Jean Marie Higiro
Encyclopedia
Jean Marie Vianney Higiro, born c. 1945, was the Director of the Rwandan Information Office (ORINFOR), a government corporation that run Radio Rwanda
, Rwandan Television and state controlled media in the Republic of Rwanda
.
. Later, he studied abroad in North America
.
During the Civil war Doctor Higiro was targeted for his "moderate beliefs" and his enemies plotted to murder him. He end up escaping with his immediate family.
In February 2008, the Washington Post reported that current Rwandan authorities had requested that the United States arrest Higiro and accused him of providing financial support of ethnic Rwandan rebel fighters in eastern Congo. According to the report, Higiro acknowledges supporting a group called the "Rally for Unity and Democracy," what the report characterized as 'a political and military organization aimed at opening up political space in Rwanda and peacefully removing what [Higiro] called "the dictatorial government" of President Paul Kagame.' (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/03/AR2009020303758.html?hpid=artslot)
Radio Rwanda
Radio Rwanda is a radio station of the Rwandan Office of Information , a government information agency that also owns Rwandan Television ....
, Rwandan Television and state controlled media in the Republic of Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
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Early life
Doctor Higiro was born in Rwanda under Belgian rule in 1945. He matriculated at the National University of RwandaNational University of Rwanda
The National University of Rwanda is the largest university in Rwanda. It is located at in the city of Butare and was established in 1963 by the government in cooperation with the Congregation of the Dominicans from the Province of Quebec.When it was established, the NUR had three divisions The...
. Later, he studied abroad in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
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Rwandan Civil War
On July 31, 1993, Dr. Higiro was appointed director of the Rwandan Information Office by the coalition government led by Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana. He left Kigali on April 9 and arrived in Nairobi on April 10, 1994 during a US embassy evacuation. He left Nairobi for the United States on July 19, 1994, the day he was supposed to be sworn in as minister of information in the RPF led government headed by Faustin Twagiramungu.During the Civil war Doctor Higiro was targeted for his "moderate beliefs" and his enemies plotted to murder him. He end up escaping with his immediate family.
Post Civil War
Doctor Higiro settled in Massachusetts and became a communications professor at Western New England University, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Doctor Higiro's time in the U.S. has not been uneventful. In the late 1990s, his enemies attempted to murder him in the U.S., but they did not succeed.In February 2008, the Washington Post reported that current Rwandan authorities had requested that the United States arrest Higiro and accused him of providing financial support of ethnic Rwandan rebel fighters in eastern Congo. According to the report, Higiro acknowledges supporting a group called the "Rally for Unity and Democracy," what the report characterized as 'a political and military organization aimed at opening up political space in Rwanda and peacefully removing what [Higiro] called "the dictatorial government" of President Paul Kagame.' (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/03/AR2009020303758.html?hpid=artslot)