Ingabire to blame for her detention – Human Rights body

KIGALI - The prolonged preventive detention of Victoire Ingabire, the embattled leader of the yet-to-be registered political party, FDU-Inkingi, is a result of her own making.This was revealed in a statement by the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR). The statement signed by the commission’s Vice President, Deogratias Kayumba, is based on the findings of a study conducted by NCHR on, among others, the current political space, democratic evolution, freedom of press and the status of prisons and inmates in Rwanda. “Ingabire,” the statement reads, “keeps on requesting for the adjournment of her hearing “and the commission commends the respect for judgment procedures and transparent proceedings.” “The commission considers that no Rwandan citizen or foreigner, be it a politician or not, should elude the rigour of the law, more specifically when they are accused of serious crimes,” the statement reads in part. Ingabire was arrested in April last year on charges of association with a terrorist group, propagating the Genocide ideology, revisionism and ethnic division. The statement dismissed claims that the murder of Andre Rwisereka, former vice Chairman of another unregistered party, Green Party, was politically motivated.Rwisereka was, in July last year, found dead in the Southern Province. The commission further noted that there was improvement of detainees’ welfare, including food, hygiene and sanitation as well as prolonged preventive detention cases, compared to the past. The condition, according to the report, was also improved by the construction of new prison facilities in Rubavu and Butare districts and the institution of one prison for minors and women in Nyagatare and Musanze districts respectively. Ends