Thousands of people have been detained in connection with a rebel attack on northeast Rwanda at the beginning of October 1990. A state of siege has been in force since early October and Amnesty International has been concerned that the authorities’ determination to defeat an armed threat should not allow human rights violations to occur. In particular, the organization has been concerned that some, possibly many of the thousands of people arrested in the capital, Kigali, and elsewhere, may be prisoners of conscience detained on account of their ethnic or national origins, political views or family connections with government opponents.
