The High Court in Rusizi district on Thursday resumed the trial of the leaders of the Congolese refugees in Kiziba Camp in the Western province of Rwanda. Those who continue to defend themselves include Mrs. Clemence Mukeshimana who was the vice president of the camp. Her and his colleagues are accused of crimes including illegal protests. They deny all crimes and plead to be acquitted.
The court room was packed with people hearing the case, many of whom were refugees, mostly children. There were those who followed the trial from the doors and windows surrounded by guards with guns.
Ms. Clemence Mukeshimana who was the vice president of the Kiziba camp in Kibuye in Karongi continued to defend herself. she pleaded guilty to the crimes of spreading rumors aimed at harming Rwanda in foreign countries, causing riots or disturbances in the public and the crime of making illegal demonstrations. Her and his colleagues who were leading the refugees are considered to be responsible for the incident.
she told the court that her and his four co-conspirators had no authority to harm the people of the government. He added that the crimes that they are accused of are those of politicians who intended to overthrow the current government while , as refugees, they were not part of that plan.
His interviews with members of media have sparked controversy in court. The defendant says that the prosecution relies on it and accuses her of all crimes. However, there should be a distinction between the elements of each crime.
The prosecutor considers these conversations as containing statements that insult the government and are intended to call for protests. He says that there are other messages they have been sending around the world without the permission from the governement of Rwanda. He added that on international radio, Mukeshimana and the refugees agreed that there was no security in the Kiziba camp and that they wanted to be settled in a third country. according the prosecution, There is complete security for the prosecutor in Rwanda because people travel at night and no documents are required.
This former vice president of the Kiziba camp was heard in the interview with BBC and VOA saying that the camp was invaded by police and soldiers with big guns. The prosecutor said that Mukeshimana accused were spreading rumors because it never happened.
On the crime of causing riots or disturbances in the public, he says that the defendant and his colleagues convinced the refugees that the bad life they were living in was caused by the government of Rwanda. They called their fellow refugees to protest and said that instead of being killed by hunger, they will be killed by bullets. He told the refugees to get off the boat and went to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Karongi with traditional weapons. In the court room, a low voice was heard at the same time saying “Huuuuuuuummm, but God, God forgive you” This is a statement that the prosecutor also noticed that the refugees did not agree with him and said that it was confirmed by the prosecution witness.
He says that he told the BBC and VOA that the water has overflowed because they have often asked for solutions to the problems of those responsible for cutting ears. The prosecutor said that food had been reduced for all the refugees in the world, which was not unique to Kiziba. He added that everything that happened was on the heads of the camp leaders and therefore they should be held responsible.
Clemance Mukeshimana requested that in investigating the crimes against the defendants, the focus would be on the spirit in the camp because they were asking for social change. she admitted that he spoke to the BBC and VOA and others but that the interviews given to the court were falsified. He just did not manage to show the court what was added or removed from those discussions.
The defendant reminded the court of their rights as refugees when they are not living well. Applying for a third country, applying for repatriation, or resettlement. He emphasized that the abuse of legal rights is not a crime.
Her defense lawyers say that the conversations that the prosecution filed were not original. They say that these are the conversations that they call in their words as evidence that the Prosecutor’s Office ‘gathered from the YouTube channel’ and anyone can post them for their own reasons. They requested that the prosecution write to the radio stations saying that they had passed on the interviews and that they were given the originals.
In the court, she said that in the 22 years, she he had been in Rwanda, it was the first time he saw the police and soldiers besieging their camp without informing them as leaders. she added that the institutions that were supposed to solve the problems that were brought to them handled them badly.
The government of Rwanda received false information that there are more than 700 refugee women who have arrived in Uganda to join Gen Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa in a plan to harm the current government in Rwanda. It is said that this is one of the reasons why the security forces shot them.
Those listening to the case on the side of the refugees immediately raised their emotions and pointed out that the prosecutor was contradicting himself. Then the court ordered them to stop those feelings.
The reason for this case is the protest of the Congolese refugees from the Kiziba camp who complained about insufficient food and other things. The protests resulted in some people being shot dead by security forces. The trial will resume on 31/12 this year.
Eric TWAHIRWA
