Massive protest planned in Kampala on 20 November

Ugandan civil organizations announced that they will hold a massive protest in Kampala on 20 November 2008 over the recent arrest of a senior Rwandan official. Rose Kabuye -- who is Rwandan President Paul Kagame's Chief of Protocol -- was arrested in Germany on 9 November subsequent to an arrest warrant for her alleged involvement in the 1994 genocide. The protest will be staged in solidarity with Rwanda against Kabuye's "kidnap" by Germany and France. The Ugandan Civil Society, Makerere University Guild, Makerere Community Church and Pan African Movement will participate in the protest, which will begin at Makerere University and proceed through Kampala to the German and French embassies. Organizers have stated that they intend the protest to be peaceful, but anti-riot police officers will accompany the demonstrators in order to put down unrest if violence breaks out. Meanwhile, large-scale protests continue in Rwanda. On 18 November tens of thousands of people gathered in Kigali to protest Kabuye's arrest. Large numbers of people converged at the Germany Embassy and the local offices of Deutsche Welle. Expatriate Rwandan residents in Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden have also staged demonstrations in recent days.