KIGALI, Rwanda — Human Rights Watch says members of Rwanda’s security forces are arresting poor people who are arbitrarily detained in “transit centers” described as harsh and inhuman.
The rights group reported Thursday it received information about several people who died during or just after their detention in a transit center in Rubavu in Rwanda’s Western Province as a result of a combination of injuries from beatings, poor conditions, and lack of medical care.
It said the police and the military arrest poor people such as beggars, sex workers, vendors and street children as part of an unofficial government practice to remove “undesirables” from the streets of the capital Kigali.
Rwandan Justice Minister Johnson Busingye told Human Rights Watch the matter will be investigated.
