Iwawa Island in the middle of Lake Kivu in Rwanda has become one of the reforming nation's newest projects of self-improvement, as the government has picked up hundreds of beggars, homeless, and thieves, and sent them here in order to be "rehabilitated." On the island facilities, they learn valuable life skills, are taught patriotic songs, learn how to march as orderly as soldiers, and are being given a second chance at life, according to the Rwandan government.
However, many of these people have been picked up and taken here without even a trial or an appearance in court, a fair amount of the detainees are children, and many who go to the island fear and deplore it, calling it the "island of no return." Rwanda's path to recovery since the attempted genocide of the Tutsi population has been frequently lauded by the international community for its successes. But underneath these successes lies a testy government run by former Tutsi refugees which does not approve of criticism from anyone, not allowing "any politician, political party, any individual, to tamper with the reconciliation and unity in Rwanda." And over 2,000 people within the last three years have been arrested and charged by the government as promoting "genocide ideology" and "divisionism," with many of those arrested being political opponents, teachers, and students.
How long before trading liberty for order and security becomes unacceptable? Do the HR violations of the Lake Kivu "camp" become more acceptable if the victims are learning valuable life skills they may not otherwise?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/world/africa/01rwanda.html
Saturday, May 1, 2010
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