No problems with U.S., says Kagame
The Independent, Uganda - Rwanda Ed 23:34 29-Jun-14
Sunday, 29 June 2014 22:23 By Agencies

Rwanda maintains its relations with the United States have not changed
despite Washington's criticism of Kigali over alleged arbitrary
arrests and calls for the government to respect freedom of expression.
«The relationship between the United States and Rwanda have not
changed over the last many years,» Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise
Mushikiwabo told reporters on June 20.
There is no such a thing as countries agreeing 100 percent on
everything being done in each one of the countries.»
Earlier in June Washington said it was «deeply concerned by the arrest
and disappearance of dozens of Rwandan citizens» as well as «credible
reports» of threats to journalists.
Rwanda swiftly rejected the criticism, saying that it was responding
to threats from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda
(FDLR) -- remnants of the Hutu group linked to the 1994 genocide in
which at least 800,000 mainly Tutsis died.
«The concerns of alleged disappearances when somebody is in the hands
of the police or justice, that doesn't mean that the person has
disappeared,» she Mushikiwabo, adding Rwanda would not tolerate
insecurity.
«Security is a very serious matter, it is for Rwanda as it is for the
United States or any other country, and we will handle any acts of
insecurity very robustly,» Mushikiwabo added.
«That is not changing. We also make sure that everything is done in
accordance with our own laws.»
Western nations supported Kagame after the 1994 Tutsi genocide but
have increasingly been critical due to his government's purported
abuses against critics and alleged interference in Democratic Republic
of Congo.
Human Rights Watch in May reported an increasing number of forcible
disappearances in Rwanda and said there were «indications of
involvement of state agents.»
Rwanda accused the New York-based group of spreading the equivalent of
«political propaganda for terrorist groups.»
In the same week Mushikiwabo responded to allegations of abuse of
human rights, the government released Agnes Uwimana Nkusi, a
journalist who has ben in jail for four years in jail for writing
articles critical of President Paul Kagame.
Nkusi, then-editor of the Umurabyo newspaper, was arrested in 2010 and
convicted the following year for defamation, causing divisions, and
denying Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
«I am very happy to get out of jail and I will continue my career,»
she told reporters as she left jail, adding she would continue to
write critical articles of the government.
«I'm not afraid because of my four-year sentence...I have no regrets,
I am determined to do my job until I die.»
Her sentence of 17 years was cut to four in 2012, after the Supreme
Court cleared her of genocide denial and promoting ethnic divisions.
Convictions for defamation for insulting President Paul Kagame and
inciting public disorder were upheld.
Rights group Amnesty International condemned the imprisonment of the
journalist. The media watchdog ranked Rwanda 162nd out of 180
countries in its 2014 press freedom index
http://www.independent.co.ug/rwanda-ed/rwanda/9099-no-problems-with-us-says-kagame
--
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