Dear Friend of Africa.com,
I wear many hats, including having the privilege of serving on the Human Rights Watch Africa Advisory Board.
Today, Human Rights Watch published a milestone report on Rwanda.
It is important to me, personally, and in my capacity at Africa.com, to use all of my platforms to ensure that that as many people in influential positions, like the readers of Africa.com, are aware of the years-long investigation that Human Rights Watch conducted, including interviews with over 150 people, to expose violent oppression undertaken by the Rwandan government to silence its critics abroad.
This full report published today: Join us or Die: Rwanda’s Extraterritorial Repression is available at these links in English and in French.
In this new report, Human Rights Watch documents a wide array of tactics used by Rwandan authorities and their proxies to muzzle dissenting voices and scare off potential critics abroad. The combination of physical violence, including killings and enforced disappearances, surveillance, misuse of law enforcement – both domestic and international – abuses against relatives in Rwanda, and the reputational damage done through online harassment constitute clear efforts to isolate potential critics that are at the heart of this research.
There are several additional resources tied to the report:
A Q&A on the report’s findings:
A news release introducing the research, HRW’s analysis of Rwanda’s extraterritorial repression, and HRW’s our main calls:
A news release specifically engaging with the UK context (the UK asylum transfer plan with Rwanda):
I ask you, friends of Africa.com, to take a moment to watch the video, skim the full report, or read the press releases, and to share this information widely in your circles of influence.
Thank you for your concern for the people of Rwanda, and for basic human rights everywhere.
Sincerely,
Teresa Clarke
Chair and Executive Editor
Africa.com