Hunted Across Borders: Rwandan Refugees Face Kigali's Repression in Exile

Repression Without Borders

The Rwandan regime's repression does not stop at its borders. Refugees who have fled to neighbouring Uganda report systematic surveillance, intimidation and attacks by agents believed to be linked to Kigali's intelligence services. The regime treats all Rwandans - wherever they are - as subjects to be controlled, and all dissent as a crime to be punished.

The Global Campaign for Rwandans' Human Rights has documented multiple cases of transnational repression targeting Rwandan refugees in Uganda, including: - Physical surveillance: Refugees report being followed, photographed and approached by individuals believed to be linked to Rwandan intelligence - Threats and intimidation: Direct warnings to cease political activity, with threats against the refugees and their families still inside Rwanda - Attacks: Physical assaults on exiled critics, including beatings and, in the most serious cases, assassination attempts - Family targeting: Relatives inside Rwanda are visited by security services, threatened and interrogated as a means of pressuring exiled family members into silence - Infiltration of refugee communities: Informants embedded in refugee populations report back to Kigali on who is saying what, who is attending which events

The Broader Pattern

Uganda is not the only country affected. The regime's transnational repression extends across Africa and Europe. Exiled Rwandans in Belgium, the UK, France, South Africa and elsewhere have reported similar patterns of surveillance, threats and attacks. Several exiled critics have been killed in circumstances linked to the regime.

This is not random. It is a systematic programme of transnational repression by an oppressive regime that refuses to accept that any Rwandan should be free to criticise it - even after fleeing the country.

The Genocide Weapon

As with all its repression, the regime uses the memory of the 1994 genocide to justify its actions abroad. Exiled critics are branded as 'genocide ideologues' or 'revisionists,' framing legitimate political dissent as hate speech. This cynical exploitation of a national tragedy allows the regime to present its pursuit of critics abroad as anti - atrocity work rather than political persecution.

What Must Be Done

The Global Campaign for Rwandans' Human Rights calls on the Ugandan government and all host governments to: - Investigate and prosecute acts of transnational repression on their territory - Provide protection to at - risk Rwandan refugees - Hold the Rwandan government accountable for exporting its repression across borders - Refuse to cooperate with any Rwandan government requests that are designed to facilitate political persecution

Rwanda's refugees fled an oppressive regime. They must not be forced to live under its reach in exile.