SumRando Speaks: Author Anjan Sundaram on Censorship in Rwanda

Last Monday, the United Nations acknowledged the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda, which served for many as an opportunity to recognize the strides the country has made in the 22 years since 800,000 individuals, largely Tutsis, were systematically killed in less than 100 days.

President of the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft spoke at the commemorative ceremony to praise the accomplishments of today’s Rwanda: “For despite the trauma it suffered, Rwanda is an example of successful post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation. Rwanda teaches the world that it is absolutely possible to rebuild a country torn by war and violence. To reunite after deep division. To reconcile profound differences. And above all, to build a dynamic society and embark on a major period of recovery and development.”

Looking for a more in-depth account of modern Rwanda, SumRando spoke with Anjan Sundaram, author of Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship. Sundaram arrived in Rwanda in 2009 looking for a “quiet place” to write his first book, Stringer: A Reporter’s Journey in the Congo, but left in 2013 with a story quite unlike Lykketoft’s:

I was offered to teach a class of print journalists in Rwanda in a training program funded by the European Union and the British government and I thought this was a great way to engage with society, contribute to society and to work with some of my local colleagues. What I quickly found was that…these print Rwandan journalists were operating in a very repressive environment and often [in] doing their journalism, risking their lives.

I taught a class of 12 journalists, none of whom are practicing anymore. One of my students had been beaten into a coma for bringing up the harassment of the press in front of the president at a conference; a colleague of mine was shot dead on the same day he criticized the Rwandan president; 2 students of mine were sent to prison for many years for insulting the president; others have either fled the country or joined the presidential propaganda team out of fear. Rwandan journalists operate in an environment that is far more dangerous and at times fatal.

While in Rwanda, Sundaram focused on equipping his students with the professional journalism skills that would keep them alive. Although he never actively criticized the government, he did offer his home as temporary refuge for a student fleeing the country. However, as the repression grew, Sundaram’s students were increasingly resistant to the very skills that could help them.

I was teaching the students with the hope that one day they would find themselves in a free environment and be able to practice their profession freely, but as time went on and the government became more and more repressive, it became harder for me to reach the students with my course material. I was accused by one of my students for being pro-government because I was teaching them how to report on ordinary health issues and the student felt that the real issues in the country were political and to their credit, they were political, but I had to be very careful about what I helped them report on and I wanted them to stay safe and report more professionally.

As journalists in the country grew angrier because of the repression, their stories became more vitriolic and more explicitly political. To be fair to them, there had been systematic abuses of power and these were journalists who had seen their societies…people had been killed, people had disappeared and they had a deep sense of what the government was doing. Many of them had also lived in Rwanda during the genocide in 1994. The genocide in ‘94 was conducted in an environment which was very repressed. Any media that spoke up against the genocide was silenced. People were killed until gradually there was only one voice in society: the government’s. So when Rwandan journalists today see newspapers and media being silenced and the government’s voice growing increasingly dominant, they are aware of the incredible risk that that entails.

Is the current government opposition to free speech at all justified given that the media played such a strong role in inciting the genocide in 1994?

The media that incited the genocide in 1994 was not a free media; it was a media controlled by the government. In fact, media voices that opposed the genocide were silenced by the government. It wasn’t a free media that incited the genocide and fomented it and gave it voice, it was government controlled propaganda. In Rwanda today, the situation is very similar. There are no independent voices. Voices that criticize the government—even when they benefit the people—those voices are silenced.

Many Rwandan journalists and colleagues of mine as well are aware of the enormous risks that the silent media portends for Rwanda and they’re worried about the situation in Rwanda today. They’re of the opinion and I share this opinion that a freer media, a multiplicity of voices would protect society against extreme views taking hold. When independent voices are silenced and the government is the only voice that can speak, it becomes incredibly easy for very extreme views to take hold and that is a risk that Rwanda faces today.

Are there parallels that can be drawn between Rwanda today and post-Nazi Germany? Are there lessons to be learned?

Very different histories and very different post-genocide contexts as well, but there is certainly something to be said for the trauma of genocide. Genocide happened only 22 years ago in Rwanda and there is still a great deal of trauma that has resulted from that genocide, and I think that was similar in fact in post-Holocaust Germany as well. But I think unfortunately and with Western financing, Rwanda has gone down a path of more repression and new dictatorship, whereas in Germany, even though it took some time, there had been a gradual increase of institutions that held the executive power, that checked the powers of the executive in Germany.

