Rwanda: Police manhunt for an opposition member in Gisagara District, Southern Province

by Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza for President

 On 6th June 2011, FDU-Inkingi informed the public about a spree of night gun murders in parts of Rwanda and particularly in Gisagara District (Southern Province). The police accused the opposition party of trying to rush to the media before reporting the incidents.
 Since then, a police manhunt for an FDU-Inkingi opposition member, Mr. Jean Bosco Hanganimana, resident of Gisagara District started.  From the 25th June, deployments of mobile police and night army patrols sent residents of Higiro location (Sector Nyanza, Gisagara District) in panic.
 That same day, the Executive of Higiro location, Madame Niwebasa Assumpta, expelled Mr. Jean Bosco Hanganimana, FDU-Inkingi member, from the Umuganda community work in Nyanza sector and stated that “nobody should worry about what will happen to that FDLR supporter and to those opposed to the ruling RPF”. At 16:00, the police searched his house and failed to arrest him. At 20:00, with nosearch warrant, 6 army men , a local defence staff and a civilian night patrol stormed his house, searched and arrested his wife who was later released.
 Many months before on 12th November 2010, the police abducted Mr. Jean Bosco Hanganimana from the hospital and detained him for 19 days for unknown charges. There were allegations of abuse and torture. He was reportedly attacked because he belongs to the opposition party FDU-Inkingi.
 The party FDU-Inkingi is calling upon the Government to investigate and to ensure that the local autorities and security services respect the basic rights of citizens.

FDU-Inkingi
Twagirimana Boniface
Interim Vice President

U.S. Criminal Defense Bar Challenges Rwandan Pres. Kagame: End the Campaign of Intimidation against Defense Lawyers

U.S. Criminal Defense Bar Challenges Rwandan Pres. Kagame:
End the Campaign of Intimidation against Defense Lawyers

U.S. Criminal Defense Bar Challenges Rwandan Pres. Kagame:
End the Campaign of Intimidation against Defense Lawyers


Washington, DC (June 10, 2010) – The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) condemns the unrelenting intimidation of American criminal defense lawyers in Rwanda and reiterates its call for the prompt release of Prof. Peter Erlinder together with an immediate end to the Rwandan government’s interference with the criminal defense function. NACDL stands with the 30 defense lawyers practicing before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) who together, in a statement to the court and the UN Security Council, said they fear for their own safety and have demanded Erlinder's immediate release.

Erlinder, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minn., was arrested on May 28, 2010, on charges of “genocide ideology,” or genocide denial, for statements allegedly made before the ICTR and in the United States. He has been representing presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, an opposition candidate in upcoming elections who herself was recently arrested on the same charge and released. Prof. Erlinder was denied bail on June 7 and remains in police custody. In addition, it is now being reported that NACDL member Peter Robinson, a Santa Rosa, Calif., defense attorney working in the ICTR, is being threatened with charges of contempt. In light of the arrest and detention of Prof. Erlinder, Robinson, who represents Joseph Nzirorera, the former President of the Rwandan National Assembly, is seeking to withdraw from his defense before the ICTR. It is further reported that Kurt Kerns, a Wichita, Kan., defense attorney and NACDL member, was threatened with arrest for “unauthorized practice of law” after allegedly referring to the police who arrested Erlinder as “punks.”

Taken together, these events, and the ongoing, outrageous detention of Prof. Erlinder, suggest an effort by the current regime to repress political opposition leaders as the August elections in Rwanda approach.

“While the genocide in Rwanda was truly a tragedy from which Rwanda has yet to fully recover, this blatant intimidation of respected criminal defense attorneys undermines the very basis of the criminal justice system in that nation,” NACDL President Cynthia Hujar Orr said today. “As long as the Kagame regime continues to interfere with criminal defense lawyers representing the accused, justice will remain out of reach for Rwanda. NACDL challenges the Kagame government to live up to the democratic ideals espoused by the Rwandan constitution and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and to immediately cease this highly improper and self-destructive campaign of intimidation.”

NACDL also supports the resolution introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Betty McCollum on Tuesday (H.Res. 1426) urging the Rwandan government to release Prof. Erlinder and allow him to return to the United States, Orr said.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL’s 10,000-plus direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling more than 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal justice system.