We won't let anyone take Rwanda back, MPs tell Dutch counterparts

Members of the Chamber of Deputies’ Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security, yesterday, told their counterparts from The Netherlands that no one will be allowed to lead the country back to disaster, all in the name of free speech or open political space. This was partly as a response to a statement from a member of the visiting delegation, who noted that jailed Victoire Ingabire “says the law was misused”. Ingabire, who used to live in The Netherlands before returning home in 2010, was found guilty in 2013 of, among others, inciting the masses to revolt against the Government and minimising the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Both Dutch MPs and members of the committee on foreign affairs, cooperation and security during their meeting at the parliament. (Faustin Niyigena) MP Juliana Kantengwa told the visitors that Ingabire went too far. “She is one Rwandan whom you are familiar with, much more than the over 11 million Rwandans. But the fact is, she left the country at a time when the Tutsi were not allowed to go to school, it was illegal for Rwandan army men to marry Tutsi women, and when she was living in The Netherlands, she never opposed that. “Because she comes from a western country, she assumes she is Dutch. But when you become Dutch in Rwanda and think you are going to have freedom of expression of even reminding people how it was their right at that time (1994) to kill me! No! I think there is a limit to everything,” Kantengwa said. Chairperson of the committee on foreign affairs, cooperation and security chairperson Zenon Mutimura answers the question as his compatriot John Ruku-Rwabyoma looks on. Members of the committee were interacting with a visiting delegation comprising members of the foreign trade and development cooperation committee of the Dutch parliament. During an hour-long discussion, the Dutch MPs posed questions regarding how the media in Rwanda has evolved; what their Rwandan counterparts think about the presidential term limits debate, political space and freedom of expression, among others. Speaker Donatille Mukabalisa (yellow coat) with her compatriots and Dutch delegation in a group photo at the parliament after the visit. Upon returning to Rwanda from the Netherlands in 2010, Ingabire, headed straight to the Kigali Genocide Memorial centre and in a speech there, described the 1994 Genocide as a double genocide. “She was here for two to three months moving around the country doing all she wanted against the laws of the country, and she was not listening to warnings because she thought you guys (Dutch politicians) would stop aid from coming to Rwanda. Aid was flowing into Rwanda in 1994 when people were dying. So, we said no! Enough is enough. She was subjected to the courts of law,” Kantengwa added. Some incriminating evidence that pinned Ingabire during her trial was provided by the Dutch government, a fact that MP Zenon Mutimura alluded to yesterday. In 2011, evidence incriminating Ingabire was given to Rwandan prosecutors by the then Dutch ambassador, Frans Makken. Dutch MP Sharon Gesthuizen with her compatriot asks a question in the meeting yesterday at the Rwandan parliament as her compatriot looks on. “We are not going to allow someone to bring us back to that situation (1994 scenario), not even Ingabire.” MP John Ruku-Rwabyoma said. MP Evariste Kalisa said the media was used in the preparation of the Genocide and it was now being used in Genocide denial. Raymond De Roon, the leader of the Dutch delegation, told The New Times that: “We want to know how parliamentarians feel about certain important issues – for instance, the term limits for the president and also how to deal with freedom of press and political freedoms, and I think we got good answers from the Rwandan parliamentarians.” Speaker Donatille Mukabalisa shakes hand with Dutch MPs delegation leader Raymond de Roon at the parliament yesterday. Dutch MPs delegation leader Raymond de Roon in the meeting yesterday. Speaker Donatille Mukabalisa briefs the media after receiving Dutch delegation.

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We won't let anyone take Rwanda back, MPs tell Dutch counterparts