#Other countries : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to meet Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Thursday during a brief visit to Rwanda, the third and final leg of his African tour after South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Arrived Wednesday evening in Kigali, the American diplomat should also discuss the human rights situation in Rwanda, regularly denounced by civil society and international NGOs.
«The failure to react to the appalling human rights record in Rwanda has only encouraged the country’s officials on the path of abuse, even beyond its borders.»said Lewis Mudge, director for Central Africa of the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a press release published on Monday.
The human rights NGO called on Antony Blinken to «to make it clear (in Kigali) that there would be consequences for government repression and abuses in Rwanda and beyond».
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Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire echoed HRW in telling AFP that Bliken should «raise the issue of imprisoned journalists and politicians» for opposing the government of Paul Kagame.
«Blinken must ask our government to open political space for all those who want to actively participate in political life»underlined Victoire Ingabire who herself spent six years in prison for “terrorism”.
The US Secretary of State should also raise the case of Paul Rusesabagina, the hero of “Hotel Rwanda” who has been serving a 25-year prison sentence since last year and has permanent resident status in the United States.
This African tour by Antony Blinken comes a few days after a parallel tour by his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who passed through Congo, Uganda, Egypt and Ethiopia.