Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08KIGALI483
2008-07-15 10:13:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kigali
Cable title:
JOURNALIST EXPELLED FROM RWANDA
how-toVZCZCXYZ0006 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHLGB #0483 1971013 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 151013Z JUL 08 FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5459 INFO RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 0263 RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 0355 RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM 1170 RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1939 RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0490 RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0270 RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 1267 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0531
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)
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
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