Rwanda has accused the global rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) of running a consistent campaign against the government through biased negative reports and denying the country the right of reply.

The latest outburst between Kigali and the New York-based group was triggered by the Human Rights Watch 2015 World Report, in which the organisation accuses Rwandan authorities of silencing opposition, trampling on media freedoms and arbitrary arrests.

In an interview with Rwanda Today, the Minister for Justice Johnston Busingye said HRW had for the umpteenth time decided to publish yet another negative report on the country, deliberately leaving out the explanations provided by the State, which he said was a consistent witchhunt against the government of Rwanda.

“We are going to issue a statement this coming week expressing our frustration against what appears to be a sustained agenda to portray the Rwandan government and its institutions negatively,” Mr Busingye said. “We have a memorandum of understanding with HRW which has not been honoured on many occasions.

“What we see is a deliberate and blatant effort by HRW to continue recycling accusations, against all our efforts to explain these situations. We have been as open and transparent as possible with HRW, always ensuring that we give our side of the story as per the MoU, but it is deliberately left out.”

Over the past 20 years, Kigali has been up in arms against HRW, accusing it of levelling biased and unbalanced accusations against the government.

“We are not saying they cannot publish their findings, but we are saying, let us tell you our side of the story, and publish it alongside yours, which, in essence, should be a democratic way of doing things,” Mr Busingye, who doubles as the Attorney-General, said.

According to the HRW report, while Rwanda has registered commendable progress in economic and social development, the government continues to impose severe restrictions on freedom of expression and association and does not tolerate dissent.

“Political space is extremely limited and independent civil society and media remain weak,” reads the report. “Real or suspected opponents inside and outside the country continue to be targeted.”

HRW further alleges that detainees were held unlawfully for several months in police or military custody in unrecognised detention centres while dozens of people were reported disappeared. It says some of the detainees reappeared in prison after prolonged incommunicado detention but others were unaccounted for.

READ: Rwanda govt trashes HRW ‘disappearances’ report

“Dozens of people were held unlawfully, incommunicado, in the military Camp Kami and other detention centres, some for several weeks or months,” the report says. “Some were tortured and pressured to confess to alleged crimes or to incriminate others.

“Some of these detainees were later tried on security-related charges.”

The report further says that, throughout the year, hundreds of men, women, and children — many of them street children, commercial sex workers or street hawkers — were detained unlawfully, without charge or trial, in very poor conditions in an unrecognised detention centre commonly known as Kwa Kabuga in the Gikondo area of Kigali.

Many were beaten by police, or by other detainees, in the presence of police, it adds.

READ: Rwandan officials refute reports of illegal detention in prisons

Mr Busingye described these allegations as blatant lies, saying the centre is a recognised transit or holding centre run by Rwanda National Police.

“These claims are completely false,” he said. “Rwanda National Police officers are known globally for their discipline and honesty in their actions. We asked HRW to visit this centre but it’s surprising that the same claims keep coming up.”

HRW also mentions opposition politicians who it says have been in or remain in detention as well as several murders that have happened over the years.

The rights watchdog also mentions the January 1, 2014 murder of Patrick Karegeya. The former head of Rwanda’s external intelligence services, who became a vocal government opponent and was exiled in South Africa, was found murdered in a hotel room in Johannesburg.

“The Rwandan government denied any involvement in these attacks but President Paul Kagame came close to publicly condoning Karegeya’s murder on January 12, 2014, when he said, among other things, ‘Whoever betrays the country will pay the price’,” the report adds.

The minister however said that, if anything, HRW should be blaming the death of Karegeya on South Africa and seek explanations there rather than attributing everything to Rwanda.

HRW also laments on the ongoing security-related trials of singer Kizito Mihigo, journalist Cassien Ntamuhanga and co-defendants Agnès Niyibizi and Jean-Paul Dukuzumuremyi, as well as the military trial of Brig-Gen (Rtd) Frank Rusagara and Col Tom Byabagamba, which it says have been marred by claims of torture.