Rwandan President Paul Kagame gave a furious speech in parliament on Thursday, accusing Britain of “absolute arrogance and contempt” after the arrest of the head of Rwanda's intelligence services in London for war crimes.
Mr Kagame told parliament that British authorities "must have mistaken [General Karake] for an illegal immigrant. The way they treat illegal immigrants is the way they treat all of us". "Black people have become targets for shooting practice," he said. "We cannot accept that people treat us this way just because they can."
In a scathing speech to parliament the president vowed to take action, stating "we don't have the power of wealth, of military strength, of technology. But we have the power of the spirit. I am happy that people pick on us. We are the right people”. “We stand up to this and will always stand up to this," he added.
The arrested man, General Karake has appeared before a court in London, with a UK Foreign Office spokesperson saying his arrest “was a legal obligation, following the issue of a valid European Arrest Warrant".
Meanwhile, a protest took place outside the British High Commission in Kigali on Wednesday night, with placards stating "Arrest those that committed genocide rather than those who stopped genocide".
See our earlier post:
Rwandan general arrested in London over genocide (23 Jun 2015)
Mr Kagame told parliament that British authorities "must have mistaken [General Karake] for an illegal immigrant. The way they treat illegal immigrants is the way they treat all of us". "Black people have become targets for shooting practice," he said. "We cannot accept that people treat us this way just because they can."
In a scathing speech to parliament the president vowed to take action, stating "we don't have the power of wealth, of military strength, of technology. But we have the power of the spirit. I am happy that people pick on us. We are the right people”. “We stand up to this and will always stand up to this," he added.
The arrested man, General Karake has appeared before a court in London, with a UK Foreign Office spokesperson saying his arrest “was a legal obligation, following the issue of a valid European Arrest Warrant".
Meanwhile, a protest took place outside the British High Commission in Kigali on Wednesday night, with placards stating "Arrest those that committed genocide rather than those who stopped genocide".
See our earlier post:
Rwandan general arrested in London over genocide (23 Jun 2015)