On August 1, 2012, Stanley Gatera, the editor of Umusingi newspaper was arrested for publishing an article which the police said was promoting ethnic divisions.

READ: Umusingi editor arrested over ‘incitement’

The National Commission for the fight against Genocide (CNLG) and a women rights non-governmental organisations Pro Femme Twese Hamwe, filed a complaint over an article that was published by the paper.

The opinion article titled “Impamvu abagabo bahura n’ibibazo kubera gukurikira ubwiza bwabakobwa bitwaga Abatutsi” (Marriage failures are a result of men falling for beautiful Tutsi women) was said to have caused ripples among women rights organisations.

A few weeks after his arrest, in an expedited trial, Mr Gatera was on October 18, 2012 handed a one-year sentence after the court found him guilty of carelessly publishing an article that could cause ethnic divisions within the society and also break up families, even though he was not the author of the commentary.

His appeal was rejected and the one-year sentence he was handed by Gasabo Intermediate Court was upheld. He was transferred to Kimironko Prison where he served his sentence until he was released at the end of July 2013.

Appalling conditions

In an interview with Rwanda Today, Mr Gatera spoke about the trial and life behind bars, particularly the appalling conditions in the correctional service facility, which is located in Kimironko, Gasabo district.

“Personally I don’t think our courts are independent as I had thought before. I presented a good case to defend myself and at some point, the judge told my lawyer that I had a good case and that I will go home but we were shocked when the verdict came out differently.”

After his transfer to Kimironko Prison, Mr Gatera came face-to-face with deplorable conditions in the country’s correctional facilities.

“It was my first time to go to prison and to be sincere, if what I saw in a Rwandan prison is the same world over, then it is really shocking. If you are not prepared psychologically and ready to face your plight, you can easily commit suicide or run mad.” 

“Congestion in Kimironko prison is beyond anybody’s imagination. When I got in and saw the number of people inside, I was shocked and started fearing for my life. We were told that the facility is meant to hold 1, 500 people, but there are more than 5, 000 people crammed inside there,” he said. 

According to Mr Gatera, the prisoners receive one meal in 24 hours — a cup of beans and another of maize grains. There is also porridge served at 4.30am but he says the porridge is poorly prepared that it could cause diarrhoea.

Mr Gatera also claimed that sodomy is rampant in the prison, leading to cases of sexually transmitted diseases.

“It is not a secret. Men do it to young boys who come to serve light sentences after engaging in petty crimes. I know of a case of a young man who came to serve a sentence of four months, but he was sodomised by an old inmate who is serving a life sentence.”

Food from outside

“They lure them with food and drinks because most of those involved receive food from outside on permission. The ones involved in homosexuality also have private rooms in most cases. It is known among inmates. In fact, some have permanent sexual partners,” he claims.

According to Mr Gatera, there is a lot of business activity going on in Kimironko prison, despite measures put in place by prison authorities to fight illegal commercial practices among inmates.

He said some inmates have well established businesses within their respective cells, where they sell alcohol, cigarettes and bhang.

According to Mr Gatera, for trade to continue booming inside the prison, inmates work closely with prison guards who help them smuggle in goods and in return they pay kick back. He says the cartel is difficult to deal with since they operated in a very sophisticated manner.

Brewing of alcohol

“There is alcohol inside. In fact, there is some alcohol brand brewed inside the prison called “makuchi.”

What confused me is that for example, a convict is brought in to serve six months after they are arrested in possession of bhang but instead inside the prison, there is more bhang than outside,” he said.

While there were many appalling experiences for Mr Gatera, what took him aback most was the way the inmates eat and sleep, which in most of the time leave inmates desperate and hopeless.

“There are foreigners in there, who are desperate and have no hope of ever living normal lives because of the conditions. There are Cameroonians, Nigerians, Kenyans and Ugandans serving jail terms,” he said.