Kigali: Describing a damning Amnesty International report as “very sensational”, Government said Tuesday that the rights group had abused the goodwill offered to it when it was asked to give its views on the laws of the country.

“Amnesty International is acting like they have made an important discovery – that Rwanda is making laws to stifle [free] expression from citizens. These Genocide ideology laws are nothing new – neither to Amnesty [nor] to us,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo.

She said Amnesty had “approached” the Ministry of Justice “wanting to collaborate” on the making of several laws and they were “welcomed with open arms”. Amnesty was asked to give their views and to contribute, said Mushikiwabo at a press conference.

“…Before the exercise was even over, they are out with a report…very sensational. That is not the way we expect human rights organizations to function,” charged Mushikiwabo.

Speaking in both Kinyarwanda and then English “because Amnesty doesn’t understand” the former, Mushikiwabo said if rights groups want to contribute to helping Rwanda make good laws, “this kind of manipulation and dishonesty will not work”.

RNA reported recently that Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama had invited rights groups including Amnesty International to take part in the ongoing review of the contested Genocide ideology law, but Mushikiwabo said Tuesday that Amnesty had been allowed to take part “by its own request”.

“I have said this…am convinced that this is just another fundraising scheme for Amnesty International,” said Mushikiwabo, “because it doesn’t make sense that one would be collaborating and half-way decide to publish a report with sensational titles.”

“We know how human rights organizations get money, and this is one of the best ways to get money,” she added, arguing that Amnesty International is using Rwanda because “there is a lot happening in the media with Rwanda”.

“This is the only way they can get that kind of attention.”

The London-based human rights watchdog demanded Tuesday in 116-page report that asked Rwanda review its laws on 'genocide ideology' saying they are being used as a guise to suppress political opposition and freedom of speech.

Rights groups have warned that political repression has been on the increase in Rwanda, especially in the run up to presidential elections earlier in August.

In its report named “Safer to Stay Silent”, Amnesty International said the vague wording of the 'genocide ideology' and 'sectarianism' laws could be abused to criminalise dissent by opposition politicians, journalists and rights activists.

"The ambiguity of the 'genocide ideology' and 'sectarianism' law means Rwandans live in fear of being punished for saying the wrong thing," said Erwin van der Borght, Africa Program director at Amnesty International.

"Most take the safe option of staying silent."

Amnesty said it found that many Rwandans, even those with specialist knowledge of Rwandan law including lawyers and human rights workers, were unable to precisely define what genocide ideology meant.

"Even judges, the professionals charged with applying the law, noted that the law was broad and abstract," the statement said.

Two opposition candidates and a newspaper editor were arrested and charged with, among other things, ‘genocide ideology' in the lead up to the August 7 poll.

The BBC and VOA have both been accused of disseminating ‘genocide ideology' by the government. These accusations led to the suspension of the BBC Kinyarwanda service for two months from April 2009.

Amend and train

But Rwandan legal authorities disputed the Amnesty report.

"The interpretation and decision to clarify the vagueness of our laws should not be done by foreign entities," Rwandan Prosecutor-General Martin Ngoga told Reuters. "Our laws have been put in place by competent institutions and are specific to our problems and society.

The Amnesty report said at a local level individuals used the genocide ideology accusations to settle personal disputes.

"These laws allow for the criminal punishment even of young children under 12, as well as parents, guardians or teachers convicted of "inoculating" a child with "genocide ideology", Amnesty said.

Adults can receive sentences ranging between 10 to 25 years. Rwanda's government announced in April a review of the law.

"The Rwandan government must significantly amend the laws, publicly express a commitment to freedom of expression, review past convictions and train police and prosecutors on how to investigate accusations," the statement said.

Rwanda's ‘genocide ideology' law was introduced in 2008 and the ‘sectarianism' law in 2001.

According to government figures, there were 1,034 trials related to ‘genocide ideology' in 2007-2008.

Amnesty International says these were prosecuted under charges ranging from assassination and poisoning to threats and damage to cattle. Citing government figures, Amnesty said 435 ‘genocide ideology' cases were tried at first instance in 2009.

With addition reporting by Reuters news agency