Posted
February 14th, 2011
by
On 4 February 2011 Agnes Uwimana was sentenced to 17 years in prison for “threatening state security, genocide ideology, divisionism and defamation”, while Saidati Mukakibibi received a seven-year jail term for “threatening state security”. Both journalists, who had been detained since July 2010, were taken to Kigali’s central prison following sentencing. They intended to appeal the verdict before the Supreme Court.
The prosecution stemmed from a series of articles they had written ahead of the August 2010 presidential elections in which they criticized government policies and officials, including President Paul Kagame, and challenged the official version of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. One of the articles that the judge referred to stated that some Rwandans were unhappy with the country’s rulers which the prosecutors said was “meant to stir [up] hatred and fury against the government”. In January 2011, prosecutors requested a 33-year sentence for Uwimana and 12 years for Mukakibibi.
According to Amnesty International, Uwimana acknowledged that some of her articles may have lacked professionalism. However, Amnesty has also stated that the government had failed to adequately demonstrate how the articles could be interpreted as a threat to national security or were intended or were likely to incite violence.
Rwanda’s laws on “genocide ideology” and “sectarianism”, introduced after the 1994 genocide to restrict speech that could promote hatred, are widely acknowledged to be vaguely worded. The government promised in 2010 to review the “genocide ideology” law and the draft law is reportedly due to be discussed by the cabinet in late February 2011. The law not only prohibits hate speech but also criminalises legitimate criticism of the government.
Background:
Uwimana was arrested on 8 July 2010 and Mukakibibi the following week. The authorities denied that their arrest was linked to forthcoming elections in August. Umurabyo had in its recent editions raised questions about a number of sensitive topics, including the murder of journalist Jean-Léonard Rugambage who was shot dead outside his home on 24 June 2010, the fallout between Kagame and two now-exiled military leaders, as well as reports alleging extravagant government spending on luxury aeroplanes.
In June 2010, the chairman of Rwanda’s Media High Council Board accused Uwimana of publishing “defamatory articles and falsehoods” in an article that suggested that all Rwandans were both victims and perpetrators of the 1994 genocide. In 2007-08, Uwimana served a one-year prison sentence on charges of ethnic divisionism and libel after she published an opinion piece on ethnic violence in Rwanda.
Useful links:
- Report by Amnesty International (5 February 2011)
- Report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (4 February 2011)
- Report by the BBC (4 February 2011)
TAKE ACTION
Please send appeals:
- Protesting the extremely lengthy prison sentences given to Umurabyo editor Agnes Uwimana and reporter Saidati Mukakibibi for articles criticising the Rwandan government;
- Urging the Rwandan authorities to release Uwimana and Mukakibibi and pursue any press-related case against them and other journalists in the civil rather than the criminal courts;
- Calling on the government to review the country’s vaguely worded laws on “genocide ideology” and “sectarianism”
Send appeals to:
President
Paul Kagame
Office of the President
BP 15
Urugwiro Village
Kigali
Rwanda
Fax: 250 252 572431
Salutation: Dear President Kagame
Prosecutor General
Martin Ngoga
National Public Prosecution Authority
BP 1328
Kigali
Rwanda
Fax: 250 252 589 501
Email: info@nppa.gov.rw
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General
Please also send copies of your appeal to the diplomatic representative for Rwanda in the UK:
His Excellency Ernest Rwamucyo
Rwanda High Commission UK
120 – 122 Seymour Place
London
W1H 1NR
Fax: 020 772 48 642
E-mail: uk@ambarwanda.org.uk
Originally posted with the url: www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/bulletins/rwandalongprisonsentencesfortwojournalists/
