The Rwandan Commissioner on Human Rights Mr. Laurent Nkongoli appeared on the Voice of America yesterday defending the gross human rights violations of many Rwandans in the hands of the Rwandan security forces.

According to him the torture and disappearance are not only justified but also excusable; He argues that under special circumstances torture is acceptable. Let me remind Mr. Nkongoli that, both international and national law (Rwandan law) do not allow torture and regard torture as absolute prohibition and under no circumstance might be derogated. Therefore if Rwanda is under special circumstances as the learned man and a person supposed to be the defender of Human Rights in Rwanda alleges, then his argument would only hold water if it’s sanctioned by law.

According to Article 137 of the Rwandan Constitution, A state of emergency (special circumstance) and state of siege are the only circumstances that could give special powers to the Rwandan security forces to act with special arrangement of obtaining information, having said that, torture is not only prohibited but the information obtained by torture is inadmissible in the courts of law.

Article 137(5) says that declaring of state of siege or state emergency shall not under any circumstances violet the right to life and physical integrity of the person, the rights accorded to people by law in relation to their status, capacity, and nationality, the principle of non- retroactivity of criminal law, the right to legal representation and freedom of conscience and religion are absolute. This is to remind Mr. Nkongoli that Rwanda is not under state of emergency but even if it was under the state of emergency his arguments would not hold any legal merit. Therefore, the actions of the Rwandan security forces are not only absurd but illegal and should be condemned by all Human rights defenders including Laurent Nkongoli.  Indeed, after 20 years after the genocide of the Tutsis, there is no justification for detaining people without proper legal procedures.

Rwanda in the whole of East African Community and Commonwealth family of nations, it’s the only nation with long hours of detaining people without trial.  While Rwandan laws give Five days to the police and Five to the prosecution to hold a person in custody before is produced to the judge, the rest of East Africa give 48 hours, despite all these long hours which can even be prolonged by the judge for further 30 days, the Rwandan legal system and security forces are not only exhibiting the incompetence but also disregard of sanctity of human life.

The actions of extra-judicial killing have no any legal basis and in fact the Rwandans wherever they are, should challenge these barbaric and illegal actions of the Rwandan officials in the East African court of Justice and the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Rwandan Head of State should be brought to book to account for his utterances in February this year while addressing the residents of  Nyabihu that he will not only illegally detain the suspects but will also shoot them in the broad day light  which are not only criminal but also interfere and undermine the independence of the judiciary.

The RPF regime operate like Mafias, they wake up in the morning with a policy or business venture then use all tactics to achieve what they want. If you compare the Rwandan laws and the sister countries in the region, Rwanda is the only country with unstable laws. Take for Instance, the Law Reform Commission has not only amended its law that established it last year, but has enacted a new law just after one year since it was established making it the only commission for having had the shortest life span in the Rwandan History. The reason is both political and incompetence of the officials of the Ministry of Justice and Law Reform Commission. The fall of Karugarama as usual precipitated the dismantling of the organs of the ministry of justice not because they are not for the purpose, but simply because the Mafias that surround the President advised him to dismantle what they called Karugaramaism.

The current fires that are now the everyday talk on the streets and bedrooms in Rwanda are not accidental but planned and implemented by the clique of Mafias for either political or economic gain. They are now telling people to buy two fire extinguishers. Nothing in the RPF regime happens accidentally, they are designed to prolong the life span of the RPF regime and increase the economic base so that they can manage the increasing demand for hunting their opponents across the globe but also minimize expenses because the sources of money from Congo are blocked due to the unanticipated defeat of M23 and the Foreign aid drying up due to the political uncertainty and Rwanda’s inference in her neighbors affairs.

Just recently the Minister of Public Service announced that they will reduce the public employees and emerge some public institutions that according to them do the same things.  The Minister should be ashamed and resign for having been in charge of a Ministry responsible for monitoring responsible employment and proper spending of the tax payer’s money.  Unfortunately, this is not his design, but the clique of Mafias who always plan for the RPF regime to hatch areas of extorting money from Rwandans for their own interests. Indeed, when the international community closed the financial aid taps for Kagame’s supporting of the M23 in Congo, the Mafias came with the AGACIRO FUND, where all the public and big private institutions were forced to pay money, but nobody would take a risk and courage to ask for this money’s accountability. These Mafias must be resisted by all Rwandans through unity and resolving their differences, or they will be eaten like grasshoppers.

Jacqueline Umurungi