Police warn Ingabire and co. against slander

KIGALI - Rwanda National Police has warned the so-called Permanent Consultative Council of Opposition Parties in Rwanda (PCC) against making false accusations that opposition politicians are being tortured. Police issued the warning, yesterday, after it emerged that nine people, who were arrested for illegally organising a protest, are claiming to have been tortured by police, accusations the Police has strongly denied. Police warned the group after a thorough medical examination report indicated that Alice Muhirwa, the treasurer of FDU-Inkingi who allegedly collapsed during court proceedings on Wednesday, was in good shape and did not have any signs of torture as she claimed. According to Police Spokesperson, Supt. Eric Kayiranga, Muhirwa, was discharged last evening after doctors from the Kigali Central Teaching Hospital (CHUK) and Kacyiru Police Hospital found “not a single medical condition”, leading to the conclusion that she had faked the condition. “All examinations were conducted by medical experts and they revealed that she had no serious medical condition. There is no internal bleeding as a result of torture as she claims, no heart condition, no hypertension, no high blood pressure---nothing,” Kayiranga said. The Spokesperson added that several tests, including radiography and X-rays, were conducted but there was no sign of torture or sickness as a result of detention. According to the Police, the findings of the medical tests prompted doctors to look into her medical history and it was found that it is not the first time Muhirwa has faked a medical condition. Records held by police indicate that in February 2001 Muhirwa, a daughter of a one Maj. Muhirwa an Ex-FAR soldier, while she was a student at the National University of Rwanda, disappeared for two days and claimed that she had been kidnapped and raped multiple times by three people, but medical reports indicated that she hadn’t been raped at all. It is also said that she later confessed to having lied and was consequently dismissed from NUR for the incident and having been found to be promoting the genocide ideology.Police warned that the torture allegations are “pure lies only meant to tarnish and defame the government and the Police in particular”. “We are servants of the citizens and we proudly serve their interests in accordance with law. We are a professional and transparent institution meant to cater for and protect human rights. We therefore do not engage in barbaric acts of torture,” Kayiranga said. Ends