OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT PAUL KAGAME ON THE DISAPPEARANCE OF INNOCENT BAHATI
Innocent Bahati - Photo Credit: Adrea Grieder
7 February 2022: Burhan Sonmez, Ben Okri, Margaret Atwood, Gioconda Belli, J. M. Coetzee, Ma Thida and Salman Rushdie among hundreds of acclaimed writers, artists and poets urging Rwandan President Kagame to intervene in the case of disappeared poet Innocent Bahati.
Dear President Paul Kagame,
We, the undersigned writers, poets, and artists from Africa and around the world, would like to jointly express our grave concern about the life and whereabouts of Rwandan poet Innocent Bahati, who has been missing since 07 February 2021. Bahati is a well-known poet who, before disappearing, has published poetry on YouTube and Facebook and has regularly performed at poetry events in Rwanda. At the time of his disappearance, he was a teacher at the Green Hills Academy in Kigali.
We write in support of previous calls by PEN International, the world association of writers and other freedom of expression organizations, to urge you to intervene in the case of Bahati and in the interest of his right to life, liberty, and wellbeing.
We understand that Bahati was last seen at a hotel in Nyanza district, in the Southern Province of Rwanda, where he had reportedly gone to meet someone whom he had spoken to on the phone earlier. When Bahati failed to return to Kigali as expected, individuals close to him tried to reach him on his mobile phones without success. Bahati’s phones appeared to be switched off and have remained so ever since.
According to media accounts, on 9 February 2021 a report was made to the Rwanda Investigations Bureau (RIB) about the disappearance of Bahati. Soon after, a spokesperson of the RIB publicly stated that Bahati was not in the agency’s custody. He further said that an investigation was ongoing and that the RIB would not reveal any information at the time.
We are bringing this matter to your attention, with a plea for urgent action because, one year later, Bahati is still missing and his situation unknown. We note with concern that the Rwandan authorities are yet to disclose any progress or outcome of investigations on his case.
As writers, poets and artists, we have legitimate reasons to believe that Innocent Bahati’s disappearance is in relation to his poetry and critical expression on issues affecting Rwandan society. We are aware of reports that he similarly disappeared in 2017 after he had posted a critical comment on Facebook, only to reappear in police custody after several days. Although he was not charged for any offense, he was imprisoned without trial for three months and only freed after a court order.
Further, we have seen media reports attributed to a speech made on 21 March 2021 by the Rwandan Secretary of State in charge of culture Mr. Edouard Bamporiki, on the use of poetry, as follows:
“…one who has nothing to lose may cross the lines, and the one who has no guard will get off the right track. When poetry loses its way, it can mislead the public. It is for this reason that I ask you to forget the difficulties that Rwandan poetry community has known in recent times, but rather to do our part to advise and reprimand those amongst who stray from the right path...”
Coming shortly after the disappearance of Bahati in 2021, these chilling remarks by an official of your administration are hardly coincidental. They suggest a pattern of intolerance to free poetic expression by officials, and they legitimately raise suspicions that Bahati may have been disappeared in relation to his poetry. We believe that someone within the Rwandan administration knows about the whereabouts or fate of Bahati.
Rwanda’s constitution guarantees freedom of expression, with sufficient safeguards against arbitrary use of state power to suppress this right. Rwanda is also obliged under International Human Rights law and standards, to guarantee the right to freedom of expression, including artistic freedom.
Poetry is not a crime. The world awaits to hear the voice of Innocent Bahati, again.
We look forward to your positive intervention, Mr. President, in the interest of justice.
