Rwanda Green Party members waited outside a meeting hall in Kigali, on 10.30.2009, to join the party's founding convention. Saboteurs disrupted the gathering, which was then shut down by police. Today's Rwandan News Agency reports that eight Rwanda Greens charge that they were illegally arrested and detained during the next week.
The Rwandan News Agency (RNA) published this report, "Green Party activists claim illegal detention, petition President," on the RNA website, on 11.20.2009, which requires registration.
Green Party activists claim illegal detention, petition President By RNA Reporters
Friday, 20 November 2009
Kigali: The scheduled founding conference of the troubled Green Party did not take place Friday as the group continued to wait for a Police certificate from the new Commissioner-General, Brig. Emmanuel Gasana.
But not without new allegations, RNA reports. A man by the name of Gaston Bihibindi is claiming that he was detained for three days without food at the magnificent multi-million dollar Ministry of Defense building known locally as the "Pentagon .
Mr. Bihibindi is not the only one accusing unknown individuals driving tinted double cabin Toyota pickup trucks of snatching them from their homes or as they walked. The local weekly UMUSESO details ordeals of eight people identifying themselves as Green Party activists, who were apparently arrested on October 30 after the failed conference which police halted citing insecurity.
The men were apparently detained at an infamous but not gazetted facility in Kimironko, an outskirt of Kigali. The seemingly traumatized Mr. Bihibindi claims that on Sunday November 15 at around 18hours, he was lured into a blue and tinted double-cabin track by two men who asked him to direct them to a place where somebody was selling a house and land.
The two men found him walking in Kanombe, an area where the International airport is situated, and where he lives. "I told them that I have no idea about who is selling land or houses but they insisted I should just get into the car to help them get around the place, since I knew it very well, narrates Bihibindi. "But when I got into the back seat of the double-cabin, I started feeling insecure and scared after I saw a pistol (gun) placed in front of the other passenger.
The car drove without stopping to the building which housed the former Rwanda Export and Investment Promotion Agency (RIEPA) in Kimihurura. "Along the way, I asked where we were going, but they told me there is no problem as they needed me to help them with something, narrates Bihibindi. There was no more conversation.
At this building known here as ˜Kabindi', the men handed him to another man who invited Bihibindi inside and told to sit in a room. Several men came into the room asking him questions. "One of the men kicked me as he talked to me like he knew very well who I was, claims Bihibindi.
All the people who interrogated him were apparently accusing the youthful former soldier of mobilizing demobilized soldiers to join the Green Party, which he admits to having done in the interview. "The one who kicked me accused me of joining the party for money because of my stomach, he said. During the October 30 failed conference, Bihibindi says he was in charge of protocol and is said to be one of the few strong activists of the controversial group.
Green Party Frank Habineza is now in the spotlight for allegedly aiding a former minister to flee the country " which he denies.
After several hours at the Kabindi building, the same car with the same occupants returned and moved Bihibindi to the Pentagon building which is just in sight of Kabindi. He was taken to the basement of the Pentagon building where he spent the night with other detained people, who he describes as "looking like soldiers .
On the Morning of Monday November 16, all the detainees were given bread and milk. This would be the end of the meals until Wednesday afternoon on November 19. "We never had anything else to eat for all that time, he affirms. However, what he also affirmed to RNA is that he was not tortured. "All my interrogators treated me well even when they were asking me questions, he says. "The only problem I have with the whole situation is how could I be kept for all this time without being taken to court or even informed of what I was held for?
On Wednesday, in the afternoon, a man Bihibindi indentifies as a "Major came in to speak to him about his ordeal. "He ordered that I be released immediately but also ordered me not to tell anybody about what had happened, he tells RNA in a soft tone, as he sat back. Bihibindi says he walked out of the Pentagon building and headed straight home. The next stop was informing Green Party leaders of what happened to him because they had also been looking for him without any trace.
"I don't know what will happen next. If I can be picked and taken away without anyone noticing, how sure can I be for my security anymore? I am defying the order to keep quiet because I am scared anything could happen, he says. "All I am requesting is protection from President Kagame as the leader of this country because people might be doing this without his knowledge.
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