Why Uganda invited diplomats for handover of Rwandan's body

DIPLOMACY

KAMPALA - The government invited members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Uganda to witness the handing over of the body of a Rwandan national killed by Rwandan security forces inside Ugandan territory last Friday.

The government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo said it's a diplomatic practice for a country to aid the repatriation of the body to the country of origin.

"The envoys were invited with mutual consent by the government to act as confide witnesses to the good gesture of the government of Uganda," Opondo explained on Tuesday.

The government on Monday handed over the body of John Batisa Nkyerenge to a delegation of Rwandan officials. The function happened in-no-man's land.

An unidentified Rwandan soldier shot dead Nkyerenge, a resident of Nkoma cell, Ntabarwe parish in Nyagatare district, Rwanda and Alex Atuheire, a resident of Nyakabungo village in Kamwezi sub-county at Mpororo trading center in Kiruhura.

Opondo said Uganda has always cooperated with Rwanda citing the time when hundreds of the bodies of Rwandans that sailed along River Kagera to Uganda during the 1994 genocide were repatriated.

"Uganda is highly constrained to comment on this issue in the media because it's not our practice to handle diplomatic matters in the press. We are not at war with Rwanda. Let them raise all the issues they have against us and we shall respond to them," Opondo said.

International community called to intervene

Uganda Law Society (ULS) and a Kampala based law firm (Thomas & Michael Advocates) have asked the international community to intervene in Uganda-Rwanda sour relations.

"We hold the view that the discussion on this matter is no longer a Uganda-Rwanda issue because the red line in international human rights law has been crossed several times. It is time for the local and international human rights community to rise and speak as one voice," the advocates said in a statement.

Gawaya Tegule and Michael Aboneka of Thomas & Michael Advocates and ULS Honorary Secretary Francis Harimwomugasho told the press on Tuesday at Fairway Hotel in Kampala that in the ensuing saga, human rights have been violated by the apparent political differences.

 "We are going to write officially to the international community and human rights bodies to set in motion all the necessary avenues to arrest the situation before it gets out of hand," Harimwomugasho added.

Background

Uganda and Rwanda strained relations were sparked off in early March,  Rwanda authorities blocked Ugandan products from entering the country and also blocked Rwandans from crossing into Uganda. The border has since not been opened.

The closure of the border points at Katuna in Kabale district, Cyanika in Kisoro district and diversion to Mirama Hills and Katigumba caused tension and left traders counting losses.

Foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa last week said Uganda is bothered about Rwanda's unilaterally closure of the border and the continued provocation in the media.

Kutesa on May 17, 2019, in a briefing to the diplomatic corps on the status Uganda-Rwanda relations, said the decision by Rwanda to close Katuna border, which is a One Stop Border Post, was unilateral, sudden and took the Government of Uganda by surprise.

Kutesa dismissed as false accusations made by Rwanda's over illegal arrest, torture, and harassment of Rwandans in Uganda.