Rwandan exile journalist gunned down in Kampala

Reporters Without Borders is stunned to learn that Rwandan journalist Charles Ingabire, an outspoken critic of the Rwandan government and editor of the Inyenyeri News website, was gunned down in the early hours of yesterday in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, where he had lived in exile since 2007. “We offer our sincere condolences to his fellow journalists in Rwanda and in exile, who are shocked by this terrible news,” Reporters Without Borders said. “While it is still too soon to say who is responsible for his murder, we point out that exiled Rwandan journalists are often in danger, especially in Kampala, where several of them have been physically attacked this year. “This is the second murder of a Rwandan journalist in the past 18 months, following that of Jean-Léonard Rugambage in Kigali in June 2010.” According to initial reports, Ingabire was shot at point-blank range by an unidentified person in a Pajero car at around 2 a.m. as he left a Kampala bar to which he had gone four hours earlier to meet a friend. He was hit in the chest and died on the spot. His body is now in the Mulago morgue, where an autopsy is to be carried out. The Ugandan police are investigating the murder and, according to the Kampala-based Daily Monitor, have arrested two persons in order to question them. Before fleeing Rwanda and launching Inyenyeri News, Ingabire worked for the Kigali-based newspaper Umuco. He had been threatened several times in phone calls and comments left on his website. He was also physically attacked about two months ago in Kampala by unidentified assailants, who said they wanted his website closed down. Photo : logo of the Inyenyeri News website.