NEW YORK: The four-year prison sentence for Bernard Ntaganda, founding president of the PS-Imberakuri opposition party, strikes a blow to freedom of expression and democracy in Rwanda, Human Rights Watch said on Friday. On February 11, 2011, the High Court in Kigali found Ntaganda guilty of endangering national security, “divisionism” – inciting ethnic divisions – and attempting to organize demonstrations without official authorization. The court sentenced him to two years each for the first two charges and fined him 100,000 Rwandan francs (approximately US$175) for the third. The charges relate to his public statements criticizing government policies. Human Rights Watch is not aware that he advocated violence in any of these statements. Ntaganda was not present when the judgment was read in court. Three members of the FDU-Inkingi, another opposition party – Sylvain Sibomana, Alice Muhirwa, and Martin Ntavuka – were also fined 100,000 Rwandan francs each for attempting to organize demonstrations without official authorization. Another PS-Imberakuri member, Jean-Baptiste Icyitonderwa, was acquitted of the same charge. The verdict comes just one week after two journalists, Agnès Nkusi Uwimana and Saidaiti Mukakibibi, were sentenced to 17 and 7 years respectively in connection with articles in the independent newspaper, Umurabyo, that were viewed as critical of the government and of President Paul Kagame. On February 4, the High Court in Kigali ruled that by publishing these criticisms, the journalists had incited the public to rise up against the state. It found both women guilty of endangering public order. Uwimana, the newspaper's editor, was also found guilty of “minimizing the genocide,” which accounted for 10 years of her sentence, “divisionism,” and defamation. Both were arrested in July 2010 and have been in detention ever since. “These are blatantly political trials,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director of Human Rights Watch. “Ntaganda, his colleagues, and the two journalists – as well as many other men and women across Rwanda – are paying a heavy price for daring to express their opinions.” Ntaganda, an outspoken critic of the government, was arrested on June 24, six weeks before the August 9 presidential elections. Neither his party nor the FDU-Inkingi nor another opposition party, the Democratic Green Party, were able to participate in the elections, which Kagame, the incumbent, won with 93 percent of the vote. The PS-Imberakuri was the only one of these three parties that succeeded in registering as a political party. In March 2010, members of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), together with dissident members of the PS-Imberakuri, engineered a takeover of the PS-Imberakuri and replaced Ntaganda with a new and compliant leadership. Ntaganda and party members faithful to him were subsequently subjected to other forms of intimidation and harassment. These included threats to themselves and their families, causing several party members to go into hiding or exile; administrative restrictions designed to paralyze their political activities; and a statement by members of the Senate's Political Affairs Commission in April that accusations of “genocide ideology” and “divisionism” against Ntaganda were well-founded. The intimidation culminated in the arrest of Ntaganda in the early morning of June 24, just hours before a public demonstration planned by his party in Kigali. Several other members of the PS-Imberakuri and FDU-Inkingi were arrested later that day as they attempted to proceed with the demonstration. Further arrests of members of both parties took place in the following days. Some of those arrested were released in July, after several days of ill-treatment in police custody; they were beaten, held in harsh conditions, and threatened with death in connection with their party activities. Some were handcuffed to each other for several days without interruption, including when using the toilet, eating, and sleeping. Others remain in detention. On August 11, two PS-Imberakuri members, Sylver Mwizerwa and Donatien Mukeshimana, were sentenced to prison terms of three years and two years respectively for “rebellion” and destruction of property, allegedly for breaking into the PS-Imberakuri office after the landlord had reclaimed it. “These prosecutions demonstrate that the Rwandan government won't stand for any criticism or opposition – despite its numerous public commitments to free speech and political pluralism,” Bekele said. “These charges are wholly inappropriate, and the justice system is being used as a tool to stifle dissent and intimidate the public.” Human Rights Watch called on the government of Rwanda to take the following steps: * Allow opposition parties, journalists, and others to express their views, including criticizing government policies, without fear for their safety; * Take measures to restore and respect the independence of the judiciary; * Accelerate the revision of the “genocide ideology” law, announced by the justice minister in 2010, to include a more precise definition of the crime, in order to prevent misuse of this charge for political or other purposes; * Review the 2009 media law, which imposes burdensome restrictions on journalists, and decriminalize defamation. 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