Why is our aid minister cosying up to a Rwandan dictator?
By Jason Groves

Handshake: Andrew Mitchell and Paul Kagame at a previous meeting
A cabinet minister was accused of ‘turning a blind eye’ to human rights abuses last night after it emerged he will hold talks with a Rwandan dictator accused of war crimes.
International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell will today meet controversial president Paul Kagame despite mounting international concern about his human rights record.
Mr Mitchell also recently approved a 57 per cent increase in aid to Rwanda – a rise which will see Britain giving a total of £332 million to the central African state over the next four years.
Last year the United Nations published a damning report alleging appalling war crimes by the Tutsi army in 1995, which was led at the time by Kagame.
The president has also faced mounting allegations about the repression of opposition politicians and journalists.
He held on to power in last year’s elections after securing an astonishing 93 per cent of the vote – a result critics accuse him of achieving through brutal repression and silencing opponents.
Aides last night insisted Mr Mitchell who is in Rwanda to take part in a Conservative Party community project, had a ‘candid relationship’ with the president and would raise the issue of human rights.
But campaigners last night urged him to fundamentally review Britain’s relationship with Rwanda.
Carina Tertsakian, senior researcher at the Human Rights Watch group, said: ‘For too long, UK ministers have turned a blind eye to grave human rights abuses in Rwanda.
'While Andrew Mitchell lauds the UK’s development partnership with Rwanda and participates in media-friendly community projects, the government in [the capital] Kigali represses opposition parties, intimidates independent journalists and refuses to hold accountable members of the Rwandan army who have committed war crimes.’
The Tutsi army is alleged to have carried out the mass rape and torture of Hutu civilians in the eastern Congo in revenge for the massacre of up to 800,000 Tutsis during three months of bloodshed in 1994.

Last year, the two main opposition parties were banned from standing in the elections while independent journalists were locked up and their newspapers closed down.
The elections were further marred by the mysterious deaths of some opposition politicians.
Mr Mitchell met Kagame in Rwanda in 2009, before the critical UN report.
Mr Mitchell was leading the Tory Party’s Project Umubano to help people in the country.
Supporters of Kagame – who include Tony Blair – insist his record has to be seen in the context of his country’s war-torn history. Mr Blair has described him as a ‘visionary leader’ and a ‘great friend’.
A host of world leaders have also beaten a path to his door over the years, including Barack Obama, George W Bush and David Cameron, who was expected to hold talks with him again last week before his tour of Africa was cut short so he could deal with the phone hacking crisis.
But the publication of the UN report – and the suggestion that he could be indicted for war crimes – has increased international concern.
A spokesman for the Department for International Development last night said: ‘The Secretary of State is due to have an official meeting with President Kagame.
'He will be raising all issues of interest to Britain as part of our candid relationship.’
Source: www.dailmail.co.uk