Starting from 11am this 21st of February, friends, family and supporters of Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza stood in front of the Dutch parliament in The Hague for four hours as they sought to raise awareness for her situation back in Rwanda. Jambonews interviewed Victoire's son, 20-year old Remy Ndizeye Niyigena, on the matter.
Friends and family of Victoire gathered around a tent with multiple banners filled with pictures of 'the Rwandan icon' as they approached several Dutch bystanders to tell them about the woman who is now being detained in a Kigali prison.
''We have set up our tent here and we are handing out pamphlets to people who are passing by, in an attempt to tell our story and to generate more attention for my mother's case. We usually try to reach politicians who walk in and outside the building [the Parliament] but Dutch politicians are on holidays at this moment and that is why we are focusing on everybody who crosses our path. The pamphlets contain information regarding the appeal procedure of my mother, but we try to alternate the content every time we come here. What we really want is to share our personal stories; we want to touch people so they too can be affected by the injustice that is being done. In addition we ask people to like our Facebook page so they can stay up to date with what is going on. ''
When further asked what he wanted from Dutch politicians in this matter, Remy said that he hoped that once the awareness was created, people would gradually move towards taking action against ''the injustice''.
He also explained about the lack of information when it comes to the current state of his mother: ''The last news that we have regarding her living conditions is from a visit that was made by the Dutch Ambassador to Rwanda and Dutch students from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam last year. In the video report that was also broadcasted on Dutch television, we could see that she was being kept in solitary confinement, she had a small room with nothing but a bed and a small television and her windows were painted black. So in case of a power failure, she would remain in the dark. The last time we spoke was on October 13th 2010, the day before she was arrested. I remember her telling me that she had a feeling that she would be arrested soon.'
Remy also emphasized that although his mother is seeking an appeal, personally, he ''has no trust in the Rwandan courts''. He added that it would be just a matter of waiting for another conviction so they can take the case up to international courts. ''I don't know how long the procedure will take, it's Rwanda, everything goes slowly. It might take another two years before it is done. But at least the international judges are not corrupt.''
Most demonstrators came dressed in pink, the same colour as the Rwandan prison uniform, as 'a symbol for solidarity with innocent Rwandan prisoners, especially Victoire''. The sit-in was the first to be held since the beginning of this year and it is planned to take place every month from now onwards.
Jane Nishimwe
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