The Attempted Assassination of an Exiled Hutu Official Sours Relations Between Kenya and Rwanda

One last piece of Rwandan business before we transition to other topics. In early 1996, Kenyan police detained a Rwandan diplomat in connection with an apparent assassination attempt on a former top Rwandan official who had been critical of the Kigali government. Rwanda’s embassy in Nairobi denied any involvement in the incident.

The Charge d'Affaires at the Rwandan embassy in Nairobi confirmed in February 1996 that police had arrested the head of the embassy's visa section in connection with the apparent attempted assassination of former Rwandan Interior Minister Seth Sendashonga.

But Pierre Hakizimana told me he had yet to receive a formal explanation from Kenyan authorities for the detention of the diplomat, who he identified as FrancisMugabo. He complained under international diplomatic conventions, Mr. Mugabo should not have been taken into custody and instead should have been immediately expelled.

The police have yet to make any official statement about their investigation into the shooting attack on Mr. Sendashonga, which occurred after he was lured from his Nairobi home to a meeting.

The former Rwandan Interior Minister says he was told by police that one of the two alleged assailants claimed to work for the Rwandan embassy. He says the man was apprehended near the site of the shooting with a weapon while the other gunman escaped.

“They found him in a watchman's cubicle where he was hiding and trying to cool off his gun.”

Mr. Sendashonga suffered a gunshot wound in the arm. He expects to be released from the hospital shortly. But his nephew, who was with him at the time of the attack, was shot in the stomach and remains in critical condition.

The former Rwandan Interior Minister told me he has no doubt it was an assassination attempt organized by the Kigali government, which he claims wants to silence him.

“It was an assassination attempt. I know it was directed by Kigali. Who else would have directed that?”

But the Charge d'Affaires at Rwanda's embassy in Nairobi, Mr. Hakizimana, says that is a lie. He categorically denies the embassy received any instructions to kill Mr. Sendashonga. He says despite political differences, the former Interior Minister is not an enemy of the government in Kigali. He says if Mr. Sendashonga has any enemies, they are personal.

Mr. Sendashonga, a Hutu, is a former member of the Rwandese Patriotic Front, the Tutsi-dominated rebel group that seized power following the 1994 genocide in which Hutu extremists slaughtered one-half-million or more ethnic Tutsi. He was dismissed as Interior Minister last year (1995) after condemning alleged reprisal attacks by the army.

The human rights group Amnesty International says it believes the attack on Mr. Sendashonga is connected to his continued denunciations of human rights abuses in Rwanda. Amnesty says it remains concerned about his safety as well as the safety of other Rwandans currently living in Kenya.

The main Rwandan refugee group, the Rally for the Return of Refugees and Democracy in Rwanda has also condemned the attack on the former Rwandan official, which it says was carried out by a Kigali-directed death squad. Rally spokesman Chris Nzabandora says, in a statement distributed to news organizations in Nairobi, the attack was a cowardly act of international terrorism.

In late February 1996, the governments of Kenya and Rwanda remained embroiled in a diplomatic showdown over the arrest of the Rwandan embassy official accused of involvement in the attempted murder in Nairobi of an exiled Rwandan politician.

Kenya has asked Rwanda to waive the diplomatic immunity of Rwandan embassy official Francis Mugabo so he can be formally investigated and prosecuted in connection with the shooting of former Rwandan Interior Minister Seth Sendashonga.

Mr. Mugabo, head of the embassy's visa section, was arrested at the scene of the attack on Mr. Sendashonga in Nairobi. Kenyan Attorney General Amos Wako says at the time of his detention, the diplomat had in his possession a pistol, silencer, and ammunition.

Mr. Sendashonga, a critic of the Tutsi-installed government in Rwanda, suffered a gunshot wound to the arm. A relative who was with him was seriously injured.

So far, Kenyan authorities have not received a formal reply to their request for a waiver of Mr. Mugabo's diplomatic immunity. A Rwandan embassy statement strongly suggested the Kigali government will not comply. The statement, signed by embassy Charge d'Affaires Pierre Hakizimana, described Mr. Mugabo's arrest and continued detention as well as a police search of his home as a serious transgression of the international conventions protecting diplomatic personnel. The statement also said the way the Kenyan police have handled the case against the diplomat, in its words -- casts a doubt on the allegations against Mr. Mugabo.

Relations between Kenya and Rwanda have been strained since the 1994 genocide in which a half-million or more members of the minority Tutsi ethnic community were slaughtered by Hutu extremists. The genocide followed the death of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, who had been poised to implement a peace and power-sharing agreement with the Tutsi led rebel group, the Rwandese Patriotic Front. That is the group that halted the killing and took power, forcing members of the former Hutu government and army into exile. Many prominent exiles took up residence in Kenya.

Although a Hutu, Mr. Sendashonga was a member of the RPF and became Interior Minister in the new government. He lost his post last year (1995) and moved to Nairobi after criticizing alleged reprisal killings by Tutsi soldiers. The exiled official, who recently announced plans to form a new political party opposed to Tutsi domination in Rwanda, claims the Kigali government sponsored the attack on him in a bid to silence him.

Rwandan authorities have denied any involvement in the attempted assassination. However, the Kigali government has repeatedly expressed concern over the presence in Kenya of other Rwandan Hutus it charges were masterminds of the 1994 genocide. Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi, who had close personal ties to the former Hutu leadership, triggered a diplomatic uproar last year when he suggested he would not cooperate with the international tribunal set up to prosecute genocide suspects. He later reversed his stand and said anyone who was a killer would not be allowed to stay in Kenya. But there have been no known arrests or expulsions of any prominent Rwandan exiles accused of involvement in the massacres.

In March 1996, the governments of Kenya and Rwanda remained locked in a tense diplomatic stand-off. Kenya was threatening to close Rwanda's embassy in Nairobi unless Kigali allowed one of its diplomats to stand trial for attempted murder.

It took several days for Kenyan authorities to respond to Rwanda's latest complaint over the continued detention of Rwandan diplomat Francis Mugabo. But when they responded, Kenyan officials did not mince their words -- they said Rwanda can either waive Mr. Mugabo's diplomatic immunity or close its embassy in Nairobi.

According to Kenya, the diplomat was detained in late February near the scene of an assassination attempt on a former top Rwandan official, now living in exile in the Kenyan capital. Kenya says Mr. Mugabo was found hiding with a weapon and is considered a prime suspect in the attempt on the life of Seth Sendashonga.

Rwanda disputes the allegations and calls the entire affair a fabrication. Moreover it says it is seriously concerned about the life of Mr. Mugabo, who it claims has suffered beatings and torture and whose whereabouts are unclear. Rwanda charges the Kenyan government has violated well-known diplomatic principles and has appealed to the international community to intervene in the dispute.

Kenyan authorities acknowledge Rwanda has remained steadfast in its refusal to waive Mr. Mugabo's diplomatic immunity so he can stand trial. They say the only reason they have held back on their threat to close Rwanda's embassy is Rwanda has requested permission to send a high-level envoy to the Kenyan capital for further talks on the affair. Kenyan officials have not revealed what their next step will be but are making clear they have no intention of releasing the diplomat. Their response to Rwanda's statement said only that Rwanda is free to send a lawyer to represent the diplomat in court.