Endangered bat not seen in four decades found in Rwanda

Kigali (AFP)

March 9, 2022

A critically endangered species of bats not sighted in 40 years has been found in Rwanda, with the "incredible" discovery delighting conservationists who had feared it was already extinct.

But the Hill's Horseshoe Bat was in fact still clinging to life in Rwanda's Nyungwe Forest -- a dense rainforest that is home to endangered mountain gorillas -- the consortium behind the discovery said.

There had been no information on the population of the mammals and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2021 listed them as critically endangered.

Rediscovering the lost species "was incredible", Jon Flanders, director for Bat Conservation International (BCI), said in a statement late Tuesday.

"It's astonishing to think that we're the first people to see this bat in so long."

The Texas-based non-profit had partnered with the Rwanda Development Board and Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association to conduct surveys in the jungle starting in 2013.

In 2019, after a 10-day expedition scouring the caves in the forest, the scientists found the bat.

"We knew immediately that the bat we had captured was unusual and remarkable," BCI's chief scientist Winifred Frick said.

"The facial features were exaggerated to the point of comical."

But it took them another three years to verify its species.

The creatures of the night have long been infamous as fanged monsters or vectors of disease, with the coronavirus pandemic doing little to improve that image after scientists said Covid-19 likely originated in the animals.

From the tiny two-gram "bumblebee bat", to the giant Philippine flying fox with its 1.5-metre (five-foot) wingspan, bats make up a fifth of all terrestrial mammals.

Some 40 percent of the 1,321 species assessed on the IUCN's Red List are now classified as endangered.

Human actions -- including deforestation and habitat loss -- are to blame.

For the researchers in Rwanda, the elusive discovery marks the beginning of a new race to save the once lost species from disappearing again.

"Now our real work begins to figure out how to protect this species long into the future," said Flanders.

Source: Terra Daily.

Link: https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Endangered_bat_not_seen_in_four_decades_found_in_Rwanda_999.html.

French court OKs end to Rwanda genocide investigation

July 03, 2020

PARIS (AP) — The Paris appeals court on Friday upheld a decision to end a years-long investigation into the plane crash that sparked Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, citing lack of sufficient evidence. The probe has damaged France-Rwanda relations for years, because it targeted several people close to current Rwandan President Paul Kagame. His supporters denounce the investigation as an attempt to exonerate France’s suspected role in the genocide.

French investigating judges decided in 2018 to drop the probe, and family members of those killed in the crash appealed the decision. The Paris appeals court on Friday upheld it, according to a court official. Lawyers for the families can further appeal the ruling to France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation.

The 1994 plane crash killed Rwanda’s then-President Juvenal Habyarimana, an ethnic Hutu. Militants from the Hutu majority blamed minority Tutsis for the death, sparking a slaughter that killed 800,000 people.

The plane had a French crew, and Rwanda has long accused France of complicity in the genocide, which France denies. The cause of the crash has long been a contentious issue. Relations between Rwanda and France were under strain for years after the genocide, but have improved somewhat under French President Emmanuel Macron, who created a commission tasked with investigating France’s role in Rwanda before and during the genocide.

Friday’s ruling came as one of the most wanted fugitives in Rwanda’s genocide, who was arrested in May outside Paris, is awaiting a decision on extradition.

Top fugitive in Rwanda's genocide arrested outside Paris

May 16, 2020

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — One of the most wanted fugitives in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, a wealthy businessman accused of supplying machetes to killers and broadcasting propaganda urging mass slaughter, has been arrested outside Paris, authorities said Saturday.

Felicien Kabuga, who had a $5 million bounty on his head, had been accused of equipping militias in the genocide that killed more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus who tried to protect them.

The 84-year-old Kabuga was arrested as a result of a joint investigation with the U.N.'s International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals office of the prosecutor, French authorities said. He had been living in a town north of Paris, Asnieres-Sur-Seine, under an assumed name, the appeals court's prosecutor's office said.

The U.N.’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda indicted Kabuga in 1997 on charges related to conspiracy to commit genocide, persecution and extermination. Rwandan prosecutors have said financial documents found in the capital, Kigali, after the genocide indicated that Kabuga used dozens of his companies to import vast quantities of machetes that were used to slaughter people.

