JOURNALIST EXPELLED FROM RWANDA

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000483 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2018 TAGS: KDEM PGOV PHUM RW SUBJECT: JOURNALIST EXPELLED FROM RWANDA REF: A. KIGALI 0455 ¶B. 07 KIGALI 0822 Classified By: Ambassador Michael Arietti for Reason 1.4 (b) (d) ¶1. (U) On Saturday, July 12, Rwandan immigration authorities deported independent journalist Furaha Mugisha, the deputy managing editor of RIMEG, a local media group that produces the Umuseso and Newsline newspapers. The government-aligned Sunday Times headlined the expulsion, "Tanzanian With Fake Rwanda ID Deported." The article quoted immigration officials as saying that Mugisha, whom they said was really named Furaha "Sahini," had been living in Rwanda illegally, had fraudulently acquired Rwandan ID, and had been "masquerading as a journalist." ¶2. (C) On July 14, RIMEG editor in chief Charles Kabonero confirmed to us Mugisha's expulsion, saying that his deputy had been summoned at 4:00 am on the 12th, questioned for two hours, and then driven to the Rusumo Falls border post in the southeast corner of Rwanda and expelled. According to Kabonero, Mugisha returned to Rwanda in 1994 from Tanzania, where he was born and raised, and was accepted as a Rwandan citizen. He found work as a journalist, and traveled abroad on a Rwandan passport. Mugisha's troubles started in 2004, said Kabonero, when Mugisha tried to renew his passport, and was denied on the grounds that he was actually a Tanzanian. Mugisha claims a Tanzanian mother and Rwandan father; his claims have been the subject of a long-running court battle with immigration, with the case postponed many times. Mugisha was also the subject of a prosecution last year for allegedly writing a bad check; this case was later apparently withdrawn by the government. ¶3. (C) Comment. RIMEG has long been an irritant for the Rwandan government, penning critical articles and opinion pieces (which the GOR claims are often inaccurate and libelous) and asking pointed questions at government press conferences (from which it is now banned - se ref A). Government ministers have several times accused RIMEG and other independent publications of being in league with "negative forces" that seek to undermine the security of the Rwandan state (ref B). While Mugisha/Sahini may or may not actually be a Rwandan, he lived in Rwanda for many years as a Rwandan citizen, was recognized as such by various Rwandan offices, and his expulsion appears to have occurred without any sort of judicial sanction. End comment. ARIETTI