What happened during the Holocaust and also during the genocide in Rwanda was a very powerful executive that took millions of people’s lives. So, the more checks and balances that there are, the better it will be for citizens and I think there are some lessons for Rwanda in how Europe has now since World War II—with the exception of what happened in the Balkans—Western Europe has largely lived peacefully for many decades now. While there are some parallels and there’s something to learn from in terms of dealing with trauma, I think the situation’s also quite distinct.

What hope do you have for Rwanda’s future?

There are many Rwandans in Rwanda today who are silent and Rwandans who are in exile abroad who do believe in a Rwanda of stronger institutions, whether of checks and balances on presidential authority. President Paul Kagame’s power is nearly absolute today, but were those Rwandan intellectuals and politicians to engage, I think that could help create a Rwanda in which there are stronger institutions and in which violence in the future is less likely.

Unfortunately, the Rwandan government today is not accountable to its own people. The only bodies it’s accountable to are Western governments who finance about half of Rwanda’s budget. I think it would take a certain act of courage on the part of these foreign donors who finance Kagame to say to the Rwandan president that he needs to sit down and dialogue with these Rwandan intellectuals and politicians and he needs to begin to build some of those institutions that have been progressively destroyed, leaving Rwanda today in which more power is concentrated in the president. I do think that there are Rwandan people who understand modern society, understand the post-genocide context and understand the constraints and the special solutions that may be needed in Rwanda today. Unfortunately, they’ve been silenced, but were they to engage, I think that would build a better Rwandan society and improve the lives of people and more importantly, reduce the risk of future violence.

The world stood by largely when the genocide happened in 1994 in Rwanda. The world did not intervene and unfortunately the world has remained silent over the last 22 years as dozens of Rwandan intellectuals, politicians, journalists, civil society activists, scholars have one by one either been killed, imprisoned, tortured or forced to flee the country and live in exile.

That has sent a very clear message to Rwandans today that should they stand up to the Rwandan government, they will not be helped, and so there are a few brave Rwandans who are still trying and there will continue to be such figures, but without any guarantee of support or protection, it is increasingly unlikely that Rwandans themselves will be the instigators of that change. The world needs to at least provide some kind of guarantee for their fundamental human rights—their basic safety and security—to create an environment in which Rwandans themselves can start that dialogue. Most Rwandans who have tried, and there have been many, have been silenced.

What is the number one misconception that people hold about Rwanda today that you would like to change?

I’m not here really to change anybody’s views or anything. My purpose in writing my book was to put on the record some of the work of these brave Rwandan journalists who stood up to the government, a very powerful government, because they thought the government was heading in a direction that was dangerous for the country. Because they stood up to the government, they suffered. Many of them, their names are not spoken in Rwanda today because these journalists and activists are seen as enemies of the state by the government. My purpose was to put on the record some of the brave work that they did and make sure that their work was not forgotten.

When I first arrived in Rwanda, I thought this was a peaceful, harmonious country and then over time I realized that the peace was not from harmony. It was a silence that had come about from fear. And that was something that was very shocking for me to realize. And I think there is a whole set of misconceptions about Rwanda today and about what it’s like to live there because people are not free to speak, and so the government speaks for them, foreigners speak for them. They are told what to say and they know what they can say safely. So there’s a great deal in fact to understand in Rwanda and in many modern dictatorships that look peaceful, that look calm, that look modern on the outside, but conceal a very terrifying world that citizens live in.

This month's 22nd anniversary of the Rwandan genocide was largely a day of praise for Rwanda's "peaceful reconstruction." Let's look ahead to 2017's International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda as a time to acknowledge the hostility that will continue to lurk beneath the surface until the world chooses to see it.

---

Want more SumRando Speaks? Read on!

• SumRando Speaks: 5 Questions with i freedom Uganda's Kelly Daniel
• SumRando Speaks: 5 Questions with Kaspersky Lab's Bethwel Opil
• SumRando Speaks: 5 Questions with SumRando's CEO

 

SumRando Cybersecurity is a Mauritius-based VPN, Web Proxy and Secure Messenger provider. Surf secure and stay Rando!

SumRando Speaks: 5 Questions with i freedom Uganda’s Kelly Daniel

Today is the Ugandan presidential election. For those who have witnessed the event in the past, it’s hard not to expect a victory for Yoweri Museveni.

