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STOPPING THE FLIGHT ABROAD

Government officials and RPF leaders have for some time shown their displeasure with the flight of Rwandans from the country, particularly when those departing are important politicians, journalists, and soldiers or former soldiers. Agents of military intelligence or other services have pressured family members and friends, whether inside Rwanda or abroad, to provide information on the whereabouts of those who left. In some cases, those thought to have assisted others to flee are then threatened, harassed, or imprisoned. One woman whose brother fled without her knowledge was troubled by having windows broken and things stolen from her house; when she reported the problems to the police, they refused to help her. Another who had unwittingly helped a friend prepare her departure was harassed for weeks by threatening phone calls and by being followed by young thugs. She eventually left the country herself. After Sebarenzi's departure, his brother was arrested and detained for a day.29

One such case has become particularly well-known, in part because Daniel Ngenzi, the person accused of helping others to flee, is a widely respected Tutsi businessman in Kigali. On the morning of August 31, 1999, Captain Fred Muhire of the DMI came to see Ngenzi at his place of business in central Kigali. Ngenzi, who was out of his office at the time, was called back by an employee. After a brief private conversation, Ngenzi left with Muhire and then "disappeared." For some time his whereabouts was unknown until a relative was able to learn that he was being held at the DMI. When Human Rights Watch researchers visited the DMI office on October 7, 1999 to inquire about the case, Captain Muhire received them himself and stated that he knew nothing about Ngenzi's arrest or where he might be held. He did promise to inquire into the case and the next day telephoned the Human Rights Watch researchers to announce that he had located Ngenzi and that he was indeed being held by the DMI.

Ngenzi had been arrested supposedly because he had driven a young soldier across the border to the airport in Burundi. There the young man boarded a plane for Canada, where he was to study. Ngenzi was charged also with having helped another young man, a former soldier, to make preparations to leave Rwanda the year before.

Following the intervention by Human Rights Watch, by the National Human Rights Commission, and by many of Ngenzi's highly placed friends, he was moved from the DMI to official military custody and his case was transferred into the regular military justice system. Rwandan law permits civilians charged with treason and similar crimes to be tried in military courts. Ngenzi was arraigned at the end of October and was ordered detained for one month, an order which has long since expired. He is still in jail, seven months after his arrest, and may face charges of having recruited soldiers for the king's army.30

On March 10, 2000 political party leaders met with General Kagame to suggest ways to end the flight ofpeople into exile and on March 15 Radio Rwanda announced that the government had "taken measures" to stop people from fleeing the country.31

29 Human Rights Watch interviews, Kigali, June 12 and July 3, 1999; February 11, 2000; by telephone, February 26, 2000. 30 Human Rights Watch interviews, Kigali, October 7, 14 and 16, 1999; December 12, 1999; Mulindi, December 18, 1999; February 11, 2000; by telephone, January 8 and10, February 2 and 27, 2000. 31 National news in Kinyarwanda, Radio Rwanda, March 10 and March 15, 2000.

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