Annual Prison Census 2012 - Rwanda
Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
Publication Date | 11 December 2012 |
Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Annual Prison Census 2012 - Rwanda, 11 December 2012, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/50c7027d35.html [accessed 2 June 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, 2012
Rwanda: 3
Agnès Uwimana, Umurabyo
Saidati Mukakibibi, Umurabyo
Imprisoned: July 8, 2010
A court in Kigali sentenced Uwimana, founder and chief editor of the independent vernacular bi-monthly Umurabyo, to 17 years in prison and deputy editor Mukakibibi to seven years on charges of incitement to violence, promoting ethnic division, 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 arrests.
In February 2012, the Supreme Court reduced Uwimana's sentence to four years and Mukakibibi's term to three years, according to news reports. The court overturned convictions on the genocide and ethnic division charges, but upheld Uwimana's conviction on defaming President Paul Kagame and inciting violence, according to local journalists. The court upheld Mukakibibi's conviction on inciting violence.
The two journalists, single mothers and sole breadwinners for their families, submitted a letter requesting a presidential pardon in April 2012. Although Kagame had said publicly that the original sentences were harsh, the pardon request was rejected for unstated reasons, defense lawyers told CPJ.
Although the publication was at times considered sensational, local journalists told CPJ that Umurabyo raised important questions about a number of sensitive topics, including the July 2010 murder of journalist Jean-Léonard Rugambage, the fallout between 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.
The two journalists were imprisoned at the Central Prison in the capital, Kigali, in late year.
Stanley Gatera, Umusingi
Imprisoned: August 1, 2012
Police said they arrested the editor of the private weekly Umusingi, Gatera, in connection with a June lifestyle column that suggested men might regret marrying Tutsi women solely for their beauty. In October 2012, the Gasabo Intermediate Court formally charged him with sectarianism and divisionism, according to local journalists.
Gatera, who represented himself in court, apologized for the article but was convicted and sentenced to one year in prison, local journalists said. Gatera was being held at the Central Prison in the capital, Kigali.
The former chief editor of Umusingi, Nelson Gatsimbazi, fled the country in September 2011 in fear of reprisals related to the paper's critical coverage, according to CPJ research.