The wealthy businessman also was accused of establishing the station Radio Television Mille Collines that broadcast vicious propaganda against the ethnic Tutsi, as well as training and equipping the Interahamwe militia that led the killing spree.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed Kabuga’s arrest, according to U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. It “sends a powerful message that those who are alleged to have committed such crimes cannot evade justice and will eventually be held accountable, even more than a quarter of a century later,” Dujarric said.

Mausi Segun, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, described the arrest as "an important step towards justice for hundreds of thousands of genocide victims.” Kabuga was close to former President Juvenal Habyarimana, whose death when his plane was shot down over Kigali sparked the 100-day genocide. Kabuga’s daughter married Habyarimana’s son.

Kabuga is expected to be transferred to the custody of the U.N. mechanism, where he will stand trial. It is based at The Hague in the Netherlands. “The arrest of Kabuga today is a reminder that those responsible for genocide can be brought to account, even 26 years after their crimes,” the mechanism's chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz said in a statement. He said partners who contributed to the arrest included law enforcement agencies and prosecution services from Rwanda, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the United States.

Officials in Rwanda hailed the arrest. According to prosecutors, other top fugitives still at large include Protais Mpiranya, the former commander of the Presidential Guards, and former Defense Minister Augustin Bizimana.

Guterres, the U.N. chief, stressed that all countries have an obligation to cooperate in the location, arrest and transfer of those sought by international courts, Dujarric said. “The secretary-general’s thoughts today are first and foremost with the victims of Mr. Kabuga’s alleged crimes, the victims of other serious international crimes, and their families,” the U.N. spokesman said. “Ending impunity is essential for peace, security and justice.”

For years after the genocide, relations between Rwanda and France were under strain, with Rwanda’s ruling party blaming the French government in part for supporting the genocidal regime. But under French President Emmanuel Macron, Kigali and Paris appear to have made some amends. In 2018, French authorities said they dropped an investigation into the 1994 plane crash, citing lack of sufficient evidence. Several people close to Rwandan President Paul Kagame had been under investigation and his government denounced the probe, saying it was aimed at exonerating France’s suspected role in the genocide.

In 2019, Macron announced the creation of a commission tasked with investigating France’s alleged role. “After many years, the old guards in the French government who could have been protecting Kabuga have left power and you find the young generation have no interest in protecting the aging fugitive under the new administration,” asserted Gonza Muganwa, a Rwandan political analyst.

“It’s clear he was being protected and some powerful people knew his hiding place. They sold him."

Elaine Ganley in Paris and Mike Corder in Amsterdam contributed.

Rwanda frees opposition leader, 2,100 others from prison

September 15, 2018

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — One of Rwanda's most prominent opposition leaders walked free on Saturday after the government approved the early release of more than 2,100 prisoners with little explanation. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza's release surprised many in the capital, Kigali, because it is unusual for longtime President Paul Kagame to pardon potential challengers. She quickly urged Kagame to release all other political prisoners.

Ingabire, head of the FDU-Inkingi opposition party, was arrested in 2010 and found guilty of conspiracy to undermine the government and denying Rwanda's 1994 genocide, charges that she denied. She was sentenced to 15 years.

Human Rights Watch called the charges politically motivated and linked to her criticism of the government ahead of the 2010 presidential election. Speaking shortly after her release, a smiling Ingabire thanked the president and said her release means the government has found it can work together with Rwandans of different political views.

When asked about her political future, Ingabire said she would announce her next steps in the coming days. Rwanda's government has long been accused by rights groups of suppressing the opposition and having a justice system that lacks independence, which the government has denied. Human Rights Watch has expressed concern that the government uses accusations of "genocide ideology" as a way to silence critics.

"When prisoners are filing forms requesting a presidential pardon, prisoners charged with genocide denial and conspiracy against the government are not allowed to fill such forms," a prison official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak on behalf of the prison.

Some 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, were killed by Hutu extremists during the Rwandan genocide, according to the United Nations. Some objected to Ingabire's release. "Anyone who peddles ... ethnic politics must be told in no uncertain terms that it won't be tolerated. Her release doesn't do that!" Christopher Kayumba, a lecturer at the school of journalism at the National University of Rwanda, said in a Twitter post.

Still detained in Rwanda is Diane Rwigara, who tried to challenge Kagame in last year's election but was disqualified from running over allegations that she forged some of the signatures on her nomination papers. She denied it. She later was charged with inciting insurrection.

