{"id":55329,"date":"2025-08-22T18:38:52","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T18:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/rwanda-dismisses-unverified-hrw-claims-on-binza-killings\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T16:39:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T16:39:50","slug":"rwanda-dismisses-unverified-hrw-claims-on-binza-killings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rwanda-dismisses-unverified-hrw-claims-on-binza-killings\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda dismisses \u201cunverified\u201d HRW claims on Binza killings"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a statement issued on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation described the claims as \u201csensational, baseless, and lacking evidence,\u201d pointing out that even HRW acknowledged it had not independently verified the alleged killings of Hutu civilians said to have occurred over nearly two weeks in July.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese salacious claims, which raise more questions than answers, are not the result of any credible investigation,\u201d the Rwandan government said. \u201cRather, they have been hastily released through media leaks in an attempt to entrench a pre-determined narrative. Only an independent investigation will shed light on these allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rwanda accused HRW of a \u201clong history of implausible claims\u201d against the country, often timed to coincide with critical political moments. The government noted that the latest report comes as parties to the conflict in eastern DRC prepare to resume negotiations and as the June 27 Washington DC Peace Agreement \u2014 which includes the neutralisation of the DRC-backed FDLR militia \u2014 is being implemented. Kigali reiterated its commitment to regional peace efforts, including the Doha process.<\/p>\n

The Allied Forces Coalition\/M23 (AFC\/M23) rebel group also dismissed the HRW report recently, calling it \u201cfake, politically motivated, and an instrument of propaganda.\u201d <\/p>\n

In a statement released on Wednesday, the group\u2019s spokesperson, Lawrence Kanyuka, criticised HRW\u2019s methodology, saying it relied on \u201cunverified telephone testimonies and satellite imagery without on-the-ground verification.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Human Rights Watch report of August 20th, 2025, is fake and a falsification of reality. Its methodology is fraudulent, its sources are corrupt, and its context is truncated,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

AFC\/M23 further accused HRW of ignoring atrocities allegedly committed by other armed groups allied with the Kinshasa government, including the FDLR, Nyatura, PARECO, and Wazalendo. The rebels maintain that the report is intended to cover up \u201cmilitary failures and crimes against humanity\u201d by government forces.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Government of Rwanda has strongly rejected allegations by Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and the UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO), alleging mass killing of civilians in Binza, Rutshuru Territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo by \u201cM23 supported by the Rwanda Defence Force\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000092959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-55329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000092959,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nduhungirehe-21-e04ab-d7bec-2.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nduhungirehe-21-e04ab-d7bec-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nduhungirehe-21-e04ab-d7bec-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nduhungirehe-21-e04ab-d7bec-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nduhungirehe-21-e04ab-d7bec-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/nduhungirehe-21-e04ab-d7bec-2.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000092959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55329"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=55329"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=55329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}