NSENGUMUKIZA PRUDENCE
Even the Law in Book of Rwanda provided that “Any case referred to the court must be decided within six (6) months from the date the claim is referred to the court” After 3 years the 3 young Journalist jailed in Mageragere Prison are yet to be judged and sentenced for the alleged crimes,
“Reflecting on the fundamental principles of press freedom, the Rwandan authorities have threatened arrested different journalists raise and criticize the wrongdoing of the Government” Human right and reporters without borders reports.
In October 2018, Jean Baptiste Nshimiyimana was in Muhanga district, a close proximity area with Kigali, when he received a call from his church pastor, it was urgent, the pastor told him, he was obliged to go immediately.
At the house of Pastor Nshimiyimana found other people there who said they had a question to ask him and that he would return immediately, he realized that he was in safe hand with the pastor who is trusted to not have the unclean hand as a spiritual guardian Nshimiyimana didn’t suspect anything.
It was the last day to walk freely and seen in public for the young journalist of former university of Rwanda Radio station and a young graduate in the school of Journalism.
His two colleagues Shadrack and Niyonsenga and Damascene Mutuyimana were also separately picked up from different locations in Kigali the following days.
Nshimiyimana and his colleagues had a popular Youtube Channel IWACU TV. They were arrested in 2018 by Police officials and intelligence agents and taken to the Safe House in Nyarutarama tortured within 3 months before being transferred in Mageragere Prison.
They were asked about the link to rebel and Rwanda opposition parties RNC, MRCD FLN and FDU Inkingi.
They were told that their YouTube channel was funded by Ibigarasha “Enemies of the ruling party”
According to RIB, they were charged with spreading “false information or harmful propaganda” with the intention of Causing unrest or uprising to the Rwandans.
Their charges are based on the facts retrieved from their laptops and videos uploaded on IWACU TV. the channel alleged to work with the enemies of Rwanda.
With all this information the suspects are still now in prison waiting for the Court ruling.
Since the arrest no help from local media self-regulatory authorities, the Rwanda media Commission RMC which is in charge of media self-regulation and which have to advocate for them abandoned them while they are in need.
The YouTube IWACU TV which is suspected to be the tool of opposition propaganda by Rwandan authorities has accumulated more than 250.000 subscribers and it has a video which has over 300,000 views.
The accused Niyonsenga, Nshimiyimana and Mutuyimana appeared in the court during the pretrial phase for several times each appearance was adjourned and their detention were extended, they are waiting for the final Court decision since 2018.
The Judgement delay is contrary to the law. The article 16 of the law No 22/2018 of 29/04/2018 Law relating to the civil, commercial, labour and administrative procedure stipulates that “Any case referred to the court must be decided within six (6) months from the date the claim is referred to the court.
With the exception of urgent claims and at any time it is considered necessary in the interests of the administration of justice, the hearing date for all cases is set according to the order of registration thereof on the list of cases”
The adjournment of a case for reasons specific to parties is subject to consideration and approval by the court and can only occur in case of unforeseen and special reasons.
The adjournment of a case for reasons specific to parties cannot occur more than twice. After the adjournment has taken place twice, the case is heard or removed from the list of cases if no party appears.
The article 18 of the law relating to the civil, commercial, labour and administrative procedure of 2018 provides the punishment of delaying a case.
“Any party who intentionally delays the hearing of a case or avails him/herself of remedies as a delaying tactic in a case is liable to a civil fine of not less than twenty thousand (20,000) Rwandan francs and not more than two hundred thousand (200,000) Rwandan francs.
If the intentional delaying of the hearing referred to under paragraph One of this Article is caused by a counsel or any other representative of the party, such counsel or representative is liable to a civil fine of not less than two hundred thousand (200,000) Rwandan francs and not more than five hundred thousand (500,000) Rwandan francs”
The punishment provided in article 18 of this law practically are not executed for the case which have the link with politics.
Domestic Law Hostile to Free Speech
Rwandan law allows for overly broad and vague limitations on free speech, which violate the right to freedom of expression and media freedom protections afforded by international law. Article 38 of the 2015 Constitution nominally protects freedom of expression but claws back that protection through ill-defined restrictions on the basis of “public order, good morals, the protection of the youth and children, the right of every citizen to honor and dignity and protection of personal and family privacy.” These restrictions are incompatible with Rwanda’s regional and international obligations.
Rwanda’s 2018 Penal Code contains several provisions that can enable abusive prosecutions and have fostered a culture of self-censorship. Although the Supreme Court ruled in April 2019 to repeal articles that criminalized “public defamation of religious rituals” and the “humiliation” of authorities and public servants, several provisions remain that place disproportionate and unwarranted sanctions on speech deemed defamatory or false. Article 236, which criminalized “insults or defamation against the president,” was repealed later in 2019.
In recent years, Human Rights Watch has also documented several cases of abusive prosecutions of people who spoke out about human rights abuses and were convicted of “spreading false information with intent to create a hostile international opinion against the Rwandan state.
Recently the Journalist Niyonsenga Dieudonne nicknamed Cyuma who used his YouTube channel Ishema TV and Theoneste Nsengimana who runs Umubavu TV, an online channel that often airs content critical of the government Theoneste was accused of publishing rumours allegedly intended to spark an uprising, Cyuma who was released in march 2020 , after the prosecution appeal was sentenced 7 years of imprisonment after charges of forgery, impersonation, and “humiliating” state officials .
These Journalists includes a youtuber Karasira Aimable who used to discuss the 1994 genocide and the war crimes committed by the RPF in its aftermath are alleged of spreading rumors intended to spark an uprising in the country and showing the bad image of the country on international scene.
On 20th April 2021, Reporters without borders released its annual world press freedom index, Rwanda is ranked 156th out of 180 Countries, decreasing one rank from 2020 index.