Critics have said Rwanda's government has been under pressure over Rwigara's arrest and that Ingabire's release was meant to ease it. In recently concluded parliamentary elections, two opposition parties won two seats each for the first time, a sign that the government is trying to carry out reforms.

Anne Rwigara, Diane's sister, said Ingabire's release should not blind those who have advocated for free speech and rights for every Rwandan. "The momentum to fight for rights for every citizen ... must continue," she told the AP.

Rwandans vote in presidential election

August 04, 2017

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwandans voted in an election Friday that the country's longtime president is widely expected to win. President Paul Kagame is running against Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda — the only permitted opposition party — and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana.

There were long queues in some parts of the capital Kigali, where all the candidates are registered to vote. At some polling stations, music was being played urging the voters to choose the candidate who will transform the country and unite all Rwandans.

Kagame, who won the 2010 election with 93 percent of the vote, told a rally in July that "the day of the presidential elections will just be a formality." "Even the critics will tell you Kagame is an extraordinary leader who walks the talk," Kigali resident Charles Karemera said after voting at the city's Amahoro Stadium.

The 59-year-old Kagame has been de-facto leader or president of the nation of 12 million people since his rebels ended the 1994 genocide. While he remains popular for presiding over economic growth, critics accuse him of using the powers of the state to remove perceived opponents.

Rwandan authorities, including Kagame, deny critics' claims that the government targets dissidents for assassination or disappearances. Presidential candidates were barred from putting campaign posters in most public places, including schools and hospitals. The electoral commission has vetted candidates' campaign messages, warning that their social media accounts could be blocked otherwise.

Three potential candidates for Friday's election were disqualified by the electoral commission for allegedly failing to fulfill certain requirements, including collecting enough signatures. A constitutional amendment after a referendum in 2015 allows Kagame to stay in power until 2034 if he pursues it.

Rwanda has about 6.9 million registered voters. More than 44,000 Rwandans living outside the country voted Thursday. Polls close at 3 p.m. local time, and provisional results are expected later on Friday, said Charles Munyaneza, executive secretary of the Rwanda Electoral Commission.

Sudan's al-Bashir, attending Rwanda summit, defies the ICC

July 16, 2016

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir arrived in Rwanda on Saturday to attend a summit of African leaders, defying an international warrant for his arrest after public assurances from Rwandan leaders that he would not be arrested.

The African Union summit on Sunday is expected to discuss the continent's uneasy relationship with the International Criminal Court, which some say unfairly targets Africans. Ahead of the summit, some African countries renewed efforts to quit the ICC en masse despite the opposition of some countries like Botswana. Nigeria, Senegal and Ivory Coast have been pushing back as well in recent days.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has led growing criticism of the ICC, calling it "useless" during his inauguration in May, an event that al-Bashir attended. Some countries want a separate African court with jurisdiction over rights abuses.

"Withdrawal from ICC is entirely within the sovereignty of a particular state," Joseph Chilengi, an AU official, told reporters Saturday. Al-Bashir is wanted by the ICC for alleged atrocities in the country's Darfur region.

He should be at the ICC answering to charges that include genocide, "not persisting in this game of cat-and-mouse with the court," Elise Keppler of Human Rights Watch said Saturday night. Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said this week that Rwanda would not arrest al-Bashir.

"Africa doesn't support criminals, but when justice is involved with a lot of politics we take a pause to separate the two," Mushikiwabo told reporters. The African Union summit also will discuss South Sudan, where clashing army factions raised concerns of a return to civil war. The chaos threatens a peace deal signed last August between President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon, who is attending the summit, has called for an arms embargo.

Muhumuza reported from Kampala, Uganda.

Rwandan president announces he will seek 3rd term

January 01, 2016

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwandan President Paul Kagame declared Friday he will run for a third term in office after his second seven-year term expires in 2017, a move opposed by the U.S., a key ally.

The announcement in his end-of-year message follows last month's constitutional referendum in which 98 percent of Rwandans voted to approve a revised Constitution to allow Kagame to extend his tenure in office.

"You requested me to lead the country again after 2017. Given the importance and consideration you attach to this, I can only accept," Kagame said Kagame became president in 2000 after being Rwanda's de facto leader since the end of the country's genocide in 1994. He is credited with stabilizing the country and promoting economic growth after the mass killings, but critics say he is an authoritarian ruler who does not tolerate opposition and he is accused of human rights abuses.

