CCPR/C/115/D/1895/2009 Factual background 1 2.1 In September 2006, the author, a member of the Kigali Bar, was asked to defend two individuals of Hutu ethnicity who were accused of genocide. He took over the case from the original defence counsel, Mr. Banda, who had been killed by unidentified persons. He represented the accused at three hearings before the court, on 6, 8 and 10 November 2006. In the course of those hearings he received threats, including death threats, from the victims’ families, accusing him of defending and seeking the release of perpetrators of genocide and vowing to kill him. At the time of the hearing of 8 November 2006, the author received death threats via a note left at his home which read: “If you don’t drop the two defendants’ case, you risk losing your life — like your colleague Banda”. The author’s wife, A.B.K., received the same note. That same day, the author received an anonymous call on his mobile telephone from someone claiming to be a security officer and advising him “to drop the case or risk dying and having his family die”. 2.2 The day after this incident, on 9 November 2006, the author went to the Nyamirambo police station to report the threats. The officer present reassured the author, saying that the threats were merely intimidation. He then asked the author why he was defending “criminals” and thereby risking his life. 2.3 On 10 November 2006, the author took part in a further hearing. On returning home, he found a second note and received another telephone call. On 11 November 2006, he again went to the police station, but the officers asked him to drop the cases he was defending. He knew then that he could not expect any help from the authorities. 2.4 On 18 November 2006, the author received a call informing him that his father had been killed by armed men. Two hooded men had reportedly gone to the author ’s home looking for him and, not finding him there, killed his father. His pregnant wife was allegedly kicked during the attack and heard the armed men say that they would be back later. Following this attack and still being sought by relatives of the victims — senior military officers — the author and his wife took refuge with the author ’s uncle in Butamwa, where they remained in hiding for a week. His uncle helped them leave Rwanda for Belgium. 2.5 On 25 November 2006, the author and his wife left Rwanda. With the help of a smuggler, they arrived in Brussels the next day and filed a first asylum application there on 27 November 2006. On 20 August 2007, the application was rejected by the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons, which noted major inconsistencies in the author ’s account. The Office pointed to inconsistencies regarding significant family dates and events, details of his clients’ trial 2 and the circumstances of his journey to Belgium. 3 The Office also noted discrepancies with his wife’s account, including regarding the threats made against him. The Office identified other implausibilities concerning, in particular, the number and date of the hearings in which the author had participated as counsel; the number of anonymous telephone calls threatening him with death; and information about the murder of the lawyer whom he had subsequently replaced in the case. The author had told the Immigration Office that the lawyer had been killed by his wife, but then later told the __________________ 1 2 3 GE.15-21844 In order to provide a comprehensive and coherent account, this section also takes account of the claims brought by the author before the domestic authorities and the decisions reached. The Office noted in particular that the author did not know the defen dants’ professions or the name of the judge hearing the case, even though he had taken part in three hearings. The author told the Office that he was unaware of the content of his travel documents and that he did not know the name or nationality under which he had travelled or the cost of the journey. 3/7