[Since 1994, the world witnesses the horrifying Tutsi minority (14%) ethnic domination, the Tutsi minority ethnic rule with an iron hand, tyranny and corruption in Rwanda. The current government has been characterized by the total impunity of RPF criminals, the Tutsi economic monopoly, the Tutsi militaristic domination, and the brutal suppression of the rights of the majority of the Rwandan people (85% are Hutus)and mass arrests of Hutus by the RPF criminal organization =>AS International]
Monday,
March 17, 2014
Today, I
published a short opinion piece on the AfricanArguments.org website about
Rwanda’s recent Twitter-gate, linking it to broader patterns of disinformation
in postgenocide Rwanda. The link is here.
published a short opinion piece on the AfricanArguments.org website about
Rwanda’s recent Twitter-gate, linking it to broader patterns of disinformation
in postgenocide Rwanda. The link is here.
The
original text follows:
original text follows:
As Rwanda
prepares to mark the twentieth anniversary of the 1994 genocide, it has found
itself in an unprecedented diplomatic crisis. The ruling Rwandan Patriotic
Front has all but claimed responsibility for the murder of its former spy chief
Patrick Karegeya in Johannesburg in January. More recently, the South African
government has accused Rwandan diplomats of a third bungled attempt on the life
of the country’s former army chief Kayumba Nyamwasa. The State Department
scolded the government of President Paul Kagame for the attempt. The South
African government then expelled three Rwandan diplomats, and is considering
ending formal diplomatic ties with Rwanda.
prepares to mark the twentieth anniversary of the 1994 genocide, it has found
itself in an unprecedented diplomatic crisis. The ruling Rwandan Patriotic
Front has all but claimed responsibility for the murder of its former spy chief
Patrick Karegeya in Johannesburg in January. More recently, the South African
government has accused Rwandan diplomats of a third bungled attempt on the life
of the country’s former army chief Kayumba Nyamwasa. The State Department
scolded the government of President Paul Kagame for the attempt. The South
African government then expelled three Rwandan diplomats, and is considering
ending formal diplomatic ties with Rwanda.
Foreign
journalists reporting on the attack on Nyamwasa raised the ire of President
Kagame. On March 7, Radio France International journalist Sonia Rolley was
subject to misogynistic harassment from the account of @RichardGoldston.
American freelancer Steve Terrill came to Rolley’s defense, resulting in a
series of mocking tweets from the account of Rwanda president @PaulKagame
himself, not the @RichardGoldston to which Terrill (@steveinafrica) had
directed his Tweets. A week later, on March 15, Terrill was denied entry into
Rwanda. The denial appearspolitically-motivated as Terrill broke the story that
someone in the office of the Rwandan president also had access to the
@RichardGoldston account. The @RichardGoldston account trolled Twitter for any
sign of criticism of Kagame or the RPF, and regularly harassed and demeaned
Twitter users that criticized the government.
journalists reporting on the attack on Nyamwasa raised the ire of President
Kagame. On March 7, Radio France International journalist Sonia Rolley was
subject to misogynistic harassment from the account of @RichardGoldston.
American freelancer Steve Terrill came to Rolley’s defense, resulting in a
series of mocking tweets from the account of Rwanda president @PaulKagame
himself, not the @RichardGoldston to which Terrill (@steveinafrica) had
directed his Tweets. A week later, on March 15, Terrill was denied entry into
Rwanda. The denial appearspolitically-motivated as Terrill broke the story that
someone in the office of the Rwandan president also had access to the
@RichardGoldston account. The @RichardGoldston account trolled Twitter for any
sign of criticism of Kagame or the RPF, and regularly harassed and demeaned
Twitter users that criticized the government.
On March 8,
the official Twitter account of the Office of the Rwandan President
(@UrugwiroVillage) tweeted that the @RichardGoldston account had been deleted
and the staff member responsible for the account had been “reprimanded’.
Rwanda’s Twitter-gate raise questions about the central role of RPF
Twitter-trolls in calling out foreign journalists who seek it hold it to
account for its excesses at home and abroad. President Kagame’s reactionary
tweets provide insight into the political reality behind his government’s
carefully crafted narrative that Rwanda is a nation rehabilitated from the ruin
of the 1994 genocide. Twitter-gate is also illustrative of the harassment and
intimidation that critics of the RPF regime regularly experience.
the official Twitter account of the Office of the Rwandan President
(@UrugwiroVillage) tweeted that the @RichardGoldston account had been deleted
and the staff member responsible for the account had been “reprimanded’.
Rwanda’s Twitter-gate raise questions about the central role of RPF
Twitter-trolls in calling out foreign journalists who seek it hold it to
account for its excesses at home and abroad. President Kagame’s reactionary
tweets provide insight into the political reality behind his government’s
carefully crafted narrative that Rwanda is a nation rehabilitated from the ruin
of the 1994 genocide. Twitter-gate is also illustrative of the harassment and
intimidation that critics of the RPF regime regularly experience.