Museveni, who has held the office since 1986, gained international attention in 2014 for signing the repressive Anti-Homosexuality Act, a measure that not only threatened life imprisonment for the “offense of homosexuality,” but also criminalized the use of “internet, films, and mobile phones for the purposes of homosexuality or promoting homosexuality.” The Act has since been nullified on a technicality, but a Museveni win today would only strengthen the argument for its reintroduction.

With or without the Act, Uganda is a place largely unfriendly to the LGBTI community, a fact that i freedom Uganda Network is actively working to counteract. The Network is made up of 28 LGBTI, Sex worker and human rights organisations, all collectively working for the freedoms of speech, expression, association and assembly. In our most recent interview, i freedom Uganda Executive Director Kelly Daniel shares more about the Network’s successes and his personal approach to security.


1. Describe the work you do with i freedom Uganda and why you do it.

I am the Executive Director for the i freedom Uganda Network and the Secretary for Gender and Disability for the Internet Society Uganda Chapter.  

i freedom Uganda Network is an organization that promotes and supports freedom of speech, expression, association, and assembly through technical IT support and research and development of tools and applications that enhance digital security and safety.

i freedom is guided by the principles of the Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA), and although its intervention primarily targets its membership, it also addresses the needs of other Human Rights Organizations (HROs) that may require its services.

We are an organization that strongly believes in freedom of expression, free speech, freedom of association and of assembly and as such we use the available technologies to safeguard citizens when they are exercising these rights. In this, we provide free digital security training to marginalized LGBTI and Sex Worker persons in Uganda and offer free web designing and hosting in a bid to improve on existing platforms of sharing information by Civil Society Organizations in Uganda. We also run a crowd sourcing map where we monitor violations of freedom of expression, association and assembly among other activities.

2. What is i freedom Uganda’s greatest success to date?

Since the year 2013 we are proud to have reached more than 500 marginalized gender and sexual minorities in Uganda with our digital security training and a further 400 Sex Workers with our Computer Literacy training. We have managed to design and host over 10 organizational websites since last year. We have also continued to represent gender and sexual minorities in Uganda in Internet freedom initiatives across the globe, from the Uganda Internet Governance Forum and the Forum on Internet Freedoms in East Africa to the Global Internet Governance Forum. Our voice on behalf of the gender and sexual minorities of Uganda continues to echo far and near.

3. From your perspective, are the issues faced in Uganda regarding digital privacy and net neutrality unique or are they similar to those faced elsewhere?

I think the issues faced are in no way unique from what happens elsewhere in the world. What is unique is the way we as Ugandans and indeed Africans interpret these issues and understand them.

4. What individual, organization or law would you like to recognize for its work in support of or against digital privacy rights and net neutrality?

I would like to recognize the wonderful contribution of activist organisation Tactical Tech Collective in support of digital privacy rights. Their digital security manuals have continued to be a great resource for many of us in Uganda and Africa at large. They indeed take a very positive stance when it comes to defending net neutrality too.

5. What measures do you take to protect your digital privacy and security?

What should I say? It is just simple, strong passwords and using applications and tools that support strong end-to-end encryption.

---

Want more SumRando Speaks? Read on!

• SumRando Speaks: 5 Questions with Kaspersky Lab's Bethwel Opil
• SumRando Speaks: 5 Questions with SumRando's CEO

 

SumRando Cybersecurity is a South Africa-based VPN, Web Proxy and Secure Messenger provider. Surf secure and stay Rando!

SumRando Speaks: 5 Questions with Kaspersky Lab’s Bethwel Opil

Our last installment of SumRando Speaks featured our very own CEO and Founder. This week we bring you an interview with Kaspersky Lab Africa's Bethwel Opil, who shares the influence Kaspersky has had on law enforcement in London and digital development in Gabon; the state of cyber infections in Africa versus the Middle East; Kenya's recent steps towards enhanced cybersecurity; and valuable tips to remain secure both on and offline.

Describe the work you do for Kaspersky Lab and why you do it.

I am the Channel Sales Manager of East Africa for Kaspersky Lab. Among my responsibilities are driving the business by developing quality plans within the Partner businesses and working with key C-level executives. I lead channel business development and partner segmentation and selection across the entire Eastern Africa region. I need to ensure the Partners are equipped to compete effectively and to provide the Kaspersky Lab product offering to businesses and consumers in the region. I plan, define, execute and manage Marketing and Sales Programmes in liaison with the Marketing manager, Consumer and Corporate Retail Sales Managers for Sub-Saharan Africa. And of course I need to check the cybercrime situation, market conditions, trends or changes in the industry.

