Rwanda: Peace workers suffer increasing political repression
Amnesty International have called for the immediate and unconditional release of three peace and reconciliation activists - Laurien Ntezimana, Didace Muremangingo and Ignace Ndayahundwa - arrested by police and held at Butare central prison, southern Rwanda, on 27 January and 2 February.
* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
5 February 2002
AFR 47/001/2002
23/02
"Amnesty International today called for the immediate and
unconditional release of three peace and reconciliation activists
- Laurien Ntezimana, Didace Muremangingo and Ignace Ndayahundwa
- arrested by police and held at Butare central prison, southern
Rwanda, on 27 January and 2 February.
All three men are members of the Association Modeste et
Innocent (AMI), the Modeste and Innocent Association, a Rwandese
non-governmental organization working to promote individual
dignity and national peace and reconciliation. A fourth female
member of AMI was also briefly detained but later released.
Laurien Ntezimana, president of AMI, has been refused all visits
in detention.
The authorities have not disclosed what charges the men
may face, but their arrest is believed to relate to the use of
the word "ubuyanja" ("renewal" or "rebirth of energy") in a
recent issue of the Ubuntu bulletin published by AMI. The
bulletin contains an editorial by Laurien Ntezimana explaining
the meaning of the word "ubuyanja" and why AMI uses it. The men
are also reportedly being questioned about the mission of AMI,
the reasons behind its creation and whether or not AMI had the
necessary authorizations to operate legally in Rwanda.
The word "ubuyanja" has recently become associated with a
banned political opposition party, the Parti Démocratique pour le
Renouveau-Ubuyanja (PDR-Ubuyanja), Democratic Party for
Renewal-Ubuyanja. The three detainees are not believed to have
any connection with PDR-Ubuyanja. The concept of "ubuyanja" has
long been a central tenet of Laurien Ntezimana and AMI's program
for peace and reconciliation.
These latest detentions are part of a growing pattern of
harassment by the authorities of individuals suspected of
supporting political opposition in Rwanda and of journalists who
report on developments.
"The Rwandese authorities seem determined to stifle any
suggestion, however tenuous, of peaceful political dissent,"
Amnesty International said. "In doing so they are resorting to
unlawful detentions and violating the fundamental right to
peaceful freedom of expression."
"In the absence of recognizable criminal charges,
supported by credible evidence, these three prisoners of
conscience should be immediately set free. The Rwandese
Government should publicly renew its commitment, made under
international treaties, to upholding the right to freedom of
expression," the organization added.
Background
AMI was founded in February 2000 in commemoration of the work of
Modeste Mungwarareba, a Catholic priest, and Innocent Samusoni
who devoted themselves to promoting reconciliation between Hutu
and Tutsi in the Butare region of southern Rwanda. Modeste
Mungwarareba died in May 1999. Innocent Samusoni was killed
during the genocide in April 1994. Laurien Ntezimana is a
long-standing and well-known peace activist who in 1998 was
awarded the Pax Christi International "Prize for Peace".
The PDR-Ubuyanja party, founded in May 2001 by the former
president Pasteur Bizimungu, was banned in June 2001. Journalists
who interviewed Pasteur Bizimungu at the time were interrogated,
threatened and forced to hand over tape recordings to the
military authorities. Several individuals associated with the
party have since been detained or intimidated. On 26 December
2001 one of the PDR-Ubuyanja's founders, Gratien Munyarubuga, was
shot dead in Kigali by unidentified assailants. Catherine
Mujawamaliya, secretary of PDR-Ubuyanja, was held without charge
at Remera police station in Kigali from 10 December until last
week. Members of her family were allegedly killed by Rwandese
Patriotic Front soldiers in August 1994. Her repeated calls for
those responsible for the killings to be brought to justice may
have been a factor in her prolonged and illegal detention.Until
her release, Amnesty International considered her a prisoner of
conscience.
Members of a faction of a legal opposition party, the
Mouvement Démocratique Républicain (MDR), Democratic Republican
Movement, have also been targeted by the authorities. The
secretary-general of MDR, Pierre Gakwindi, has been detained in
Kigali central prison since 4 January 2002, accused of giving a
press interview considered "ethnically divisive" and defamatory
of serving government officials. Amnesty International believes
that the charges against him are politically motivated and that
he may be a prisoner of conscience arrested solely because of his
opposition to the government.
Amiel Nkuriza, editor of the independent French-language Le
Partisan newspaper, was recently forced to flee abroad following
sustained harassment by the authorities. He was detained for four
days from 31 December 2001 for an editorial that dealt with the
political situation in Rwanda and was reportedly threatened by
police officers at the time of his release. On 4 January, he was
interrogated about an article he wrote for the independent
Kinyarwanda newspaper, Umuseso, on the killing of Gratien
Munyarubaga. Le Partisan and Umuseso -- both well-respected
newspapers -- have been regular targets for public denunciations
issued by members of the government.
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