They are going to say that we deny the genocide,” the colleague at Forbidden Stories – the project of fifty journalists and seventeen media that investigated work, life, and death of our Rwandan colleague John Williams Ntwali – had already warned us.

In January 2023, Rwandan journalist John Williams Ntwali was killed in a traffic collision. His relentless work documenting human rights violations, the persecution of political opposition and the suppression of the press had

Investigating the deaths of Rwandan soldiers killed in North Kivu led to one journalist’s exile and possibly the death of another. 

As evidence of its interference in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo mounts, Rwanda continues to evade United Nations sanctions due, in part, to the high number of Rwandan soldiers fighting under its banner.

Critics of Paul Kagame’s regime are the target of major transnational repression in Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, Tanzania and elsewhere. Documents and testimonies obtained by Forbidden Stories and its media partners reveal intimidation tactics and troubling disappearances of exiled Rwandans.

Rwanda’s conduct, both in its region and in Belgium, is causing friction with its former colonial power. The murky murder of a Rwandan opposition figure, the deaths of two Belgians in South Africa, and “clandestine activities” against Rwandan diaspora in Belgium are among the reasons Brussels is taking a firmer stance against Kigali.

In international forums, conferences and showrooms, Rwanda highlights its clean streets, gender equality and favorable business environment. But behind this gleaming image is a hidden army of lobbyists, trolls and agents ready to smear any opposition. Forbidden Stories and its partners investigated Rwanda’s global influence machine as part of the Rwanda Classified project.

A leaked list of phone numbers reveals how Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s regime used Pegasus spyware sought to track political opponents and members of his own party.

In one of his first interviews with European media since being released from Rwandan prison in March 2023, human rights activist Paul Rusesabagina, portrayed as a hero in the movie “Hotel Rwanda,” discusses his time in prison, the threats he experienced in exile and the future he sees for Rwanda.

Rwandan journalist John Williams Ntwali spent his career holding authorities to account –– and many believe he was killed for it.

Based on current and previous revelations, one might think that the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the West in general would regard Rwanda under Paul Kagame’s regime as akin to North Korea: a place to be rather concerned about.

Uganda had long been a safe space for Rwanda’s Patriotic Front (RPF). Before 1994, President Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) had helped the exiled RPF in its struggle against the erstwhile Hutu regime in Rwanda.