JOURNALIST FREED BY GACACA AUTHORITIES

UNCLAS KIGALI 000210

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/C, DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KDEM KPAO PGOV PHUM RW
SUBJECT: JOURNALIST FREED BY GACACA AUTHORITIES



1. (U) Summary. On July 23 Jean Leonard Rugambag ,
ajournalist for the Kinyarwand fortnight newspaper 'Umura,'
was charged with murdering a bank official in his home
district during the genocide, was freed after 11 months in
detention. Rugambage had been formally charged with murder
one month after his initial arrest and subsequently had a
contempt charge added. The decision to free Rugambage was
made after a review of the case by the National Gacaca
Service, which determined that Rugambage,s arrest by local
gacaca officials was arbitrary and found that there was no
evidence to support the criminal charge against him. This
ruling followed a July 26 decision by a sector level gacaca
appeals court to overturn the contempt of court conviction
against Rugambage, for which he had been sentenced to one
year in prison. While it is possible that Rugambage could be
charged in a traditional criminal court for the crime of
murder (alleged to have occurred during the 1994 genocide),
initial indications are that no further legal action will be
taken against him. End summary.


2. (U) In an August 8 meeting with Emboffs, Rugambage
provided an overview of his case from the time he was
arrested in September 2005 through his ultimate release from
jail. In most respects, Rugambage,s account of his initial
arrest was consistent with an October 2005 report issued by
the High Council of the Press (HCP),which determined that a
local gacaca judge and an individual policeman had conspired
to coerce local gacaca judges to sign Rugambage's arrest
order. Initially Rugambage was charged only with attempting
to evade law enforcement authorities. The HCP investigation
had concluded that the local police had improperly interfered
in gacaca procedures, had declared that Rugambage had been
detained illegally, and had called for his immediate release.



3. (U) Where Rugambage and the HCP differ is in their account
of why Rugambage was originally arrested. Rugambage
continues to insist that his arrest was spearheaded by a
local gacaca judge in the Gitarama area (Rugambage,s native
region) in response to articles he wrote that criticized him
and other local gacaca officials. In Rugambage,s version of
events, this lone gacaca judge colluded with a policeman from
Rugambage,s home village to have him arrested. The HCP, on
the other hand, concluded that there was no evidence that
Rugambage was arrested because of his articles, but the HCP
did not offer any alternative explanation for his arrest.


4. (U) Rugambage said he does not believe that any senior
government official was involved in his arrest or detention.
Rugambage appeared to be genuinely grateful to Domitille
Mukantaganzwa, executive secretary of the National Gacaca
Service, for the role she played in bringing his case to a
close and the willingness of the national administration to
intervene when it became aware of examples of miscarriage of
justice.


5. (U) Comment: Rugambage's case has sometimes been
highlighted as an example of the lack of press freedom in
Rwanda. It is probably more accurate to describe it as an
example of how local officials in the gacaca system can evade
checks and balances to pursue individual agendas. End
comment.
ARIETTI