By Norman S. Miwambo

17^th January 2011

Four exiled former Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) officials who were once close allies of President Paul Kagame have scorned at the Military Court’s ‘bizarre’ 24 and 20 years’ sentences handed to them.

Lt. Gen. Kayumba Nyamwasa, Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa, Col. Patrick Karegyeya, and Dr. Gerald Gahima discovered that a Military Court at Kanombe, a Kigali suburb, had convicted and handed them lengthy jail terms of between 20 and 24 years.

Their scorn came after a Rwandan military court President, Brigadier General Peter Bagabo, delivered the verdicts against the four officials on charges of terrorism, creation of a criminal organization, treason, defamation of the President, incitement of ethnic division and desertion from the army.

Gen. Kayumba and Dr. Rudasingwa, a former Presidential adviser, were sentenced to a twenty four years imprisonment.  The sentences handed down to Gen. Nyamwasa and Col. Karegyeya include 4years for deserting the army.  The two former army officers were also dismissed with disgrace from the Rwanda Defence Forces.

Brig. Gen. Bagabo also passed a 20year sentence for a former Intelligence Chief of Terrorism Col. Karegeya and Dr. Gahima.  The convicted dissidents however deny the charges preferred against them.

“…We reiterate once again that we are innocent of the crimes that we have been accused of.  We have not committed any actions that contravene the laws of our country or aim to cause insecurity. Neither have we advocated change of government by unlawful means or incited ethnic division as the government alleges”, Dr. Gahima said

Dr Gahima also took a swipe at the Court Martial Judge, arguing that he did not have jurisdiction to hear and try a case against a more superior military officer of the rank of Lieutenant General.  He also attacked the military court’s decision to exercise jurisdiction over civilians without a legitimate basis.

In a statement, the dissidents maintained that “…the court convicted us in spite of the fact that the Government did not produce any evidence other than our writings and press interviews that are protected by constitutional guarantee of free speech”.

Washington-based Dr. Gahima, the man who signed the statement, pleaded the innocence of his colleagues.  “…We are not criminals.  We are patriots who advocate for an end to dictatorship and advancement of freedom. Our views on the situation of human rights and the state of democratic governance in Rwanda are widely shared by many in and outside Rwanda as well as the most reputable international human rights organizations”, Gahima said.

He said the charges brought against them were politically motivated and were designed to suppress political opposition, deprive Rwandan citizens of the right of political participation, consolidate authoritarian rule, and “…to suppress the truth about the deplorable human rights situation and state of governance in Rwanda”.

He said they were neither the first, nor the last victims of politically motivated prosecutions against advocates of democratic change in Rwanda.  “…We are fortunate that the case against us was instituted while we were beyond the jurisdiction of Rwanda’s courts”, Dr Gahima added.

Speaking to this reporter from the US in a separate and exclusive interview, Dr Rudasingwa said, “…the sentence just handed down against us in absentia by Kagame’s court tells more about the regime than about the alleged ‘crimes’ against us.  The gist of what we are saying is that these are politically motivated sentences.  We are not only the victims of a system that lacks an independent judiciary, but one which lacks political participation too”.

He further said that President Paul Kagame is simply trying to punish them for being outspoken about what is happening in Rwanda and insisted that they will not challenge the verdict.  “…We simply ignore it because we didn’t get summons, we didn’t go there, may be if we were there we would be dead because as you know, there have been assassination attempts two of us, Gen Kayumba and Patrick Karegyeya”, Dr. Rudasingwa said.

On the issue of their possible extradition to serve their prison sentences in Rwanda, Dr Rudasingwa said, “…both the United States and South Africa, and most of the countries hosting us have functioning judiciaries and the rule of law.  They know that these are politically motivated charges.  They won’t take this seriously and we have no fears at all that any of these countries extradite us.  That will not happen”, Rudasingwa said confidently.

Rwanda’s army Spokesman Col. Jill Rutaremara however said, “…we are going to use diplomatic means to have them extradited and serve their sentences here”. Please log into www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.