Seven Tutsi soldiers who helped the Speaker of the Parliament,
Mr. Sebarenzi, to escape from Rwanda were summarily executed in Kigali
a few days ago, a source in Kigali told AfroAmerica Network on condition
of anonymity.
Mr Sebarenzi, a very well respected Tutsi, was a member of the Rwandan Patriotic Front led Parliament. He fled the country in mid January 2000 amid accusations that he was planning to overthrow the government with the help of disgruntled Rwandan Patriotic Army soldiers.
However, many observers believe that he fell out of favor with General Kagame and his entourage, the so-called "Akazu" (corrupted cronies), after a crackdown on corruption involving members of the same "Akazu". The soldiers who helped him were arrested and later summarily executed shortly after Mr. Sebarenzi escaped to the neighboring Uganda.
Meanwhile, Rwandans Hutu continue to flee the country in large numbers for Europe, America and other countries in Africa. Hutu leaders who do not flee the country are uncertain about their future.
More than 150,000 Hutu mostly elite, business people, clergy, and social leaders have been kept in jail for more than five years without trial.
These Rwandan prisons have arguably become the most crowded, most dangerous, and most inhumane prisons in the World. Hundreds of thousands of people are held in truck containers, disused factories, old bathrooms, wet or leaking dungeons, or anywhere things can be confined. Crowded cells serve as toilets, sleeping, and living rooms. Prisoners are regularly tortured. Thousands have lost limbs, developed skin diseases, or caught recurrent or terminal illnesses.