Rwandan authorities arrested journalist Dieudonné Niyonsenga in 2020 and initially accused him of breaching COVID-19 lockdown orders. He was later charged with impersonating a journalist and forging a press card. In 2021, Niyonsenga was acquitted, but authorities appealed, and he was retried, convicted, and jailed for seven years. CPJ is aware of reports that Niyonsenga has been beaten in prison.
Niyonsenga, who also goes by the name Cyuma Hassan, owned and reported for Ishema TV, a YouTube channel that covered a range of topics, including local politics and human rights. The channel was taken offline in 2022.
On April 15, 2020, Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) officers arrested Niyonsenga and Ishema TV driver Fidele Komezusenge in the capital, Kigali, for allegedly breaching COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, the law enforcement agency said.
Prosecutors charged Niyonsenga and Komezusenge with forgery of press cards, impersonating journalists, and hindering the implementation of government-ordered work by breaching COVID-19 restrictions, according to court documents reviewed by CPJ.
Niyonsenga was also initially charged with humiliating the officials who arrested him, a crime that had been repealed in 2019, according to those documents and a person familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns.
Prosecutors said that Niyonsenga had forged press cards for himself and Komezusenge, which could only be issued by the regulatory Rwanda Media Commission (RMC), those sources said, and that the two men were impersonating journalists as they lacked media accreditation or journalistic qualifications.
Niyonsenga and Komezusenge pleaded not guilty. Their defense argued that Rwandan law allowed citizens to establish websites to disseminate information, that Ishema TV was properly registered, that Niyonsenga had a right to issue company ID cards, and that RMC accreditation did not grant one journalistic status, the documents said.
On March 12, 2021, both defendants were acquitted and were freed the next day.
Prosecutors appealed, and on November 11, 2021, the Kigali High Court convicted Niyonsenga of forgery, impersonating a journalist, and “obstructing the implementation of government-ordered works and humiliating the leadership of the country and public service officers and those in charge of security,” according to court documents reviewed by CPJ.
The court ruled that Niyonsenga had a right to publish news online but not to print press cards or call himself a journalist, and sentenced him to seven years in prison with a fine of 5 million Rwandan francs (US$4,900).
Niyonsenga was also convicted of humiliating public service officials, but the National Public Prosecution Authority said on November 16, 2021, that this had been an error and that it had appealed for this charge to be set aside. In the appeal, reviewed by CPJ, prosecutors also argued that the High Court had erred by combining the crimes of obstruction and of humiliating authorities.
On March 18, 2022, an appeal court upheld Niyonsenga’s conviction on forgery and impersonation, but overturned the conviction for humiliating authorities, according to a copy of the judgment reviewed by CPJ. It made no specific ruling on the obstruction conviction.
In January 2024, according to court documents reviewed by CPJ, Niyonsenga sought to have his case reviewed, arguing that it had been carried out unfairly. In March 2024, the courts rejected the review application, according to a report by the Great Lakes service of the Voice of America and the person familiar with the case who spoke to CPJ.
There have been reports that Niyonsenga has suffered ill-treatment and torture during his imprisonment. In 2022, Pax TV-Ireme News interviewed Niyonsenga’s sister, Mujawabera Odette, and another person who visited him in prison, who both said that the journalist reported being beaten by prison officers on his back and head, and that he had wounds on his chest and behind one ear, for which he had not received medical attention. Human Rights Watch also received reports of similar allegations.
On January 10, 2024, Niyonsenga told a Kigali court that he had been detained in “inhumane” conditions in a “hole” and was frequently beaten, according to court documents reviewed by CPJ. Appearing in court with a head wound, Niyonsenga said that his vision and hearing were impaired.
There have also been reports that Niyonsenga has been denied access to his family and legal counsel several times. In 2021, authorities detained his father, Primien Rukebesha, for three days when he tried to bring clothing and a bedcover to his son in Kigali’s Nyarugenge Prison, according to The Chronicles and a person familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ. In January 2024, Niyonsenga’s lawyers said that prison officials had seized documents the journalist needed to prepare for court appearances.
In a November 2022 email to CPJ, the Ministry of Justice said that the cases against Niyonsenga and other detained journalists in Rwanda were “conducted in full accordance” with the law, and that none of their “offenses related to their purported journalistic activities.” The ministry said Niyonsenga had not sought remedy from the courts for his alleged ill-treatment.
As of late 2024, CPJ had yet to receive responses to emails sent to the Ministry of Justice and the correctional services, which included queries on allegations that Niyonsenga had been tortured and ill-treated behind bars.