Is Press Freedom under attack in Rwanda?

Despite the fact that the government of Paul Kagame in Rwanda has denied assertions by international journalists' rights groups that the government may have been involved in the shooting death of a journalist, Human Rights Watch thinks differently (HRW). Insecurity and political repression are increasing in advance of Rwanda's August 2010 presidential elections, HRW warned.

Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said on Saturday that the government was not involved in Jean-Leonard Rugambage's death. She called the allegations "dishonest."

The killing of Rugambage was not the first incident of violence against journalists. In February 2007, a group of assailants attacked the independent newspaper Umuvugizi's editor, Jean-Bosco Gasasira, in a near fatal incident outside his house, after he spoke out at a presidential news conference about the harassment of journalists. No one has been brought to justice for the attack.

HRW reports that besides the murder of Rugambage, the police have detained the leader of an opposition party, and other opposition party members have been arrested.

"The security situation is rapidly deteriorating," said Rona Peligal, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "With only 45 days left before the election, the government is lashing out to silence its opponents and critics."

The Rwandan government should investigate all incidents of violence and ensure that opposition activists and journalists are able to carry out their legitimate activities in safety, HRW said.

Jean-Léonard Rugambage, a journalist for the newspaper Umuvugizi, was shot dead shortly after 10 p.m. on June 24 outside his home in Nyamirambo, in the capital, Kigali. His colleagues and other sources in Rwanda told HRW that the assailant appeared to be waiting for the journalist as he returned home.

As Rugambage drove up to his gate, a man approached his car and fired several shots at close range, hitting him in the head and chest. Rugambage died on the spot. The assailant then drove off. Police arrived on the scene and took Rugambage's body to the police hospital in Kacyiru for autopsy. The police stated on June 25 that they were investigating his death.

Umuvugizi, an independent newspaper that has often been critical of the government, had published an article online on the morning Rugambage was killed, alleging that the Rwandan government was behind the attempted murder of a former Rwandan general, Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, in South Africa on June 19, and implicating senior officials. General Kayumba, once a close ally of President Paul Kagame and a former chief-of-staff of the Rwandan army, has become an increasingly outspoken critic of the government since fleeing to South Africa in February 2010. Umuvugizi's editor said that Rugambage had been investigating the murder attempt on Kayumba and had reported being under increased surveillance in the days leading up to his death.

In the early hours of June 24, police entered the house of Bernard Ntaganda, leader of the opposition party PS-Imberakuri, and took him away for questioning. He has spent two days in police custody and is believed to be detained at Kicukiro police station. Members of the PS-Imberakuri reported that the police raided Ntaganda's house and the party's office and took away documents and other belongings. By June 25, the party's flag and sign had been taken down from their office.

Later on the morning of June 24, several members of PS-Imberakuri were rounded up by the police and taken into custody after they gathered outside the US embassy; they had gone there to ask for help following Ntaganda's arrest. Some were released, but several, including the party's secretary-general, Théobald Mutarambirwa, remained in detention in various locations in Kigali on June 25.

In January 2009 the Rwandan government all but telegraphed pending attacks on independent journalists when the information minister publicly declared that "the days of the destructive press are numbered," referring to Umuvugizi and a second independent newspaper, Umuseso.

These new allegations come on the heels of the release of Minneapolis attorney Peter Erlinder, a relentless critic of the Kagame government and an internationally known expert on the Rwandan genocide, after being held on charges of "genocide denial. "The Minneapolis Star Tribune Reports, "In a statement e-mailed to the Star Tribune this week, Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo said Erlinder is 'a conspiracy theorist who seeks to willfully promote his extremist views on Rwandan soil. President Kagame has been praised for leading Rwanda from problems associated with the 1994 genocide in a short period of time but he is coming under increasing pressure over incidents on insecurity in his country.

Human rights groups have accused the Rwandan government of repressing independent media in the country, which Kigali denies.Allan Thompson, professor of journalism at Carleton University and editor of the book The Media and the Rwanda Genocide describes as "fragile," the situation of the media in Rwanda."The media will report about the ministers and the policies, but they won't criticise the president, Paul Kagame," Thompson said.

A report by the Paris-based media rights watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, this year named Rwanda among the world's worst press predators.In a recent interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, President Kagame said that human rights activists base their reports on views of a small group of people to judge the situation in the country.