Rwanda's political opposition criticized the referendum as undemocratic and the U.S., a key Rwandan ally, has opposed Kagame's bid to stay in power. Appearing to address that, Kagame said "even misguided or deliberately harmful criticism can be the start of a conversation ... what is important is that we respect each other."

Other leaders in East and Central Africa have prolonged their rule. In 2005, Ugandan lawmakers changed their Constitution, allowing President Yoweri Museveni to seek re-election in 2006 and 2011. He is running again in 2016.

Burundi has political violence that started in April when President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for and won a third term that many oppose. There have also been protests in Congo over efforts by President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power for 15 years, to prolong his time in office.

Rwandans vote to lift term limits; partial poll results

December 19, 2015

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — The head of Rwanda's electoral commission said late Friday partial results show Rwandans have voted to lift term limits in order to allow President Paul Kagame extend his rule.

More than 98 percent from 21 out of 30 districts, representing 70 percent of registered voters, voted to lift term limits for Kagame, Mbanda Kalisa said. Kagame's supporters celebrated the announcement in the capital, Kigali.

Kagame, 58, is ineligible to run in 2017 because the Rwandan constitution limits a president to two terms. But if Rwandans approve the referendum, Kagame would be able to run for an additional seven-year term and then two-five year terms, which means he could possibly stay in power until 2034.

Kagame became president in 2000 after being Rwanda's de facto leader since the end of the country's genocide in 1994. He is credited with stabilizing the country and promoting economic growth after the mass killings, but critics say he is an authoritarian ruler who does not tolerate opposition and he is accused of human rights abuses.

Rwanda's political opposition criticizes the referendum as undemocratic and the U.S., a key Rwandan ally, has opposed Kagame's bid to stay in power. The Chairman of the National Electoral Commission Mbanda Kalisa said partial results will be released later Friday.

Many of the 6.4 million registered voters are expected to participate in the referendum. Kagame voted at Rugunga polling station in the capital, Kigali, accompanied by his wife and daughter. "What is happening is people's choice. Ask people why they want it," he said maintaining that it's the wish of the Rwandan people that he extends his term. He said he would announce his candidature "any time."

Ninety-two per cent of Rwandans want President Paul Kagame for third term, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos, a global research firm, that was released this week. "President Kagame is a hero and statesman like former Tanzania President Julius Nyerere," says Dan Gatera, a voter in Nyamata, east of the country. "The constitution should not be used to limit presidents who have talents."

Western diplomats voiced concerns about the vote. The European Union is worried that the opposition was not given adequate time to campaign against the referendum, said Michael Ryan, head of the EU delegation to Rwanda.

"There should have been adequate time for debates, and educating people about the changes made in the constitution," Ryan told journalists. The Democratic Green Party of Rwanda is the only opposition party which rallied Rwandans to vote against changing the constitution to extend presidential term limits.

Erica Barks-Ruggles, the U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda, said she is concerned because the referendum was organized very quickly. The move to change Rwanda's constitution was prompted by a petition signed by more than 3.7 million people. The petition was endorsed by the Senate and the lower house of Parliament last month and later by the country's Supreme Court.

If Rwanda's term limits are changed and Kagame runs again, he will join a growing list of leaders in East and Central Africa whose governments have prolonged their rule by changing the limits on presidential terms.

In 2005, Ugandan lawmakers changed that country's constitution, allowing President Yoweri Museveni to seek re-election in 2006 and 2011. He is running again in 2016. Neighboring Burundi has political unrest that started earlier this year when President Pierre Nkurunziza run and won a third term that many oppose saying it goes against the two five-year term limit imposed by the constitution.

There have also been protests in Congo over efforts by President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power for 15 years, to prolong his time in office.

Rwanda orphans school teaches unity post-genocide

April 11, 2014

RWAMAGNA, Rwanda (AP) — Most of the kids in a school set amid the lush green, rolling hills of eastern Rwanda don't identify themselves as Hutu or Tutsi.

That's a positive sign for Rwanda, which is now observing the 20th anniversary of its genocide, a three-month killing spree that, according to the official Rwandan count, left more than 1 million people dead, most of them Tutsis killed by Hutus.

The teenagers attending the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, a school with dorms that creates tight-knit student families, say the ethnic slaughter that their parents or grandparents were a part of either as victims or perpetrators won't be repeated. The school director echoes the sentiment.

