Two journalists affiliated with the YouTube channel Imbarutso ya Demokarasi are facing charges for reporting on Kwa Kabuga or the Kigali Transit Center, an unofficial detention facility where authorities hold people deemed \u201cundesirable,\u201d and one of the capital\u2019s worst kept secrets.\u00a0
Augustin Nsanzimana, a cameraman and editor, and Emmanuel Niyonshuti, a broadcast journalist, are currently being held in pre-trial detention, which was confirmed by a judge on June 2. At a May 26 court hearing, the prosecution accused the two of \u201cpublish[ing] rumors that may incite fear,\u201d a criminal offense vague enough to be used to suppress criticism.
During the hearing their lawyers said the defendants were denied access to counsel for the first six days of detention.\u00a0
Nsanzimana reportedly sent a message to contacts on May 1 stating that agents he believed to be from the Rwanda Investigation Bureau had entered his home in Kigali. Niyonshuti also stopped responding to calls and messages shortly after reporting threats. The Rwanda Investigation Bureau spokesperson confirmed 72 hours later that the two were in their custody. The arrests followed the publication on YouTube of a video alleging detainee deaths inside Kwa Kabuga. Human Rights Watch has documented arbitrary detention and serious ill treatment in Kwa Kabuga, where homeless people, sex workers, street children, street vendors, and others are often held without due process.\u00a0
The detentions are part of an ongoing crackdown on free speech: reporting on public service failures, providing space for opposition voices, including those linked to detained opposition figure Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, or questioning government narratives often result in punishment.\u00a0
In May, Aimable Karasira, who was convicted on charges including \u201cdivisionism,\u201d died on the day of his scheduled release from prison under questionable circumstances. Karasira, an academic and YouTuber, was arrested in 2021 after speaking publicly about losing relatives at the hands of both genocide perpetrators and the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front in 1994. Before his arrest, he told me: \u201cI wanted to use YouTube to tell my story.\u201d
More than a dozen journalists, commentators, and opposition activists remain imprisoned in Rwanda, many following prosecutions for speaking out on YouTube against abuse. All those jailed unjustly should be immediately and unconditionally released, and the abusive legal framework that allowed their prosecution should be reformed in line with international free speech standards.
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