Women in Kigali Slums Accuse Rwandan Soldiers of Rape and Torture During Forced Evictions.
Some women living in Kigali, in a poor neighborhood that the Rwandan government wanted to demolish and relocate by force, accuse members of the Rwandan defense forces (RDF) of raping them and subjecting them to acts of torture.
Witnesses we interviewed, including women who were raped, said the incidents happened on March 9, 2020, and were committed by some RDF soldiers who were patrolling that night together with the people from reserve forces known as “Inkeragutabara” at a time when the government was ordering residents of Kangondo I and Kibiraro to vacate their homes because the area was deemed uninhabitable.
Reports indicate that several women were raped. Meanwhile, some of their husbands were tortured, and others imprisoned for resisting the government. Some have since gone missing.
One woman, Kantengwa Elisabeth, who was raped, told us:
“I was asleep around 3:00 p.m. when someone kicked down my door. I woke up suddenly and saw a flashlight shining inside. I quickly tried to put on clothes and see what was happening.
These soldiers also tortured some of the women’s husbands, including Joseph Niyobuhungiro, Niyoyizerwa Eugene, and Ngabonziza Shema, who were beaten severely for trying to defend their wives during the attacks.
Another victim, Madeleine Uwamariya, said that after the rape, she and other women tried to file a complaint but were threatened with death. She and Kantengwa Elisabeth, however, vowed not to give up and to continue speaking out against injustice and seeking for justice.
We also tried to reach other victims, including Chantal Uwamariya and Angelique Cyuzuzo, but were unable to contact them. According to their relatives, they went missing after attempting to seek justice, sparking fears that they may have been abducted or killed to silence them.
These women, displaced from their homes in the areas known as Kibiraro I and Kangondo, live in deep poverty and despair. They remain without justice, traumatized by what happened to them some even raped in front of their children and husbands.
We tried to contact the military spokesperson, Lt. Col Innocent Munyangango, but he declined to comment, saying he was in a meeting.
These allegations against the RDF emerge at a time when the Rwandan military is widely praised on the international stage for its professionalism, with troops actively engaged in peacekeeping missions in countries such as Mozambique, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan.
