Rwanda crackdown: US ally denies visa to Human Rights Watch researcher

The central African state has also been named one of the world's worst "predators of freedom" by Reporters Without Borders. On the HRW case, the Christian Science Monitor reports:

The government of President Paul Kagame has denied a work visa to a foreign researcher with Human Rights Watch, a sign of a broader Rwanda crackdown against political opponents and critics, human rights activists say.

On Friday, Rwanda informed Carina Tertsakian – a British researcher with Human Rights Watch – that she would not be given a work permit, alleging that there were “anomalies” among the signatures on her permit application.

Human Rights Watch asked for a meeting with immigration officials in Rwanda's capital, Kigali, but that meeting was denied and Ms. Tertsakian was expelled on Friday.

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“Human Rights Watch is being caught up in this strategy of increasing repression and a crackdown against anyone seen to be opponents or not agreeing with the government,” says Georgette Gagnon, the Africa director for Human Rights Watch, speaking by phone in New York after returning from Rwanda. “The Rwandan government is doing everything it can to silence critical voices and independent reporting before the elections.”