Jean-Léonard Rugambage was a

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

n journalist, acting editor of the newspaper ''Umuvugizi''. He was murdered after an assailant shot him four times in front of his home in

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali is a relativ ...

on 24 June 2010. The newspaper had recently been suspended by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, but continued to publish articles online. Rugambage was "highly critical" of President

Paul Kagame Paul Kagame ( ; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who has been the President of Rwanda since 2000. He was previously a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel armed force which invaded ...

's government. Shortly before being murdered, Rugambage had published an article on the attempted murder of former army chief Lieutenant-General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, another critic of Kagame's. As Rugambage's murder was one of several of Kagame's critics and opponents during the build-up to the 2010 presidential election, his colleagues suggested national security services could have been involved. Four days later, police arrested two suspects in connection with the murder. According to the authorities, one of them, Didace Nduguyangu, confessed and explained to the police that he had "committed this act to take revenge on this journalist who massacred his brother during the genocide against the Tutsis in 1994." But for whose death Rugambage had been acquitted by courts in 2006 after being detained for 11 months in 2005.

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

called for an investigation into the murders of several government opponents during the election campaign, including Rugambage's."Deadly attacks on Rwandan opposition spark warning by UN"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', July 18, 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rugambage, Jean-Leonard 2010 deaths Deaths by firearm in Rwanda Journalists killed in Rwanda Rwandan murder victims People murdered in Rwanda Year of birth missing Assassinated dissidents Assassinated Rwandan journalists People from Kigali 2010s murders in Rwanda 2010 crimes in Rwanda 2010 murders in Africa

See also

References