Following Rwanda’s election-related crackdown on the independent media, the UK is finally starting to wise up, says Lars Waldorf
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Jean Leonard Rugambage, the acting editor of independent newspaper Umuvugizi, was shot dead outside his home in Kigali on 24 June. Local authorities recently suspended the paper but it continued to publish online. Exiled chief editor Jean Bosco Gasasira, blames the government for the killing because of an article Umuvugizi published last weekend accusing the Rwandan security forces of murdering the former army General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa. Today (29 June) Rwandan police announced that they had arrested two men suspected of involvement in the killing.
Victoire Ingabire, who plans to stand in August’s presidential elections, was conditionally released from jail on Thursday. She faces charges of genocide ideology, divisionism and collaborating with a rebel group. Ingabire must now report to authorities twice a month and is not allowed to leave the capital city of Kigali. The travel conditions will impede her election campaign, Ingabire has previously been interrogated by investigators on suspicion of invoking ethnic divisions, though she claimed last month that she was being harassed for challenging the government.
Rwanda’s Media High Council(MHC) has suspended two independent newspapers just months before a presidential election. The press body has suspended publication of Umuseso and Umuvugizi for six months on charges of inciting the police and creating fear among the public. The Kinyarwanda-based weekly tabloid violated article 83 of Rwanda’s media law, according to chairman of the MHC Arthur Asiimwe. Human Rights Watch claimed earlier this year that opposition activists are facing increasing threats as the next presidential election approaches in August.