Rwandees protest at HRC Offices

Friday the 13th is said to be a day of bad luck, according to a commonly held belief. This morning, the 13th day of January 2012 which is a Friday, the Human Rights Commission was taken by surprise when a group of Rwandese, mostly women and the youth, visited its offices to protest the decision to repatriate Rwandese refugees in Zambia.

The protestors, clad in black attire carrying placards and mock coffins and singing solidarity songs, were led by Amnesty International demanding voluntary repatriation.

In a meeting with the Director of the Human Rights Commission, Mr. Enoch Mulembe, which was attended by the media and senior HRC staff, one of the leaders of the protestors identified as Rhoda Nsama who is ambassador on Refugees Desk of Amnesty International in Zambia said that 6,000 Rwandese refugees in Zambia became stateless on 31st December 2011 following the cessation of Rwandese refugee protection in the country.

“The way this cessation issue is being handled, Rwandees are being denied their right to choose to go home or not,” charged Ms Nsama, adding that those who had no legal documents to stay were being harassed by law enforcement officers.

Head of the Transformation Research Centre of Amnesty International in Zambia, Reverend Frank Membe, asked the Commission to “get involved and ensure respect for the rights of the refuges” which were being violated in the process.

Human Rights Commission Director, Mr. Mulembe, informed Amnesty International that the Commission had already received a complaint which was being investigated and, after getting more information, it would engage the authorities concerned.

“These are sensitive issues where a foreign government is involved and there are also legal provisions that should be taken into account. We understand that refugees are already vulnerable, but it is important that we follow right channels. We want more information from the group before we engage authorities on the right way to go,” Mr. Mulembe advised Amnesty International as he requested the organisation to cooperate with the Commission in addressing the problem.

He received loud applause when he addressed and assured protestors who assembled at the HRC premises that the Commission would engage authorities to help address the problem as soon as it obtained adequate information.

Mr. Mulembe appealed to protestors to give the Commission time.