 1st UK edition | |
| Author | Michela Wrong |
|---|---|
| Publisher | HarperCollins, Perseus Books Group |
Publication date | 2021 |
| Pages | 512 |
| ISBN | 978-0-00-823887-2 (hardcover) |
| Website | HarperCollins Publishers |
Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad is a 2021 book by British journalist Michela Wrong, published by Fourth Estate and PublicAffairs. The book focuses on the 2014 murder of Rwandan defector Patrick Karegeya, for which the Rwandan government denied responsibility.
Michela Wrong is a British journalist who reported on Africa for over 20 years as a foreign correspondent for different news outlets including Reuters and Financial Times . [1] [2] Wrong says that she initially believed the conventional Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) account, but after the 1998 assassination of former interior minister Seth Sendashonga, "I realised I no longer believed most of the key ‘truths’ upon which [Kagame’s RPF] built its account." [3] Wrong says she "never felt so personally at risk" as when writing the book. [4] The book was published in March and April 2021 by Fourth Estate [5] and PublicAffairs. [6] In 2023 a French translation was brought out by Max Milo Éditions. [7]
The book focuses on the 2014 assassination of Patrick Karegeya, who was killed in a hotel room in South Africa; the killers left a "do not disturb" sign on the door. [3] The Rwandan government denied responsibility for his killing, but President Paul Kagame, a childhood friend of Karegeya, stated, "I actually wish Rwanda did it." [3] Kagame also told a national prayer breakfast: "Whoever is against our country will not escape our wrath. The person will face consequences." [8] [9] The book is largely based on interviews, many with former members of Kagame's inner circle. [10]
Wrong also covers historical background on Rwandan history. [8] For example, she discusses the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira that triggered the Rwandan genocide and debates who was responsible for it. [6]
Wrong criticizes Kagame, accusing him of being a brutal dictator [3] [6] [10] and comparing him to Soviet secret police chief Lavrentiy Beria. [1] Karegeya is one of a large number of people who fell out with the Rwandan government and met unnatural deaths. [6] [8] Rwanda's assassinations have drawn less international criticism than the extraterritorial killing of dissidents by Russia and other countries. [3] Wrong discusses the reasons why Rwanda's regime has maintained close relations with the international community and aid donors, arguing that acceptance of strongmen to keep Africans in order is a form of racism. [9] [1] She also argues: "There’s something profoundly uncomfortable about insisting that a government which has a deteriorating human rights record and has committed egregious war crimes is a worthy recipient of aid because it performs well on aid metrics yet is busy killing journalists and rounding up and disappearing critics." [3]
In The Times , Ian Birrell called the book an "absorbing Shakespearean saga" and says that Wrong "exposes a more complex" narrative than conventional depictions of Rwanda, "showing the savagery that lies beneath the surface of a regime hailed by many Western admirers". [9] In The New York Times , Howard W. French stated that the book is "perhaps the most ambitious attempt yet to tell the dark story of Rwanda and the region’s deeply intertwined tragedies for a general audience". [8] Peter Beaumont in the Guardian states "Do Not Disturb represents one of the most far-reaching historical revisions of Kagame and his regime." [3] According to Reuters the book is "deeply researched" and "Michela Wrong’s exposé of the deadly workings of the Kagame regime, will make uncomfortable reading for his international cheerleaders." [2] In New Statesman , Martin Fletcher states that Wrong "rips off the regime’s veil of respectability to expose the horrors beneath". [4]
In Current Affairs, Alex Park says that the book exposes "a remarkable catalog of lies the R.P.F. sold to western apologists and the realities they covered up". [11] The Economist states that Wrong "weaves her tale of woe in remorseless, compelling detail" in her "massively documented and footnoted book": "if you believe even half of this book", the reader must reject the contention of some that Kagame is a "progressive dictator". [6] According to Tom Zoellner, who co-wrote a book with Rwandan dissident Paul Rusesabagina, the book is "myth-busting", "explosive and devastatingly convincing". [1] A Financial Times article written by Alec Russell says that Do Not Disturb is "a remarkable, chilling and long overdue book" and "an extraordinarily brave piece of reporting" that will prompt reassessment of the Rwandan government. [12] The Washington Post says Wrong, "knits all these critiques together in a way that is comprehensive and compelling — built around the Cain and Abel tale of two soul brothers who achieve political power only to be torn apart by jealousy and pride". [13]
Former British diplomat Edward Clay says that Wrong's research is thorough and she explored under-explored incidents in Rwanda's history, leading to "fascinating insights into some of the mysteries that have remained unexplained for the last 26 years". [5] Rwandan defector Theogene Rudasingwa also recommended the book. [14]
Colgate University academic Susan Thomson said that it was "one of the best books on Rwanda I’ve read in a long time" and "a masterclass in investigative journalism". [15] In Foreign Affairs Phil Clark argues that Wrong is insufficiently critical of the Rwanda National Congress as well as Karegaya and disagrees that foreign aid should be cut over human rights violations and assassinations. [16]
The book was blurbed by John le Carré and Desmond Tutu. [17]
France's Marianne magazine said the book was "remarkably written", "as much an account of the insane ambition of a man and his followers as a manual of political anthropology allowing a better understanding of the reasons, both deep and superficial, for the Rwandan tragedy." [18]
The book was published in French with the title "Assassins sans frontières".
Juvénal Habyarimana was a politician and military officer who served as the second president of Rwanda, from 1973 until 1994. He was nicknamed Kinani, a Kinyarwanda word meaning "invincible".
