The Tragic End Of Rwandan Gospel Singer And Activist, Kizito Mihigo
Kizito Mihigo was a Rwandan gospel singer, songwriter, organist, composer of sacred music, television presenter, genocide survivor, and peace and reconciliation activist. After getting arrested on February 14, 2020, in Burundi, Rwanda, he was found dead in his cell three days later. The police claim that he committed suicide but activists in the diaspora do not believe this explanation of his death. This is because the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame has been accused of targeting perceived critics, of which Kizito was one.
First Arrest
On April 12, 2014, Rwanda’s former prime minister, Faustin Twagiramungu claimed that Kizito had been arrested because of a controversial song the singer had released a few days before. The song, “Igisobanuro Cy’urupfu” (The Meaning of Death) had been uploaded on YouTube in March and was immediately prohibited by the government.
However, on April 15, 2014, the Rwandan Police told journalists that Kizito had been arrested on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks and collaborating to overthrow the government. His songs were then banned from local radio and television. After his arrest, Belgian journalist, Colette Braeckman told Le Soir that she didn’t believe the charges levelled against the singer. She said, “There is no doubt, something else is going on, which we don’t know because everyone is silent as usual in Rwanda”. An international non-profit organisation, WikiLeaks later revealed that the singer had been kidnapped 10 days before the official announcement of his arrest.
First Trial and Sentencing
When his trial finally began on November 6, 2014, he pleaded guilty to all the charges levelled against him and requested that the judges be lenient in their sentencing. By the third day of his trial, he continued to plead guilty and rejected his rights to be represented by a lawyer.
He was eventually convicted of conspiracy against the government but was discharged of conspiracy to commit terrorism. On 27 February 2015, Mihigo was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. The international community did not believe that justice had been served. Human Rights Watch alleged that he had been coerced into giving the testimonies that landed him in jail. They said, “Police officers beat him and forced him to confess to the offences with which he was later charged in court”.
Pardon
On 10 September 2018, he withdrew his appeal to the Supreme Court. A Rwandan newspaper, New Times reported that his lawyer, Antoinette Mukamusoni had said that he didn’t want to further complicate things. She had told them, “He told me that he pleaded guilty and prayed for pardon since the interrogation from police up to the time the court ruled against him and handed him a 10-year sentence and it would be just complicating matters to appeal.”
Four days later on September 14, 2018, he was released from prison after he had received a pardon from President Paul Kagame. The Rwandan Ministry of Justice released a statement that read, “Among (those released) are Mr Kizito Mihigo and Ms Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, the remainder of whose sentences were commuted by Presidential prerogative following their most recent applications for clemency in June this year”.
2nd Arrest
On February 14, 2019, he was arrested once again after he was handed over to the Rwanda Investigation Bureau by local residents in Nyaruguru. The investigative agency confirmed that Kizito had attempted to illegally cross the border to Burundi. According to The New Times, he was charged with corruption and illegal border crossing. A condition of his 2018 pardon was that he could only leave the country with judicial permission.
BBC News confirmed that a resident of Nyaruguru district explained that the villagers had stopped the musician, who was carrying a heavy bag and handed him over to police. The unnamed resident had told them, “I was there, I saw him. Villagers who stopped him said he was trying to cross to Burundi using illegal roads. From here to the border it’s less than five minutes’ walk”.
Death
On February 17, 2020, the singer was found dead in a cell during a routine check at about 5 am by officers at Remera police station. His body was taken to Kacyiru. The Rwanda Investigative Bureau’s preliminary report suggests that he had committed suicide by using his bedsheets to strangle himself to death.
Ms Marie Michelle Umuhoza, the RIB Spokesperson said, “He was found hanging by an officer in the morning on Monday. He used the bedsheets that he was sleeping on to hang himself. Preliminary investigations show that he hanged himself on the window of his cell, but more investigations are being conducted”.
