakorimana is another Rwandan who was arrested by soldiers speaking Kinyarwanda in Mbarara in February 2019. He had gone to Uganda in 2014 for milk businesses.
He was taken to Mbuya after arrest where he was tortured to accept that he was Rwanda’s spy.
Hakorimana was seriously beaten with sticks burnt with electricity until he was taken to the hospital in critical conditions.
He was discharged from the hospital within two weeks and interrogated again for similar cases.
“One poured water on me and beat me asking why we are in Uganda. He said ‘It can take us a few minutes to seize your preferred leader Kagame.’ I maintained silence while he talked and beat me until he stopped and walked away,” he said.
Hakorimana revealed that he was once asked his ethnicity and beaten as he responded that he is Rwandan.
He was asked names of Rwanda’s soldiers or others who might have escaped Rwanda’s army.
Some of released Rwandans are accused of illegal entry to Uganda like Ezechiel Muhawenimana, 36, and his wife Espérance Dusabimana, 35, from Rubavu district.
They were arrested from the car in Rubanda area in July 2018 as they visited they aunt in Mbarara to be jailed Ndorwa prison in Kabale.
Dusabimana who was pregnant gave birth within two months in prison.
As she explained they were many Rwandans in the prison who never had access to justice.
Dusabimana narrated that one Rwandan woman with her delivered baby died from such hazardous conditions. Later on, another child belonging to Rwandan woman died in the same prison.
A total of 900 Rwandans were reported illegally detained in Uganda towards the end of March 2019.
The Government of Rwanda has recently advised Rwandans not to travel to Uganda for their security until the situation comes back to normal.
Rwanda accuses Uganda of conspiracy with rebel groups intending to destabilize state security.
This comes into effect following the announcement that the carrier is set to launch flights to Kigali. The maiden flight saw EgyptAir taking off from Cairo in the night of 27th April 2019 to land Kigali International Airport on 28th April morning.
EgyptAir shall be flying from Cairo on Thursdays and Saturdays and from Kigali on Fridays and Sundays.
The aircraft was welcomed by Rwanda’s Minister of State in charge of Transport, Eng. Jean De Dieu Uwihanganye and Egypt ambassador to Rwanda, Ahmed El Ansary.
After welcoming the aircraft, Minister Uwihanganye said in a tweet: “We are very happy to receive EgyptAir maiden flight at Kigali International Airport this morning. This is the 8th airline operating in Rwanda.”
Other airlines operating in Rwanda include Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, Brussels Airlines, Turkish Airlines, KLM, EgyptAir and South African Airways.
The new flight is expected to ease travels between Egypt and Rwanda as passengers from Kigali had to travel with Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines which landed in Kenya and Ethiopia before reaching Egypt.
The launch took place in an event held at the hotel’s Filini Italian Restaurant, on Wednesday.
The event brought together various people including clients of The Wine Club and others who were there to taste and acquire knowledge on Santa Christina range Red, White, and Chianti Wine brands.
The Manager of the Wine Club operating in Radisson Blu Hotel, Mauro Pavesi told IGIHE that the drive to launch the wine knowledge program was to educate people with knowledge on wine and to know more about its brands.
“We thought about this activity as we wanted to teach people much about wine. We don’t intend to teach people to drink it more as it is unhealthy when one takes more than needed, but instead we want to share knowledge to those who drink it not knowing them that they may know so much about them,” Pavesi said.
Mauro Pavesi added that wine is very vital to the human body as it helps in food digestion.
The wine knowledge sharing event will be held on a weekly basis for the next six months, on every Wednesday from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Wines for which knowledge will be shared are made from Italy and sold at Filini Italian Restaurant operating Kigali Radisson Blu hotel.
The concession agreement will see Imizi develop and operate an exclusive chimpanzee and primate trekking experience under the Wilderness Safaris brand, while RDB will oversee ecology and conservation initiatives including ranger presence, law enforcement, science, engagement of community cooperatives, human-wildlife conflict resolution, research, and monitoring.
Following the signing of the concession agreement, the RDB Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Emmanuel Hategeka, observed how valuable the new project in Gishwati-Mukura National Park was going to be for Rwanda’s Tourism sector.
“We expect this new project in Gishwati-Mukura National Park to offer another unique world-class tourist experience, and draw even more visitors in Rwanda. It will be a valuable addition to other popular destinations including the Volcanoes National Park home to the rare Mountain Gorillas, Nyungwe National Park and the Akagera National Park home to the Big Five, that receive tens of thousands of guests every year,” he said
“Imizi’s investment in Gishwati-Mukura National Park reinforces further Rwanda’s pole position as a high-end sustainable tourism destination and benefits the residents living around the park. The unique Gishwati-Mukura National Park chimpanzee and primate trekking experience is one more great reason to visit Rwanda, the safest destination in the region but also ranked fifth safest and most secure country globally”, Hategeka concluded.
Wilderness Safari CEO, Keith Vincent commended the agreement and noted that it would push forward Rwanda’s High-end ecotourism experience.
“The signing of this agreement is an exciting development in our overall strategy to help take the Rwanda high-end ecotourism experience and its positive impacts on conservation and rural communities far beyond the gorilla experience. We envisage extended stays in the country where tourists are exposed to more of Rwanda’s unique attractions,” he said
“The potential of Rwanda is undeniable and we feel privileged to partner with the Rwanda Development Board to unlock this in Gishwati-Mukura and elsewhere’’, Vincent concluded.
Imizi is a subsidiary of Wilderness Safaris, a premier conservation organization with a presence in seven African countries, and which operates Bisate Lodge (Volcanoes National Park) and Magashi Lodge (Akagera National Park).