Paul Kagame is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who is the fourth and current president of Rwanda since 2000. He previously served as a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel armed force which invaded Rwanda in 1990. The RPF was one of the parties of the conflict during the Rwandan Civil War and the armed force which ended the Rwandan genocide. He was considered Rwanda's de facto leader when he served as Vice President and Minister of Defence under President Pasteur Bizimungu from 1994 to 2000 after which the vice-presidential post was abolished.
The Rwandan Patriotic Front is the ruling political party in Rwanda. Led by President Paul Kagame, the party has governed the country since its armed wing defeated government forces, winning the Rwandan Civil War in 1994.
The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu militias. The most widely accepted scholarly estimates are around 500,000 to 662,000 Tutsi deaths.
Pasteur Bizimungu is a Rwandan politician who served as the third President of Rwanda, holding office from 19 July 1994 until 23 March 2000.
Paul Rusesabagina is a Rwandan human rights activist. He worked as the manager of the Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali, during a period in which it housed 1,268 Hutu and Tutsi refugees fleeing the Interahamwe militia during the Rwandan genocide. None of these refugees were hurt or killed during the attacks.
The Rwandan Civil War was a large-scale civil war in Rwanda which was fought between the Rwandan Armed Forces, representing the country's government, and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) from 1 October 1990 to 18 July 1994. The war arose from the long-running dispute between the Hutu and Tutsi groups within the Rwandan population. A 1959–1962 revolution had replaced the Tutsi monarchy with a Hutu-led republic, forcing more than 336,000 Tutsi to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. A group of these refugees in Uganda founded the RPF which, under the leadership of Fred Rwigyema and Paul Kagame, became a battle-ready army by the late 1980s.
Fred Gisa Rwigyema was a Rwandan politician and military officer. He was the founder of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a political and military force formed by Rwandan Tutsi exile descendants of those forced to leave the country after the 1959 Hutu Revolution.
On the evening of 6 April 1994, the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira, both Hutu, was shot down with surface-to-air missiles as their jet prepared to land in Kigali, Rwanda; both were killed. The assassination set in motion the Rwandan genocide, one of the bloodiest events of the late 20th century.
Michela Wrong, is a British journalist and author who spent more than two decades writing about Africa. Her postings as a journalist began in Europe and then West, Central and East Africa. She has worked for Reuters, the BBC, and the Financial Times before becoming a freelance writer.
Human rights in Rwanda have been violated on a grand scale. The greatest violation is the Rwandan genocide of Tutsi in 1994. The post-genocide government is also responsible for grave violations of human rights.
Seth Sendashonga was the Minister of the Interior in the government of national unity in Rwanda, following the military victory of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) after the 1994 genocide. One of the politically moderate Hutus in the National Unity Cabinet, he became increasingly disenchanted with the RPF and was eventually forced from office in 1995 after criticizing government policies. After surviving a 1996 assassination attempt while in exile in Kenya, he launched a new opposition movement, the Forces de Résistance pour la Démocratie (FRD). Sendashonga was killed by unidentified gunmen in May 1998. The Rwandan government is widely believed to be responsible for the assassination.
Presidential elections were held in Rwanda on 9 August 2010, the second since the Rwandan Civil War. Incumbent President Paul Kagame of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) was re-elected for a second seven-year term with 93% of the vote.
Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa is a Rwandan former Lieutenant general who formerly was the Chief of Staff of the Rwandan Army from 1998 to 2002. He was also head of Rwandan intelligence from 1998 to 2002 and served as Rwanda's ambassador to India between 2004 and 2010. Nyamwasa has been an opposition leader in exile since as part of the Rwanda National Congress.
Patrick Karegeya was a head of intelligence in Rwanda. He was a member of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) group that took power in Rwanda following the genocide and civil war. After becoming a critic of RPF leader Paul Kagame, he was stripped of his rank and jailed. Following a time in exile, he was assassinated in Johannesburg, South Africa on December 31, 2013.
Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa is a leading figure in the Rwanda National Congress and a former Chief of Staff to Rwandan President Paul Kagame (2000-2004), former General Secretary of the Rwandan ruling party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and former ambassador to the United States from 1996 to 1999. Rudasingwa has been in exile in the U.S. since 2004 after falling out with President Kagame, and was recently sentenced to 24 years in jail by a Rwandan court on charges that may have been politically motivated. Rudasingwa was born outside Rwanda and has lived most of his life outside the country.
The role of France in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi has been a source of controversy and debate both within and beyond France and Rwanda. France actively supported the Hutu-led government of Juvénal Habyarimana against the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front, which since 1990 had been engaged in a conflict intended to restore the rights of Rwandan Tutsis both within Rwanda and exiled in neighboring countries following over four decades of anti-Tutsi violence. France provided arms and military training to Habyarimana's militias, the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi, which were among the government's primary means of operationalizing the genocide following the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira on April 6, 1994.
Since the end of the Rwandan Civil War, many forms of censorship have been implemented in Rwanda.
In Praise of Blood: The Crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front is a 2018 non-fiction book by Canadian journalist Judi Rever and published by Random House of Canada; it has also been translated into Dutch and French. The book describes alleged war crimes by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), Rwanda's ruling political party, during its ascent to power in the 1990s.
Susan Michelle Thomson is a Canadian human rights lawyer and professor of peace and conflict studies at Colgate University. She worked in Rwanda for years in various capacities and is known for her books focusing on the post-genocide history of the country, which have received good reviews. Although she initially supported the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), Thomson later reevaluated her position.