Annual Prison Census 2011 - Rwanda
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | 8 December 2011 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Annual Prison Census 2011 - Rwanda, 8 December 2011, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4f0420a81e.html [accessed 21 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Journalists in prison as of December 1, 2011
Rwanda: 2
Agnès Uwimana, Umurabyo
Saidati Mukakibibi, Umurabyo
Imprisoned: July 8, 2010
Authorities arrested Uwimana, founder and chief editor of the independent vernacular weekly Umurabyo, and its deputy editor, Mukakibibi, in July 2010, defense lawyer Nsabayezu Evariste told CPJ. By February 2011, Kigali's High Court sentenced Uwimana and Mukakibibi to 17 and seven years, respectively, on charges of incitement to violence, genocide denial, and insulting the head of state in connection with several opinion pieces published in mid-2010, according to news reports. The publication closed after their arrest.
Although the publication was considered sometimes sensational, local journalists told CPJ, Umurabyo raised questions about a number of sensitive topics, including the July 2010 murder of journalist Jean-Léonard Rugambage, the fallout between President Paul Kagame and two now-exiled military leaders, growing divisions within the Rwandan army, and the need for justice for ethnic Hutus killed in the 1994 genocide.
Both single mothers and the sole breadwinners in their families, the two journalists filed appeals with the Supreme Court. Uwimana and Mukakibibi were being held at Central Prison in the capital, Kigali.