"This is the generation now that will in the future make sure that this kind of politics doesn't exist in the country. We promote unity and hope," said Jean Claude Nkulikiyimfura. "One of the major debates is that better education would help the kids not to think, 'Yes, I'm a Hutu. I'm a Tutsi.' Good education would promote the idea of how do you develop yourself, how do you develop your community, instead of this division that was created mostly by their parents," he added.

The school tries to bring in Rwanda's most vulnerable kids, especially those affected by the genocide. Most students are orphans, he said. Others have parents in jail because of their role in the violence.

"What we try to do is heal their hearts," he said. "These kids come wounded. They come with heavy scars in their souls." Though the school's first classes were populated by students orphaned in the genocide, today's 500 students are orphans because of other factors, such as HIV/AIDS and because of violence that took place in neighboring Congo or incursions from Congo after the genocide ended.

Unity is the theme. The school hopes to teach the students that their position in life will be achieved through merit. Gender won't matter, and more importantly, Nkulikiyimfura said, ethnic identity won't matter.

Sharon Kalisa's favorite subject is history, especially genocide studies. The 17-year-old said she wants to know how and why the genocide happened. Both of her mother's parents were killed in the 100 days of violence. Kalisa says she sees similarities between the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide, most notably the undercurrents of poverty and unequal rights.

A decade after the genocide, New York City resident Anne Heyman and her husband attended a talk about Rwanda. There, they asked what the biggest problem the country faced was. They were told the number of orphans the genocide left behind was overwhelming. There was no hard number, Nkulikiyimfura said, but some estimates put the number of orphans in the low millions.

Heyman decided to open a school on the model used in Israel for orphans of the Holocaust. With help from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and corporate donor Liquidnet Holdings, she purchased land in 2006 to build a school and dorm-like homes. The school's annual budget is $2 million a year, or about $4,500 per child.

Almost all the operating funds come from donors in America but the school will soon get new funds from a $24 million solar project with 28,000 solar panels being built on school land by Gigawatt Global. The project will generate 8.5 megawatts, about 8 percent of Rwanda's electrical capacity, said Chaim Motzen, the project's coordinator.

Heyman died earlier this year at age 52 after a horse-riding accident. Coralie Keza, 20, said Heyman made a big impact on her. "The thing I liked about this place is it changed me, having good people around you," she said after eating lunch of rice, potatoes and cucumbers at the school cafeteria, a building boasting a colorful mural depicting people walking on a red-dirt road, some hand-in-hand, and other happy people. "Pushing you to do good things, being supportive of your breakdowns. Before coming here I was someone else, not this person. I felt hopeless. I had no desire of living."

She added: "Kids from here will do good things in life and I really wanted her to see that." Nkulikiyimfura, a graduate of the University of Arkansas, is proud of the school's graduation record. The first year of graduates, in 2012, saw 90 percent of the class go on to university, college or technical schools. About a dozen are studying abroad. Four students from the school attend classes at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Keza hopes to join them.

While the students at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village represent just a small section of Rwandan youth, Rwandan society overall hesitates to talk about the Hutu-Tutsi divide, following a directive from the Tutsi-led government that was issued to squelch tribal animosities. The students at this school give the impression that their generation may move past old ethnic distinctions and divides.

Rwanda marks genocide anniversary

Mon Apr 7, 2014

Rwandans have marked the 20th anniversary of the 1994 genocide, in which hundreds of thousands of people were slaughtered.

Official mourning began three months ago with a flame of remembrance touring across the country and culminated Monday amid national grief when the torch arrived in the capital, Kigali.

President Paul Kagame will also light a flame that will burn for 100 days - the same length of time it took government soldiers and Hutu militia to kill 800,000 ethnic Tutsis back in 1994.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and several African leaders are due to attend ceremonies in Kigali’s football stadium.

The UN chief said on Sunday that the international community must learn lessons from the incident.

“Never again. And this should never happen in human history. We have learned the tragic and hard lessons from 1994 Rwanda genocide,” he said.

Ban also said that there are plans to dispatch thousands of peacekeepers to other African hotspots, including the Central African Republic, to avoid a potential repeat of what happened in Rwanda.

“I hope that the Security Council will take action as soon as possible on my recommendation to establish peacekeeping operations in central Africa to bring peace and stability, first of all,” Ban said.

Rwanda has accused France and Belgium of involvement in the killings, urging Paris to face up to the truth.

France has strongly rejected the accusation, while Belgium has apologized to Rwanda for failing to prevent the genocide.

