27 January 2011
AI Index: AFR 47/001/2011
The Rwandan government should immediately reveal the whereabouts of Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza, not seen since his enforced disappearance in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, on 26 March 2010, Amnesty International said today. Amnesty International believes that Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza is detained in military custody in Rwanda. The organization is calling on the Rwandan authorities to promptly charge or release him.
Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza, a dual citizen of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was living in Gisenyi and working as a businessman and on the Ecumenical Programme for Peace, Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation (PAREC) demobilisation programme in the DRC at the time of his enforced disappearance. He was the leader of an armed opposition group, the Front patriotique congolais, in eastern DRC in the late 1990’s. The group disbanded and later reformed before being integrated into the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC).
Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza was last seen on 26 March 2010 around 6am when he dropped a family member at Nyabugogo Bus Station in Kigali. On that morning, he was driving a silver grey Toyota Vista registration number RAA 060Y. He never reached his brother’s home in Kigali, as planned. Family members tried to contact him by telephone later that morning. At first, he did not answer and by mid-morning, his phone was switched-off.
Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza’s family reported him missing to the Rwandan National Security Service (NSS) on 27 March 2010, but have not received further news from the NSS about his whereabouts. On 7 May 2010, Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza made a phone call saying that he was detained at an unknown location in Rwanda. No-one has heard from him since.
In October 2010, Amnesty International received credible information suggesting that Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza was detained in Rwandan military custody.
The Rwandan Ministry of Defence did not respond to a letter from Amnesty International requesting information on Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza’s whereabouts in November 2010. In October 2010, two months after a written request for information, the Rwandan police confirmed that Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza was not in police custody. They suggested that Amnesty International instead direct enquiries to the Ministry of Defence.
Amnesty International calls on the Rwandan authorities to:
•Immediately reveal the fate or whereabouts of Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza.
•Promptly charge Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza with a recognizable criminal offence and transfer him from military to civilian custody or release him.
•If charged, grant Robert Ndengeye Urayeneza with all the legal safeguards available under Rwandan law, including the right of regular access to a lawyer and a prompt and fair trial which meets international standards.
•Immediately release or else reveal the whereabouts and charge any other individuals subjected to incommunicado detention or enforced disappearance.
•Bring any individuals subjected to incommunicado detention promptly before a court to review the legality of their detention.
•Bring to justice all those responsible for ordering or carrying out enforced disappearances, regardless of rank, in proceedings which meet international fair trial standards.
Background
Enforced disappearances, abductions and incommunicado detention, rare in Rwanda in recent years, increased in 2010, as the Rwandan authorities investigated a spate of grenade attacks before the presidential elections.
Amnesty International received information of three other persons who disappeared in March and May 2010 in Rwanda. All were former supporters of Laurent Nkunda, the former head of the armed opposition group, the National Council for the Defence of the People (CNDP), operating in North Kivu, eastern DRC. For example, Sheikh Iddy Abbasi, a former supporter of Nkunda, has not been seen since his disappearance outside his home in Gisenyi in March 2010.
Lieutenant-Colonel Rugigana Ngabo, the brother of the former Rwandan army chief, Kayumba Nyamwasa, was held in incommunicado detention without access to a lawyer, family or independent medical care from August 2010 to January 2011. The Rwandan authorities are investigating allegations that Ngabo may have threatened state security. Following a habeas corpus request by Ngabo’s family addressed to the East African Court of Justice in November 2010, the Rwandan authorities are believed to have produced Ngabo in the past week before a military court in Kigali.
28 January, 2011
FDU-Inkingi Delegation Visits Political Prisoners in Kigali.
FDU-Inkingi
Press Release
Today, the Executive Committee and only 30 party members managed to
meet Ms. Victoire Ingabire, the Chair of FDU-INKINGI for about 10 minutes, on her 107th day in Kigali maximum prison. She praised the FDU Committee and party members for their courage and dedication.
“I am strong, let everybody remember that together we shall overcome and
that there is no place for exclusion. TWESE HAMWE TUZATSINDA is our
motto”, she said.
The visiting team saw two other political prisoners, Deo Mushayidi and
Bernard Ntaganda, who both expressed their interest in discussing ways to
support the ongoing talks with Rwanda National Congress and other opposition
organisations.
