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Intimidation alleged in Rwanda
poll
According to Amnesty International, Mr Twagiramungu was effectively banned from campaigning, with his key activists arrested or "disappeared", and his leaflets impounded. Alison Desforges of Human Rights Watch said yesterday: "If this society is not yet ready to participate in a free and open voting exercise, it should not participate. Kagame cannot have it both ways - calling it democratic, yet keeping it under tight control." James Astill in Cyangugu
The Guardian (London) Allegations of intimidation and rigging marred Rwanda's first democratic election yesterday, an event widely seen as a
barometer of the country's recovery from the 1994
genocide.
As Rwandans formed orderly queues outside polling stations shortly after dawn, none doubted that President Paul
Kagame
would be swept back to power.
Mr Kagame, a former Tutsi rebel leader who toppled Rwanda's murderous Hutu-fascist regime which was held
responsible for the slaughter of 500,000 people, has
solid
support across the country.
"We now have peace and security," said Emmanuelle Bijogo, apparently sounding the view of the majority, as he
waited to
vote in Kigali, Rwanda's capital. "If Kagame is removed,
there'll
be trouble."
Casting his vote nearby, Mr Kagame heralded the election as a watershed in his nation's violent history. "It's a
big
democratic step that has been taken by our country," he
said.
"Rwandans are happy, including myself, that we
have
been able to make this huge
stride."
Not all Rwandans agreed. Campaigners for Faustin Twagiramungu, Mr Kagame's only serious challenger,
reported
allegations of intimidation by Mr Kagame's soldiers
across the
country.
In Cyangugu, Mr Twagiramungu's hometown in south- western Rwanda, voters were reluctant to speak to the
Guardian at polling booths. But in dusty side
streets,
away from the soldiers monitoring the booths, people
were
seething.
"When I voted for Twagiramungu, an officials grabbed the ballot and told me not to waste his time and vote again.
When
I voted again for Kagame they accepted it," said a man
who
gave his name as Jean. "Most people in Cyangugu want
Twagiramungu, but of course Kagame will
win."
Another voter, Felicien, said: "Today is a catastrophe: people are forced to vote for Kagame, people are afraid
of
being imprisoned if they
don't. I voted for Twagiramungu, but
whether my vote will be counted, I don't
know."
A moderate Hutu, Mr Twagiramungu was accused of inciting genocide in the run-up to the election by state
media,
despite losing 32 relatives in the 1994 massacre and
escaping
himself after being rolled up in a tarpaulin and
smuggled
to Kenya.
According to Amnesty International, Mr Twagiramungu was effectively banned from campaigning, with his key
activists
arrested or "disappeared", and his leaflets
impounded.
Alison Desforges of Human Rights Watch said yesterday: "If this society is not yet ready to participate in a free
and open
voting exercise, it should not participate. Kagame
cannot have
it both ways - calling it democratic, yet keeping it
under tight
control."
Copyright 2003 Guardian Newspapers
Limited
The Guardian (London) August 26, 2003 Guardian Foreign Pages |
