Key Points
- Noël Zihabamwe wants Australia's deputy prime minister to raise the issue of forced disappearances in Rwanda at CHOGM.
- The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances is currently investigating Mr Zihabamwe’s complaint over the disappearance of his brothers in Rwanda in 2019.
Australian human rights advocates have called for greater scrutiny of Rwanda's human rights record as the nation hosts world leaders at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali this week.
Noël Zihabamwe is among those making the call and has become a prominent human rights advocate and leader among the Australian-Rwandan community after his arrival in Australia in 2006.
He came on a humanitarian visa after fleeing Rwanda due to fears of political persecution, and the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances is currently investigating over the disappearance of his brothers in Rwanda in 2019.
Mr Zihabamwe said eyewitnesses saw "the removal by force" of his two brothers Jean Nsengimana and Antoine Zihabamwe from a bus by Rwanda's investigative bureau in September 2019.
"Since the removal in 2019 we have been searching, we have been asking for help, but we have not found them," he told SBS News.
Mr Zihabamwe claims he was approached by representatives of the Rwandan government in 2016 in an effort to recruit him as an agent of influence in Australia, and believes his brothers’ disappearance is an act of retaliation at his refusal.
Since he submitted his complaint to the UN in 2021, Mr Zihabamwe said he has been contacted by more than 200 families "in relation to their own family and friends who have been harassed or have disappeared in Rwanda".
"The vast majority of these disappearances in Rwanda are never brought to international attention and Rwandan families continue to suffer in silence," he said.
In February, Mr Zihabamwe addressed the UN about his brothers' case and the issue of forced disappearances.
The families of those with missing loved ones have been "seeking justice in Rwanda, but they could not get it, rather what they get is intimidation, it's harassment", he told SBS News.
"And sometimes they are told that if they continue looking for their beloved ones, they may also end up losing their lives. So [these are the] testimonies that I shared with the UN experts."
SBS News contacted the High Commission of the Republic of Rwanda for comment on the issue. Previously President Paul Kagame, at a Council of Foreign Relations meeting in 2017, was asked about accusations of human rights abuses in terms of the "elimination of your political opponents".
He said: "You know, the press or human rights groups, what they say about me personally or about Rwanda, when you are in Rwanda and are dealing with these decent human beings also in Rwanda, and they tell you their own stories, you won’t trust even 0.001 per cent of what they’re talking about."
Calls for 'greater accountability'
The Australian Human Rights Institute (AHRI), internationally renowned human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson, and Australian law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth have been assisting Mr Zihabamwe with his complaint to the UN.
The institute, which has been campaigning to draw attention to the issue of enforced and involuntary disappearances in Rwanda for the past year, this week called on Australian and world leaders to address the issue at CHOGM.
Australia's is due to attend CHOGM on Friday and Saturday, following a visit to India.
Forced and involuntary disappearances are a systematic issue in Rwanda, AHRI director Justine Nolan said, with high-profile disappearances.
"Commonwealth leaders, including Australia’s new government, should use CHOGM to call for greater accountability from the Rwandan government over these disappearances," Professor Nolan said.
"Rwandans at home and abroad should not fear that their families will be harmed if they criticise the Rwandan government, and Commonwealth heads of government should demand Commonwealth values, including the promotion of democracy and human rights, be upheld."
The spectre of the , which saw the killing of more than 800,000 civilians, mostly from the Tutsi ethnic group, still hangs over the nation.
President Kagame was praised for his role in helping to end the civil war as a military commander, but since taking power the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) leader has drawn criticism from international human rights groups over claims that opposition politicians, activists and journalists have been disappeared or killed under his regime.
In 2009, when Rwanda joined the Commonwealth, he wrote: "We take human rights, good governance and democracy seriously, not only because we know it is the right thing to do but because we know from our tragic past the consequences of ignoring them."
Rwanda's President Paul Kagame.
He said he was happy CHOGM was taking place in Kigali as it presents leaders including Deputy Prime Minister Marles with an opportunity to raise the issue of forced disappearances and “to tell Rwanda that as a Commonwealth member they should abide by the values and principles of Commonwealth charter”.
"I'm happy because leaders like our deputy prime minister are going there with his delegation. So it's an opportunity for people who care about human beings not only to attend that meeting, but also to raise those issues that many international organisations have been raising," he said.
SBS News contacted the offices of Mr Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong for comment.
Rwanda's human rights record
The practice of forced disappearances has been identified as a human rights issue by bodies including the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
Multiple UN member states, , raised concerns about the issue in Rwanda’s Universal Periodic Review last year.
"Australia remains concerned about reports of enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and unlawful killings," Australia's representatives said in a statement to the UN following the review.
In 2022, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Rwanda 136 out of 180 countries on its World Press Freedom Index, which takes into account political, economic, legislative, social and security factors.
"Paul Kagame's reelection for a fifth term in August 2017 reinforced the regime's authoritarianism and censorship. Media owners must pledge allegiance to the government, and many journalists have been forced to attend a patriotism programme or become members of the ruling party. The authorities can intervene directly to fire those who resist," RSF said.
In the lead-up to CHOGM, a controversial asylum seeker deal between Rwanda and the United Kingdom thrust the nation’s human rights record into the international spotlight.
In 2018, Rwandan police shot dead 12 refugees protesting cuts to food rations, drawing from human rights organisations.
But Rwanda's high commissioner in London defended the nation's record, saying migrants would be treated with "safety, dignity and respect".
"There’s no doubt that we are a work in progress, every country is, but the Rwanda of today is unrecognisable from the country the world was introduced to in 1994," Johnston Busingye wrote in the UK's Daily Telegraph earlier this month.
A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told The Guardian that Mr Johnson would be expected to "raise human rights issues" at CHOGM "as he has done in the past".
"We want Rwanda to uphold and champion the Commonwealth values, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. And we want due process for all those in detention and fair and transparent application of the rule of law," the spokesperson said.
