VZCZCXYZ0004
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLGB #0784 2230940
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 110940Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3103

UNCLAS KIGALI 000784 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/C, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM KPAO PGOV PHUM RW
SUBJECT: JOURNALIST FREED BY GACACA AUTHORITIES 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary. On July 28, Jean Leonard Rugambage, a 
journalist for the Kinyarwanda fortnightly newspaper 
 Umuco,, who was charged with murdering a bank official in 
his home district during the genocide, was freed after 11 
months in detention.  Rugambage had been formally charged 
with murder one month after his initial arrest and 
subsequently had a contempt charge added.  The decision to 
free Rugambage was made after a review of the case by the 
National Gacaca Service, which determined that Rugambage,s 
arrest by local gacaca officials was arbitrary and found that 
there was no evidence to support the criminal charge against 
him.  This ruling followed a July 26 decision by a sector 
level gacaca appeals court to overturn the contempt of court 
conviction against Rugambage, for which he had been sentenced 
to one year in prison.  While it is possible that Rugambage 
could be charged in a traditional criminal court for the 
crime of murder (alleged to have occurred during the 1994 
genocide), initial indications are that no further legal 
action will be taken against him. End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) In an August 8 meeting with Emboffs, Rugambage 
provided an overview of his case from the time he was 
arrested in September 2005 through his ultimate release from 
jail.  In most respects, Rugambage,s account of his initial 
arrest was consistent with an October 2005 report issued by 
the High Council of the Press (HCP), which determined that a 
local gacaca judge and an individual policeman had conspired 
to coerce local gacaca judges to sign Rugambage's arrest 
order. Initially Rugambage was charged only with attempting 
to evade law enforcement authorities.  The HCP investigation 
had concluded that the local police had improperly interfered 
in gacaca procedures, had declared that Rugambage had been 
detained illegally, and had called for his immediate release. 
 
 
¶3. (U) Where Rugambage and the HCP differ is in their account 
of why Rugambage was originally arrested.  Rugambage 
continues to insist that his arrest was spearheaded by a 
local gacaca judge in the Gitarama area (Rugambage,s native 
region) in response to articles he wrote that criticized him 
and other local gacaca officials.  In Rugambage,s version of 
events, this lone gacaca judge colluded with a policeman from 
Rugambage,s home village to have him arrested.  The HCP, on 
the other hand, concluded that there was no evidence that 
Rugambage was arrested because of his articles, but the HCP 
did not offer any alternative explanation for his arrest. 
 
¶4. (U) Rugambage said he does not believe that any senior 
government official was involved in his arrest or detention. 
Rugambage appeared to be genuinely grateful to Domitille 
Mukantaganzwa, executive secretary of the National Gacaca 
Service, for the role she played in bringing his case to a 
close and the willingness of the national administration to 
intervene when it became aware of examples of miscarriage of 
justice. 
 
¶5. (U) Comment: Rugambage's case has sometimes been 
highlighted as an example of the lack of press freedom in 
Rwanda.  It is probably more accurate to describe it as an 
example of how local officials in the gacaca system can evade 
checks and balances to pursue individual agendas. End 
comment. 
ARIETTI