Kigali, Rwanda - Thousands of Rwandan citizens marched on the German embassy in the capital city of Kigali Monday to protest the international arrest of a top government official.  Braving torrential rains, crowds chanted their support of Rose Kabuye, Rwandan president Paul Kagame’s chief of protocol, who was taken into custody Sunday at the Frankfurt airport. 

German officials arrested Kabuye on a 2006 French warrant alleging her involvement in the April 1994 assassination of then-Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana, an incident which triggered the genocide of 800,000 Rwandans in 100 days. 

Kabuye is one of nine Rwandan officials facing warrants stemming from the assassination, issued by French anti-terrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere.   Tensions following the 2006 warrants resulted in Rwanda severing diplomatic ties with France and ejecting the French embassy from the country.

Protestors in the Rwandan capital questioned France’s motives in issuing the warrants, claiming that the French government has yet to fully admit their involvement in the 1994 genocide. “The French want to hide behind the issue,” said Jennifer Kyako, a Rwandan women’s advocate.  “They are hiding behind it because they have that kind of bullying international power.”

“We know what the government has done; they help us, that’s why we live in peace,” said Emmy Rawago, a Rwandan student.  “But the French government doesn’t want this government to live in peace…They do these things to protect what they’ve done in this country, to help themselves.”
Rwanda’s foreign affairs minister spoke out against Kabuye’s arrest Sunday, stating the aide was on an official mission in Europe and enjoys diplomatic immunity.  "She is an innocent woman who was arrested on a politically motivated warrant, a warrant issued on the basis of manipulated investigations," Mushikiwabo told the AFP.

Kabuye currently awaits extradition to France, but as Rwandan police in full tactical gear controlled the crowd, protestors vowed to continue their efforts until their hero was released.  “We shall keep on demonstrating,” said Joyce Munyaneza, a Rwandan community executive secretary. “When they release her, we will stop.”

- Originally reported Monday, November 10, 2008