U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on a visit to Rwanda, the last stop on his three-nation tour of Africa, where he has communicated Washington's new strategy for engaging with sub-Saharan African nations as "equal partners" amid a row over the country's alleged support to M23 rebels operating in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Blinken came to Rwanda at a particularly difficult time for Africa's Great Lakes region, with the small central African nation at odds with its vast neighbor Congo over allegations that both governments support rebels opposed to each other.
Blinken said he voiced "serious concerns" about human rights during talks on Thursday with Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
In particular, he said he raised the case of "Hotel Rwanda" hero Paul Rusesabagina, a fierce Kagame critic who was sentenced to a 25-year prison term last year on terrorism charges.
Blinken is in Rwanda on the final stop of a three-nation tour of Africa as Washington seeks to counter a Kremlin charm offensive following a trip to the continent in July by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"As I told President Kagame, we believe people in every country should be able to express their views without fear of intimidation, imprisonment, violence or any other forms of repression," Blinken told a joint press conference with Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta.
Blinken also said he "underscored our concerns about the lack of fair trial guarantees provided to (Rusesabagina)."
In May, the U.S. State Department said Rusesabagina -- who has US permanent residency -- had been "wrongfully detained" by Kigali.
Rusesabagina, then a Kigali hotel manager, is credited with saving hundreds of lives during the 1994 genocide. His actions inspired the Hollywood film "Hotel Rwanda."
Blinken has said reports of Rwanda's support for M23 appeared "credible." After meeting with authorities in DRC on Tuesday, he said the U.S. will support African-led efforts to end the fighting.
"Any support or cooperation with any armed group in the eastern DRC endangers local communities and regional stability and every country in the region must respect the territorial integrity of the others," he added.
Rwandan authorities, in turn, accuse Congo of giving refuge to ethnic Hutu fighters who played roles in Rwanda's 1994 genocide that killed ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. There have long been tensions between the countries. In the late 1990s, Rwanda twice sent its forces deep into Congo, joining forces with rebel leader Laurent Kabila to depose the country’s longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.
Both Rwanda and Congo deny the charges of backing rebel groups, and Rwandan authorities have rejected the latest report by U.N. experts as a move "to distract from real issues." Rwanda also asserts that its security needs cannot be met while armed fugitives from the genocide continue to operate from inside Congolese territory.
A meeting between Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi in Angola on July 6 produced a statement calling for a return to normal diplomatic relations, a cessation of hostilities and the "immediate and unconditional withdrawal" of the M23 from its positions in eastern Congo.
But M23, which comprises mostly ethnic Tutsis from Congo, continues to hold its positions near the border with Uganda, keeping the spotlight on Rwanda.
The chairperson of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a letter to Blinken last month called for a comprehensive review of U.S. policy toward Rwanda and noted his concern that Washington’s support for Rwanda, widely described by human rights groups as authoritarian and repressive, is not in line with U.S. values.
The State Department said Blinken in Rwanda also will raise democracy and human rights concerns, including transnational repression and the limited space for the opposition.
Paul Rusesabagina, a permanent resident of the U.S. who is jailed in Rwanda after his conviction last year on terror-related charges, also is on the agenda. Rusesabagina, who achieved fame with the film "Hotel Rwanda" for sheltering ethnic Tutsis during the genocide, was a recipient of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In a statement ahead of Blinken's visit, Rwanda's government said it "looks forward to a robust exchange of views on governance and human rights, as has always been the case in the Rwanda-U.S. bilateral relationship." It acknowledged the talks would include Rusesabagina's situation.
Blinken, on this trip, also visited South Africa, where he described a strategy "rooted in the recognition that sub-Saharan Africa is a major geopolitical force."