The Supreme Court recently nullified, from the Penal Code, an article that hands jail sentences to suspects found guilty of insulting senior foreign officials. According to the law, convicts would face a jail term that is not less than 3 years but not above 5 years. “Humiliation or insult against foreign Heads of States or representatives of foreign States or representatives of international organisations in Rwanda commits an offence and upon conviction, he/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than 3 years and not more than 5 years,” the nullified section reads in part. The article in question is 218 of the 2018 Law Determining Offences and Penalties in General. The Court sat after a petition was filed by a local journalist, Samuel Baker Byansi, and the ruling was issued on May 20, 2022. Judges ruled that it violated articles 15 and 38 the Constitution that guarantees freedom of press and expression. Article 15 of the Constitution states that all persons are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of the law, and, Article 38 says that freedom of press, of expression and of access to information are recognised and guaranteed by the State. Byansi had petitioned against other articles of the Penal Code, but after examining his claims, the Supreme Court only found article 218 to be defective. John Mudakikwa, the Executive Director of CERULAR, a Non-Governmental Organisation that promotes citizen awareness on rights, said the development was a great step in promoting freedom. “If the law makes it so difficult for anybody to comment about such officials in the media, then it gives them some kind of impunity,” he said. Mudakikwa pointed out that with the ruling, journalists are in a better position to write about any public official and any conflict can be resolved in civil courts. Scovia Mutesi, a journalist and founder of local news site - Mama Urwagasabo – welcomed the ruling saying journalists can now hold officials to account without fear. In recent years, the judiciary has made key amendments to media laws. In 2019, the Supreme Court delivered a milestone ruling in favour of a case filed by city lawyer, Richard Mugisha, petitioning the decriminalisation of defamation. The court ruled that articles 233 and 154 criminalising humiliation of national leaders and persons in charge of public service, and defamation of religious rituals were against the freedoms of expression and press granted by the constitution. Both articles were found to be violating the constitution of Rwanda and some international conventions to which the country is a signatory.