Twitter-gate
is the first crack in the armor of the RPF’s longstanding disinformation
campaign that has relied on exchange students, public relations firms,
commemorative events, and a whole host of other techniques to craft an
idealized and often invented version of what Rwanda was like before the onset
of colonialism and what it has become since the 1994 genocide. Since 2009, the
RPF has worked with American and British PR specialists whose primary task is
to drown out the voices of foreign critics and bury evidence of the RPF’s human
rights abuses under rosy language about political stability, economic growth,
and the stated intention of helping the poor. In January, Rwanda launched the
Kwibuka20 campaign, from inside Kagame’s office of course, for the same
instrumental reason: to substitute the trope of genocide for the trope of
authoritarianism in narratives about Rwanda.
is the first crack in the armor of the RPF’s longstanding disinformation
campaign that has relied on exchange students, public relations firms,
commemorative events, and a whole host of other techniques to craft an
idealized and often invented version of what Rwanda was like before the onset
of colonialism and what it has become since the 1994 genocide. Since 2009, the
RPF has worked with American and British PR specialists whose primary task is
to drown out the voices of foreign critics and bury evidence of the RPF’s human
rights abuses under rosy language about political stability, economic growth,
and the stated intention of helping the poor. In January, Rwanda launched the
Kwibuka20 campaign, from inside Kagame’s office of course, for the same
instrumental reason: to substitute the trope of genocide for the trope of
authoritarianism in narratives about Rwanda.
The
disinformation strategy is simple: ensure maximum international sympathy and
donor dollars and a minimum of international inquiry into the government’s
denial of liberties and human rights abuses. The Kagame-led regime has a
penchant for U.S. visits and visitors, and until recently successive U.S.
administrations turned a blind eye to massive human rights violations for which
the Kagame-led regime, according to the United Nations, is responsible in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. Americans in particular have been taken in by
the rhetoric of reconstruction, development, and reconciliation that invariably
accompanies most public events in the country.
disinformation strategy is simple: ensure maximum international sympathy and
donor dollars and a minimum of international inquiry into the government’s
denial of liberties and human rights abuses. The Kagame-led regime has a
penchant for U.S. visits and visitors, and until recently successive U.S.
administrations turned a blind eye to massive human rights violations for which
the Kagame-led regime, according to the United Nations, is responsible in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. Americans in particular have been taken in by
the rhetoric of reconstruction, development, and reconciliation that invariably
accompanies most public events in the country.
The RPF
frames itself for Western audiences as the political party best able to move
Rwanda is moving towards a Western-style democracy because it has regularly
held presidential and parliamentary elections. The RPF handily won the most
recent round of parliamentary elections, in September 2013, with 76% of the
vote. In theory, it was contending with nine other parties. In practice,
Rwanda’s nearly six million voters had little choice on the ballot. A total of
98% of the votes went to the RPF and its four coalition parties. The continued
dominance of the RPF in the electoral realm projects a semblance of political
pluralism while masking the fact that all parties are expected to acquiesce to
the ruling party. Two actual opposition parties have been banned and their
leaders jailed.
frames itself for Western audiences as the political party best able to move
Rwanda is moving towards a Western-style democracy because it has regularly
held presidential and parliamentary elections. The RPF handily won the most
recent round of parliamentary elections, in September 2013, with 76% of the
vote. In theory, it was contending with nine other parties. In practice,
Rwanda’s nearly six million voters had little choice on the ballot. A total of
98% of the votes went to the RPF and its four coalition parties. The continued
dominance of the RPF in the electoral realm projects a semblance of political
pluralism while masking the fact that all parties are expected to acquiesce to
the ruling party. Two actual opposition parties have been banned and their
leaders jailed.
Another
pillar of Rwanda’s disinformation campaign is that the government promotes
gender-equality. 64% percent of parliamentarians in Rwanda’s lower house are
women, but this number masks reality. Although women are very visible in Rwanda
politics, their ability to shape the future of women, ironically, is
circumscribed. Rwanda’s parliament has limited influence. Parliamentarians—be
they male or female—actually have little power to legislate on behalf of their
constituents. They have little room to develop policy or even to debate openly;
space for free and open political expression is limited. Put differently, an
assessment of political realities shows that women parliamentarians in Rwanda
are mere accessories of power; they do not actually wield any of it.
pillar of Rwanda’s disinformation campaign is that the government promotes
gender-equality. 64% percent of parliamentarians in Rwanda’s lower house are
women, but this number masks reality. Although women are very visible in Rwanda
politics, their ability to shape the future of women, ironically, is
circumscribed. Rwanda’s parliament has limited influence. Parliamentarians—be
they male or female—actually have little power to legislate on behalf of their
constituents. They have little room to develop policy or even to debate openly;
space for free and open political expression is limited. Put differently, an
assessment of political realities shows that women parliamentarians in Rwanda
are mere accessories of power; they do not actually wield any of it.
Though the
genocide has not repeated itself, growing socio-political and economic
inequalities—notably the exclusion of youth—under an increasingly authoritarian
and repressive government have meant that post-genocide Rwanda is still deeply
entangled in its violent past. Rwandans deserve better from their American
friends. Rwanda’s Twitter-gate also reminds us that, on this 20th anniversary
of the Rwandan genocide, we should not allow our generally rosy perception of
Rwanda as a stable and free country under the visionary leadership of President
Kagame to mask long-standing political tensions, unresolved resentments, and
the rise of an authoritarian regime.
genocide has not repeated itself, growing socio-political and economic
inequalities—notably the exclusion of youth—under an increasingly authoritarian
and repressive government have meant that post-genocide Rwanda is still deeply
entangled in its violent past. Rwandans deserve better from their American
friends. Rwanda’s Twitter-gate also reminds us that, on this 20th anniversary
of the Rwandan genocide, we should not allow our generally rosy perception of
Rwanda as a stable and free country under the visionary leadership of President
Kagame to mask long-standing political tensions, unresolved resentments, and
the rise of an authoritarian regime.
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a “time”, yet It cannot be destroyed. ==> Wolverine
The Truth can be buried and stomped into the ground where none can see, yet eventually it will, like a seed, break through the surface once again far more potent than ever, and Nothing can stop it. Truth can be suppressed for a time, yet It cannot be destroyed => Wolverine