Given the growing interest in cybercrime and as a result the growing hacking and cybercriminal community (globally but which also impacts East Africa), my role at Kaspersky Lab is important - as the brand is not only passionate about raising awareness on security issues among businesses and consumers of cybercrime realities, but also on the necessary protection around this and of course supplying solutions that can offer this much needed protection in this region.

What is Kaspersky Lab's greatest success to date?

With a belief that everyone – from home computer users through to large corporations and governments – should be able to protect what matters to them most, Kaspersky Lab has had many successes to date. We openly share our knowledge and technical findings with the world’s security community and publish our research for the wider public to encourage collaborative security practices and increased international cooperation. We work together with the global IT security community, international organisations, national and regional law enforcement agencies (e.g. INTERPOL, Europol, Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, The National High Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) of the Netherlands’ Police Agency and The City of London Police), as well as Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) worldwide. In particular, in 2014 Kaspersky Lab joined forces with the City of London Police - to educate police forces on ways to tackle cybercrime. Cybercrime plays a huge part in fraud offence numbers today, with seven out of ten scams now Internet-related, according to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. The complex and alien nature of such crimes, however, means that they are not only difficult to combat, but also to detect and understand. To help tackle the rise in cybercrime, City of London Police enlisted Kaspersky Lab to train its police officers at all levels on these ever-growing threats. This innovative training programme was the first of its kind with UK law enforcement, and aimed to provide the skills and knowledge to identify and resolve these sorts of crimes – from an individual victim encountering fraud during an online shopping-spree to a business losing thousands of pounds from a targeted attack.

Another project I would name is our current work on different aspects of cybersecurity with the National Agency of Digital Infrastructures and Frequencies (ANINF) of Gabon. ANINF is the Gabonese government agency responsible for implementing a digital development strategy in the country, for planning, installation and application of all digital projects, including telecommunications, audio-visual and IT in the country.

From an East African perspective, Kaspersky Lab has shown success in market share, and in East Africa we have been at the fore front of educating the public about cyber security. The brand is also protecting some of the largest businesses in East Africa, which is testament to our expertise and solid product offering.

You are based in Kenya, but Kaspersky Lab operates in nearly every country in the world. From your perspective, are the issues faced in East Africa regarding digital privacy and net neutrality unique or are they similar to those faced elsewhere? 

With the Internet, widely spread all over the world, cyberthreats have global reach, though some countries and regions are attacked more often than others are.

Based on our statistics of Kaspersky Security Network, South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya don’t have that much cyber infections registered as, for example, Egypt, and are way behind a number of the Middle East countries. But it was recently reported that Africa is leading the world in Internet growth – where growth in international Internet capacity connected to Africa outpaces all other regions of the world. And unfortunately growth in Internet development triggers cybercriminal activity across Africa, including Kenya - where online criminals are constantly using the Internet, creating new ways to earn money which include getting their hands on personal important data – that can compromise digital identities.

If cyber criminals get hold of your passwords and personal data, they can take on your ‘digital identity’ – and not only defraud you out of money, but also cause a host of long-term problems. For that reason you need to ensure that your digital identity is protected – no matter where you are or where you live on the globe. East Africa’s situation is not unique – all countries on the globe suffer this reality and need to take cyber security and the security of digital identities very seriously.

What individual, organisation or law would you like to recognise for its work in support of or against digital privacy rights and net neutrality? 

The Ministry of Information of Kenya is doing good work in this regard. In response to the growing cyber threat landscape, and in support of the national priorities and ICT goals defined in Kenya’s Vision 2030 – Kenya’s ICT Ministry developed a National Cybersecurity Strategy (Strategy). In 2013, the Ministry of ICT said that Kenya is committed to enacting the necessary legislation on Cyber Crime.  

I believe that such commitment from the government is a great step forward here and will go a long way in the fight against cybercrime.

What measures do you take to protect your digital privacy and security?

I try to be cautious and use security solutions that protect me both when I’m online and without Internet connection, because even a USB can carry some banking Trojan or ransomware that can block or encrypt files and make them unavailable until the money is paid. Whenever I am going to use the Internet, I am always aware of the following:

• What device am I using, and more importantly, is this device protected with the right security (like Kaspersky Total Security – multi-device – that offers effective protection across a PC, phone and tablet). If the device is not protected with effective security software, I don’t make any connections that are connected with my identity - I just browse for news, for example, and I don’t go to websites that require entering account credentials.
• If I am going to access Wi-Fi – I always check that I am going to access a secure Wi-Fi line – one that requires a password – to ensure that I am extra secure.
• When going online, I always check that the site I am trying to access is legitimate – in that it makes use of a proper IP address.
• I am aware of all ‘pop ups’ online (be it adverts or a message asking me to click something) that might be malicious – I never click on any pop up, as it may be a virus or scam.

