Paul Kagame

Paul Kagame Full Name: Paul Kagame Origin: Gitarama, Rwanda-Burundi Occupation: 4th President of Rwanda Goals: Arrest critics of his regime (failed) Reconcile the nation (successful) Crimes: Political repression Corruption Assassinating dissidents Genocide War crimes Voter fraud Stae censorship Type of Villain: Dictator

“	There are some who are afraid for the construction and unity of a country based on ideas.	„
	~ Paul Kagame

Paul Kagame (Gitarama, October 23, 1957) is a Rwandan politician and current president of Rwanda since 2000.

Kagame was born in the city of Gitarama, in the central region of the country, and emigrated with his family to Uganda, taking refuge from the attacks suffered by the Tutsis, his ethnic group, perpetrated by Hutus. At the age of 22 Kagame joined the National Resistance Army (NRA), armed guerrillas fighting for the overthrow of the Ugandan president Milton Obote. Having succeeded, Kagame founded the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in 1986, along with other Tutsi refugees, with the aim of seizing power in Rwanda.

With the attack that killed Rwandan Hutu President Juvénal Habyarimana in 1994, a civil war broke out, a conflict that opposed the Hutu and Tutsi. During the crisis resulting from Rwandan Genocide, the RPF took advantage of the situation to invade the country and ended the conflict by supplanting rival forces. A coalition government was formed, under the presidency of the moderate Hutu Pasteur Bizimungu, with Paul Kagame as vice president. Kagame was designated as the country's strongman, who was involved in that period in the First and Second War of the Congo, motivated by ethnic tensions and access to lucrative mineral resources.

In 2000, after disagreements, Bizimungu resigned, and Kagame provisionally assumed power, backed by Parliament. His government is accused of preventing freedom of the press and expression. Kagame was elected in 2003 by universal suffrage, although the election was very controversial.

Villainy

• Infamously, during the First Congo War, Kagame allowed troops of the Rwanda-backed Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of the Congo to murder Hutu civilians in retaliation for the Rwandan Genocide.
  • Most notably, assaults on Hutu refugee camps and the slaughter of Hutus fleeing the assaults, which were committed with permission from Kagame, were deemed an act of genocide.
• Former Rwandan officials have alleged that President Kagame has ordered the murder and disappearance of political opponents. In a 2014 report titled "Repression Across Borders", Human Rights Watch documented at least 10 cases involving attacks or threats against critics outside Rwanda since the late 1990s. The organization asserts the victims were likely targeted due to criticisms of the Rwandan government, the RPF or President Paul Kagame.
  • An eight-year investigation by the French government also concluded that Kagame had ordered the assassination of President Habyarimana.
• He has been accused of corruption and voter fraud.
• He is allied with Tanzanian dictator John Magufuli.
• He has censored the media.
• After his election, Kagame ordered the arrest and imprisonment of Pasteur Bizimungu on false charges of treason.