Bob Menendez: “Rising from the ashes of the 1994 genocide, the Rwandan people can be proud of the progress their country has made over…”

“Rising from the ashes of the 1994 genocide, the Rwandan people can be proud of the progress their country has made over the past two decades. Through reconciliation and resilience, Rwanda has entered a new phase of economic growth and is working to protect civilians in other countries through its vital contributions to global peacekeeping missions. The world has cheered these successes, but today we have cause for concern. To cement its legacy as a world leader and model for development, there is in Rwanda today a clear need to ensure space for a thriving civil society--a hallmark of any democracy. I am deeply troubled by reports of shrinking space for dissenting voices. Rwanda's domestic human rights movement has been profoundly constrained by a combination of intimidation and stigmatization, threats, harassment, arbitrary arrests and detentions, infiltration, and administrative obstacles. The government's actions to censor domestic and international human rights groups appear to be part of a broader pattern of intolerance of criticism. In 2013, the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Nations Human Rights Council, Amnesty International, and Freedom House all expressed concern over the interference of the Rwandan Government in determining the leadership of the Rwandan League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, one of the last remaining independent advocacy organizations in the country.…”