Done on 28 January 2011,
Boniface Twagirimana
Acting Vice President
FDU-INKINGI
Press Release
Today, the Executive Committee and only 30 party members managed to
meet Ms. Victoire Ingabire, the Chair of FDU-INKINGI for about 10 minutes, on her 107th day in Kigali maximum prison. She praised the FDU Committee and party members for their courage and dedication.
“I am strong, let everybody remember that together we shall overcome and
that there is no place for exclusion. TWESE HAMWE TUZATSINDA is our
motto”, she said.
The visiting team saw two other political prisoners, Deo Mushayidi and
Bernard Ntaganda, who both expressed their interest in discussing ways to
support the ongoing talks with Rwanda National Congress and other opposition
organisations.
Done on 28 January 2011,
Boniface Twagirimana
Acting Vice President
FDU-INKINGI
25 January, 2011
Western Countries Slam Rwanda for Lack of Press Freedom in UN Human Rights Council Meeting.
SAPA/AFP/WNJ
24 January 2010
Western countries in the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday urged Rwanda to protect journalists after raising several concerns about numerous attacks and restrictions on freedom of speech.
“While acknowledging Rwanda's painful history with the misuse of the media to foment violence, we note that the suppression of free speech has also led to bloodshed and violence,” US delegate John Mariz told the council.
“We remain concerned with the lack of progress in allowing media organs to speak freely without fear of punishment,” he added during a review of Rwanda's human rights record in the 47-member body.
Britain's representative talked about the role of some media outlets in the 1994 genocide and stated the country is currently “concerned about restrictions on freedom of speech” including the “suspension of independent newspapers”.
British ambassador Peter Gooderham also called for investigations into numerous reports of journalist harassment, while France appealed for information on the probe into the murder of newspaper editor Jean-Leonard Rugambage in June.
Rugambage, the deputy editor of Umuvugizi newspaper and an outspoken critic of the Rwandan government, was shot outside his home in Kigali.
Rwandan authorities are accused of having ordering the murder but they have denied any implication.
A human rights group reported in October that two men were jailed for life for the killing, which allegedly occured over a dispute about the 1994 genocide.
Switzerland and Canada also joined the defence of media freedom, amid concern that recent laws which prohibit denial of genocide and “genocide ideology” could easily be misused or misinterpreted.
Earlier this month, Rwandan state radio reported that a prosecutor sought a 33-year prison sentence for the editor of a local independent newspaper, Agnes Uwimana, who was accused of denying the 1994 genocide and allegedly defaming senior officials including President Paul Kagame.
In Geneva, France described the sentence as “severe."
24 January 2010
Western countries in the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday urged Rwanda to protect journalists after raising several concerns about numerous attacks and restrictions on freedom of speech.
“While acknowledging Rwanda's painful history with the misuse of the media to foment violence, we note that the suppression of free speech has also led to bloodshed and violence,” US delegate John Mariz told the council.
“We remain concerned with the lack of progress in allowing media organs to speak freely without fear of punishment,” he added during a review of Rwanda's human rights record in the 47-member body.
Britain's representative talked about the role of some media outlets in the 1994 genocide and stated the country is currently “concerned about restrictions on freedom of speech” including the “suspension of independent newspapers”.
British ambassador Peter Gooderham also called for investigations into numerous reports of journalist harassment, while France appealed for information on the probe into the murder of newspaper editor Jean-Leonard Rugambage in June.
Rugambage, the deputy editor of Umuvugizi newspaper and an outspoken critic of the Rwandan government, was shot outside his home in Kigali.
Rwandan authorities are accused of having ordering the murder but they have denied any implication.
A human rights group reported in October that two men were jailed for life for the killing, which allegedly occured over a dispute about the 1994 genocide.
Switzerland and Canada also joined the defence of media freedom, amid concern that recent laws which prohibit denial of genocide and “genocide ideology” could easily be misused or misinterpreted.
Earlier this month, Rwandan state radio reported that a prosecutor sought a 33-year prison sentence for the editor of a local independent newspaper, Agnes Uwimana, who was accused of denying the 1994 genocide and allegedly defaming senior officials including President Paul Kagame.
In Geneva, France described the sentence as “severe."
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