RWANDA: OVERSEAS OPPOSITION PARTIES

UNCLAS KIGALI 000006 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR RW SUBJECT: RWANDA: OVERSEAS OPPOSITION PARTIES ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Opposition political parties based outside Rwanda appear fractured and ineffectual, composed of disparate groupings of disaffected former officials or relatively unknown politicians nursing various grievances against the present government. What unites them is a visceral dislike for the Kagame regime, a focus on ethnic politics, and an often poor appreciation of the realities of present-day Rwanda. Prospects for useful dialogue with the GOR appear to be slim. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) In the fall of 2006 in Brussels, a new Rwandan political coalition publicly announced itself: the FDU-Inkingi/UDF (Forces Democratiques Unifiees/United Democratic Forces). The coalition appears to be an umbrella grouping of Rwandan opposition groups operating in Europe, particularly Belgium. Three parties form the core of the FDU: the ADR (Alliance Democratique Rwandaise/Rwandese Democratic Alliance),the FRD (Forces de Resistance pour la Dmocratie/Resistance Forces for Democracy),and RDR (Rassemblement Democratique Republicain/Republican Rally for Democracy in Rwanda). Several minor political personalities, unattached to any party, are also members of the coalition. ¶3. (U) Two other umbrella coalitions of opposition parties remain formally active: Partenariat- Intwari(which includes CAN-Ubumwe, FDLR-CMC, and PDN),and PDN-Igihango. While Partenariat-Intwari issues press releases, PDN-Igihango appears to be no longer operational. ¶4. (SBU) Another recent entrant in expatriate opposition politics is PDR-Ihumure, the political party of Paul Rusesabagina, the hero of "Hotel Rwanda." He has distinguished himself by writing letters to the Queen of England and the ICTR Prosecutor, calling for punishment of President Kagame and other RPF officials for various offenses during and after the genocide. Jerome Nayigiziki is the Secretary General. SIPDIS ¶5. (U) The avowed purposes of these various political formations are high-minded and uncontroversial: in their communications they often tout such principles as the establishment of the Rule of Law and respect for international democratic standards, a "genuine" multi-party democratic system, an all-inclusive national dialogue, an end to discrimination, equal opportunity for all the Rwandan citizens, repatriation of refugees and their resettlement and reintegration, reorganizing the national economy, and the restoration of peace and security in the region. ¶6. (SBU) However, their particular critiques are often emotional and heavy-handed. Generally led by disaffected Hutu politicians and officials, they have two main accusations: lack of sufficient political space in Rwanda, and RPF participation in massacres and other human rights violations during and after the genocide. However, they also attempt to monitor events in Rwanda, making long-distance critiques of GOR policies large and small, from the conduct of gacaca trials, to the temporary banning of motorcycles in Kigali, or the cutting of banana trees in the countryside. Their comments are generally extreme and often ill-informed, attributing the most heinous of motivations to the most mundane of decisions, and often having their facts not quite right. For example Rusesabagina accused the GOR of a "state-sponsored crime against Hutus" in its conduct of gacaca trials, and one of the parties affiliated with the FDU called a district government campaign to reduce banana plantations in downtown Gitarama "Gestapo tactics." ¶7. (SBU) The recent three-day National Dialogue in Kigali, December 18-20, met predictable condemnation by the FDU and Partenariat-Intwari. In the Dialogue, senior GOR officials from all levels and branches of government debated progress on reconciliation (expressing deep concern over recent murders of genocide survivors),reviewed national development goals, and discussed "political space" (their finding: it exists). President Kagame also signed new performance contracts with the 30 district mayors, following a review of their 2006 operations. FDU and Partenariet-Intwari dismissed the Dialogue as a "false forum" and an illustration of Kagame's domination of the country. ¶8. (SBU) Some direct contacts have occurred between these expatriate political formations and local Rwandans. For example, Dr. Naason Munyandamutsa, the research director for IRDP, a government-affiliated think-tank that has published interesting papers on political parties, participated in a Spanish government program for Rwanda political formations in Barcelona in June last year. Both Partenariat Intwari and the FDU attended. Several days of discussions on Rwanda and its future led to the drafting of an 18-point program for action that that Munyadamutsa characterized as bitterly critical, and uncompromisingly opposed to the GOR and all its programs. "There was nothing for me to do but leave," he said. ¶9. (SBU) Comment. In a recent conversation with emboffs, Pierre Gakwindi, former secretary general of the dissolved MDR party, said parties overseas and the GOR "need to find ways to speak to each other." Otherwise, "they just exchange insults." So far, we are not aware of any fruitful dialogue between the two sides. To advance its reconciliation goals, the GOR presumably wishes for a positive and supportive environment among Rwandan citizens outside the nation as well as internally. The GOR has had good success organizing "Diaspora" sessions with sympathetic Rwandans in the United States and other western nations. Yet it also faces harsh criticism from these small political groupings. We see no near term change in this polarized relationship. End comment. ¶10. (SBU) Bio Notes on expatriate umbrella political organizations: --Leadership of the FDU: President: Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, resident of the Netherlands since before 1994 genocide. Relatively young (37),she is stridently opposed to President Kagame personally and RPF generally. She is also President of the RDR, and a Hutu. First Vice President: Eugene Ndahayo. Former MDR member and Twagiramungu s Director of Cabinet in the Prime Minister's Office until 1995, he is the son of a former politician and influential Minister during President Kayibanda s regime. He is also President of the FRD party, and a Hutu. Second Vice President: Ambassador Ndagijimana Jean Marie Vianney. He is a former Ambassador to France in the Habyarimana government and former Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1994 for the RPF. He left Rwanda in November 1994 on an official mission and did not return. Said to have some influential friends in French political arenas, he is Hutu. Secretary General: Dr Mberabahizi Jean Baptiste: He a Member SIPDIS of Parliament representing PSR (Rwandese Socialist Party), and left Rwanda in 1996. He is the son of a former politician in President Kayibanda s regime, and President of the ADR. He is Hutu. --Partenariat-Intwari: ostensibly led by General Emmanuel Habyarimana, a Hutu and former Minister of Defense until ¶2002. He now lives in Switzerland. General Habyarimana has ceded effective operation of the coalition to his lieutenants as he pursues an advanced degree at a Swiss university. The party is essentially run by Do Mushayidi, Secretary General and President of PDN. Mushayidi, a journalist and Tutsi genocide survivor from Kibuye, was formerly an RPF cadre and worked in the RPF Secretariat. He left the country in 1999 and lives in Brussels. --PDN-Igihango: was initially created by Valens Kajeguhakwa, a Tutsi businessman, owner of Banque Continentale Africaine au Rwanda (BACAR) and former member of Parliament who fled the country on fraud charges, Joseph Sebarenzi, Tutsi, former Speaker of the Transitional Parliament who fled the country in 1999, Deo Mushayidi, Pierre Clstin Rwigema, former Prime Minister until 2000, as well as by some political and military people close to the FDLR. Operating on the principal of the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend, the coalition sought political support from both Hutus and Tutsis and intended some sort of affiliation with FDLR military commanders. Mushayidi later joined General Habyarimana in Partenariat-Intwari. Sebarenzi is rumored to be negotiating his return to Rwanda. ARIETTI