Bethwel Opil joined Kaspersky Lab in March 2012 as Channel Sales Manager for East Africa, Kaspersky Lab Africa. Bethwel has over 10 years of experience in managing distribution channels in IT and telecommunications companies. Bethwel graduated from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology with a BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science before going on to complete a Management and Organisation course at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies.

SumRando Cybersecurity is a South Africa-based VPN, Web Proxy and Secure Messenger provider. Surf secure and stay Rando!

SumRando Speaks: 5 Questions with SumRando’s CEO

Today marks the inauguration of SumRando Speaks, an interview series geared towards introducing readers to the background, insights and expertise of cybersecurity, digital privacy and net neutrality professionals around the globe.

Our first installment features a conversation with SumRando Cybersecurity's Founder and CEO, who offers a rare glimpse into SumRando's history as well as a uniquely global perspective on the current state of digital privacy. Read on, surf secure and stay Rando!

Why SumRando Cybersecurity?

SumRando Cybersecurity grew from a desire to motivate everyday Internet users to employ better practices when online. The public and private sectors are shuffling and scuffling to create a cooperative framework to serve the public, but with very little to show for it. Every year new and larger threats mount, leaving the average Internet user ill-equipped to deal with hacks, surveillance and the like. I wanted to provide a service that would meet the needs of users in countries dealing with unsecured Wi-Fi and data collection as well as in countries where censorship and persecution for civil disobedience are rife. SumRando’s suite of privacy tools gives users everywhere the ability to proactively manage something they were never taught to protect: their data.

What is SumRando Cybersecurity’s greatest success to date? 

It was exciting to see usership spike in Iran in 2011 and Turkey in 2013 in response to government suppression and to know that we were virtually on the ground, helping the average citizen exercise his basic civil rights. Our greatest success, however, has been the universal adoption of SumRando. The fact that we have users all over the globe is a testament to my team’s ability to serve a diverse community with diverse needs and demonstrates our capacity to be anywhere we are needed in the future.

SumRando Cybersecurity is based in Africa, but has servers and users all over the globe. From your perspective, is there a singular debate regarding digital privacy and net neutrality, or does the conversation differ from region to region? 

There is an overarching theme, for sure. While technology bounds ahead and rewards are reaped across borders and classes, a conversation has begun about how to regulate these advances effectively, fairly and legally. Intuitively, we all perceive that the problems a businesswoman in Uganda has searching the internet are qualitatively different than those of a businesswoman in London. This contrast is reflected in the shifting priorities throughout the world regarding cybersecurity: in Africa, we’re wrapped up in a conversation about internet access that sometimes overlooks net neutrality and digital privacy; in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, we focus on censorship and infringement of freedom of expression rather than data collection and data breaches; and in North America, we fear hackers and advertisers, and believe that censorship and access are issues for another time and place. Nonetheless, it’s an oversimplification to think that one country’s concerns and policies exist in isolation, especially when someone like Egypt’s al-Sisi cites increased government surveillance in the United States as reason to enact August’s oppressive “anti-terrorism” laws.

What individual, organization or law should be recognized for its work in support of (or against) digital privacy rights and net neutrality? 

I’ve seen a lot of positive momentum regarding network neutrality in 2015, but the regulations recently put in place still aren’t enough. The United States’ revised net neutrality rules were lauded as a step in the right direction and the European Commission self-labeled its regulations the “strongest and most comprehensive open Internet rules in the world.” Regardless, both sets of regulations leave far too much control in the hands of Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The deep packet inspection powers given to ISPs in the United States, for example, are so invasive that even the FCC recommends everyday users protect themselves with a VPN.

What's your #1 reason to use SumRando Cybersecurity's VPN? Web proxy? Secure messenger? 

At this point, it’s difficult to picture using the internet without our services, but there certainly are moments that stand out. Travel is an inherent part of my job, which means that I rely on our VPN to secure my internet connection in hotels, airports and cafes all over the world and also to keep up with news and sports back home. I frequently use our web proxy for a quick webpage look up on the run and our secure messenger to send notes to my team. 

www.sumrando.com