The Supreme Court will on Wednesday, May 24, start hearing a case filed by a Kigali-based lawyer, petitioning the judges to examine the constitutionality of the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB)’s powers to search people’s homes and other premises without a court warrant.
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The petitioning lawyer, Edward Murangwa, challenges Article 10 of the law establishing RIB, which grants investigators the power to search a person or premises without a warrant if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a criminal act is being committed or an object used in committing a crime is housed there.
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A search warrant is an order in writing commanding a law enforcement officer to search a specified person or premises.
The petitioner urges that investigative searches infringe on human rights and thus, the judiciary – the government organ assigned with human rights oversight – should approve the searches first.
"The Judiciary is the guardian of human rights and freedoms. This duty is exercised in accordance with this Constitution and other laws,” reads the 43rd article of the Constitution, which Murangwa cites in his petition.
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He insists that RIB is part of the executive branch of the Government, not the judiciary. With this, he says that if investigators issue search warrants for themselves, they violate Article 61 of the Constitution, which states that the Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary are separate and independent from each other.
The petition also hints at Article 23 of the Constitution, which guards people’s homes against infringement unless under circumstances determined by the law.
"No search or entry into a home shall be carried out without the consent of the owner, except in circumstances and in accordance with procedures determined by the law. Confidentiality of correspondence and communication shall not be waived except in circumstances and in accordance with procedures determined by the law,” it reads.
As part of the petition, Murangwa also asks the court to consider ordering the police and RIB to stop parading suspects before the media and "forcing” them to talk to journalists.
According to him, such a practice might be flouting Article 29 of the Constitution which says that people are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent court.