The Rwandan genocide began following the shooting down of a plane carrying former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, on April 6, 1994. Then Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was also killed in the plane crash.

After the crash, Hutus who were in majority, were incited to commit acts of ethnic violence against Tutsis. The genocide of 1994 lasted approximately 100 days and hence is called the “100 Days of Hell.”

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/357521.html.

Three Rwandan peacekeepers killed in Sudan's Darfur

Three Rwandan peacekeepers have been killed and two seriously wounded in Sudan's Darfur region, the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force says.

The death toll rose to three after a Rwandan died of his wounds after being evacuated, a spokesman for Unamid said.

Gunmen had fired on a group of 20 peacekeepers escorting a water tanker.

Rights groups estimate 300,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in 2003, although Khartoum has put the death toll at about 10,000.

However, overall levels of violence have fallen in the region in recent months.

Twenty Unamid personnel have died in troubled Darfur in the past two years.

Unamid spokesman Kemal Saiki told reporters the group of Rwandan peacekeepers had been ambushed by unknown armed men.

The peacekeepers had returned fire on their attackers as they fled but had been careful to avoid civilian casualties, he said.

The attack took place about 2km (1.24 miles) from a Unamid base in the village of Saraf Omra, near a Sudanese government checkpoint.

As of late October, Unamid had just over 19,000 uniformed personnel on the ground in Darfur.

Violence flared in Darfur in 2003 when black African rebel groups took up arms against the Sudanese government in Khartoum, complaining of discrimination and neglect.

Pro-government Arab militias then started a campaign of violence, targeting the black African population.

About 2.7 million people are thought to have been displaced during the six-year conflict.

Rwanda - first landmine-free country

Rwanda has been declared free of landmines - the first country to achieve this status.

The announcement was made at the Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World in Columbia.

Hundreds of people have been killed and horrifically injured by landmines in Rwanda.

Landmines were laid between 1990 and 1994 in Rwanda and over the past three years more than over 9,000 have been destroyed by Rwandan soldiers.

Ben Remfrey of the Mines Awareness Trust, which supervised the clearance, says although other countries have had far more mines laid, this is a significant step.

"Rwanda has made history by becoming the first country in the world to be officially declared free from landmines," he told the BBC World Service.

"Rwanda had a problem, it wasn't huge but it was still significant... and had a big social and economic impact."

Land scarce

Landmines have been devastating for Rwanda since their existence prevented many people from being able to live from their land.

Since 80% of the population earn a living by through agriculture, and Rwanda is Africa's most densely populated country, land is already scarce.

Nteziyaremya Alphose, a 40-year-old farmer living in a village north of Kigali, had mines on his farm.

Two adults lost legs and a child and a cow were killed on his farm.

Now his land has been cleared, he says his family are able to grow enough produce to feed themselves.

"I can now use every piece of my land without becoming a victim of landmines, my livestock can now graze on this land and not be taken away from me," he says.

Destroying the mines

The landmines were cleared by Rwandan soldiers who were specially trained in Kenya at the International Mines Action Training Center.

One hundred and eighty soldiers were involved in the clearance process in which 20 minefields were surveyed and de-mined over three years.

The mines, mostly anti-personnel landmines, were either neutralized or destroyed where they were found by qualified personnel.

To be declared as landmine-free, Rwanda had to meet the conditions of the Ottawa Landmine Treaty.

These stipulate that not only does a country have to ensure its land is free of mines but also that it destroys its landmine stockpiles.

The Mines Awareness Trust say that all Rwandan stockpiles were destroyed either by burning or controlled explosions, ensuring these items could never be used again.

A dog specialist and a team of Mine Detection Dogs provided a final check of all the land surveyed and manually cleared so that the land could be signed off to international standards.

Overall, 1.3m square meters of land were tested and cleared.

Gareth Thomas, Africa Minister at the Department for International Development which funded the program, said that this project was important for Rwanda.

"This means that Rwandans from those areas are now able to farm their land," he told the BBC's World Today program.

The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban convention, better known as the Ottawa Convention, was brought into force 10 years ago.

Its aim was to help rid the world of landmines on the ground as well as stockpiled mines.

Since then, a total of 165 states have ratified the convention and production of anti-personnel mines has ceased in 38 countries.

But according to Landmine Monitor's estimates, more than 160m mines are held by countries not party to the convention and 13 states are still producing mines or retain the right to do so.