Rwanda has made remarkable progress in its economy and infrastructure since the 1994 genocide—but repression of freedoms is intensifying, threatening opponents and ordinary citizens ahead of this year’s elections.
Georgette Gagnon is the Africa director at Human Rights Watch. She leads a team of international researchers who investigate and report on human rights abuses in sub-Saharan Africa. Gagnon and her team urge governments and others to change their abusive policies through advocacy in African and world capitals, the United Nations and at the African and European Unions. Gagnon has also served with the United Nations in senior posts in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Rwanda.
Amid Afghanistan's troubled balloting, women faced special threats and intimidation. Georgette Gagnon reports from Kabul on missing fingers and stolen ballot boxes.