Ingabire victoire biography channel
•
Victoire Ingabire seeks reconciliation in Rwanda
In 2010, Rwandan opposition figure Victoire Ingabire Umuhoz was sentenced to 15 years in prison for allegedly conspiring against the state. She received a pardon from President Paul Kagame in 2018. Still, she accuses Kagame's government of oppression and despotism.
In this interview with DW's Sandrine Blanchard, she explains why she continues to tirelessly campaign against the government while also trying to find a way of dealing with the country's traumatic past.
DW: As leader of the Dalfa-Umurinzi party you're one of the most important opposition figures in Rwanda against President Paul Kagame. You look back on a long political career that has been fraught with many obstacles: Among other things, you were kept in solitary confinement after your sentence for conspiring against the state in 2010. Against this backdrop of constant repression, how do you manage to keep up your political activities?
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza:
•
My story: Being an opposition figure in Rwanda
In 1994, I was in the Netherlands, studying business management and economy, when a genocide against the Tutsi took place in my home country, Rwanda. In the space of 100 days, countless people were massacred in one of the worst episodes of ethnic cleansing in recent history.
I watched the reports of political upheaval, suffering and death coming from my beloved country in horror. Despite being miles away, I felt compelled to do something, so I founded a political party called The United Democratic Forces of Rwanda (FDU-Inkingi).
After years of political activism in the Netherlands, in January 2010, I returned to Rwanda intending to take on a much more hands-on role in the country’s politics. I intended to register FDU-Inkingi and run in the upcoming presidential election against incumbent Paul Kagame.
I said goodbye to my husband and three children at the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol for what I thought was going to be a very short sep
•
Throughout history, marginalized groups and communities have sought ways to denounce human rights violations and make their voices heard. Some take to the streets while others resort to boycotts. Regardless of the method, their goal is the same: to compel those in power to acknowledge their grievances and to act accordingly. In Rwanda, this struggle for dignity and democracy is embodied in Ingabire Day, an annual event observed on October 14, the day that Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, a prominent motstånd leader, was arrested in 2010. Ms. Ingabire was jailed after challenging the Rwandan government's controversial reconciliation policies and after announcing her ambition to run against President Paul Kagame in the 2010 presidential election.
Ingabire’s subsequent conviction and 15-year prison sentence — based on accusations including the alleged minimization of the 1994 genocide — was widely condemned as politically motivated. Numerous international organizations, including hum