Rwandan Govt Challenges Human Rights ReportsThe Rwandan government represented by a seven-man panel has refuted the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International reports published and disseminated on April 25-26 this year, Rwanda News Agency reported Saturday.Foreign Affairs Minister Andre Bumaya said in a statement that "reports are aimed at undermining the achievements of the government of National Unity and eroding its credibility." The reports are "based on lies and questionable research methods whose purpose is to tarnish the image of the newly sworn in government," the statement said. The statement categorically rejected the reports and challenged them to an open public debate on their accusations. The panel is composed of three Rwandan ministers and four high ranking officers, including foreign minister Bumaya, Interior Minister Gakwaya Rwaka, resident Ambassador at the United Nations and Minister designate for the Presidency Joseph Mutaboba. Rwaka revealed that the Rwandan government spends a total of 12 billion FRW on prisoners per year and the mortality rate in Rwandan prisons is lower than 1 percent per year where as it is 3 percent for the free Rwandans. He attributed the current congestion in prisons to the phenomenon of the numerous genocide crimes. |
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