Signed on this day: 7 February 2022
Burhan Sonmez, President, PEN International
Adama Makasuba
Adisa Bašić
Áine Ní Ghlinn
Ajla Demiragić
Alessandra Trevisan
Alex Pearl
Allieu Kamara
Almir Imširević
Amanda Bell
Ana María Fuster Lavín
Andre Derval
Andrea Grieder
Andrea Lešić
Angye Gaona
Anna Heussaff
Anne Tannam
Antje Stehn
Antoine Spire
Arfang M.S. Camara
Ariel Zhu
Arya Rajam
Assan Njie
Ava-Lisa Sedgwick
Bampha Jaiteh
Ben Okri
Bernard Fournier
Bernard Gilbert
Bernard Odendaal
Bernadette Kaimokai
Binta Jaiteh
Bintou Waggeh
Brendan Lynch
Brid Fitzpatrick
Brigitte Gyr
Çağdaş Gökbel
Canisia Lubrin
Carlos Vásconez
Caroline Graham
Caroline Wood
Carolyn Meads
Cathal Póirtéir
Catherine Dunne
Catherine Pont-Humbert
Catrina Wessels
Cecile Oumhani
Celia de Fréine
Christopher Lin
Claire Varin
Clare O’Dea
Clarisa Palmer
Colette Klein
Collette Sell
Conor Kostick
Cung Thi Lan
Dan Midalia
Dang Nguyen
Danie Marais
Daniel Gorman
Daniel I. Pedreira
Daniele D'alia
Daniele Pantano
Danielle Thibault
Danny Morrison
Danson Kahyana
Daragh Fleming
Dave Duggan
David Ferré
Declan O’Rourke
Deirdre Hines
Dennis Haskell
Diana Menefy
Diane Alméras
Dibi Symington
Dominique Gaucher
Dr. Michael Gregory Stephens
Duong Vu
Ekaterina Turchaninova
Elena Poniatowska
Elif Shafak
Émile Martel
Enver Kazaz
Eric Lax
Esi Edugyan
Fabienne Leloup
Fakhri Saleh
Fatima Sillah
Félix Villeneuve
Ferida Duraković
Fintan Power
Fióna Bolger
Fiona Gartland
Fiona O’Rourke
Folu Agoi
Frances An
Francis Coffinet
Francis Combes
Frank Golden
Froukje Santing
Gabriel Rosenstock
Gabriel Seisdedos
Gamal El Dine Mona
Gaston Bellemare
Geert Mak
Geraldine Comiskey
Germán Rojas
Gianluca Costantini
Gioconda Belli
Gráinne Murphy
Grainne Tobin
Greg Dinner
Gwyneth Wynn Uí Ghaora
Haruna Kuyateh
Hassoum Ceesay
Homa Hoodfar
Hong Thuy
Hori Takeaki
Hugh Hazelton
Iman Humaydan
Isha Kaira
Ivan Šarčević
Izak de Vries
Izet Perviz
J.M. Coetzee
Jacinto Luca Pires
Jack Harte
Jacques Godbout
James Rebanks
Jan Beatty
Jasna Samic
Jean Le Boel
Jean Michel Devesa
Jean Noel Cordier
Jean Philippe Domecq
Jean-Louis Grosmaire
Jennifer Clement
Jeremy Mogford
Joachim Helfer
Job Degenaar
John Charles McAllister
John D Kelly
John Lattimore
John Liddy
John O’Brien
John O’Donnell,
John Waring
Jonathan Beck
Jonathan Franzen
José Luis Acevedo Daza
Jorge Montealegre
Judyth Hill
June Caldwell
June Considine
K. Satchidanandan
Karimatou Jallow
Kate Ennals
Kate Highman
Kate Thompson
Katherine Mezzacappa
Katie Donovan
Kätlin Kaldamaa
Kebba Ansu Manneh
Kevin Corcoran
Kevin Doyle
Konstantin Kedrov
Krishna Sen
Lamija Milisic
Lan Cung
Lana Bastašić
Lane Shipsey
Lauren O’Donovan
Laurence Paton
Le Phi O
Le Thi Nhi
Le Thi Y
Lenore Hart
Lesley Marshall
Lia Mills
Linda Gaboriau
Linda Hansen
Linda Maria Baros
Lindsay Sedgwick
Lissa Oliver
Liz McManus
Liz McSkeane
Louis Gauthier
Lucia Cupertino
Lucina Kathmann
Lydia Little
Ma Thida
Malick Diarra
Mama A Touray
Marc Bouchard
Marcella van der Kruk
Margaret Atwood
Margo Gorman
Maria del Pilar Clemente
Maria McManus
Mariadonata Villa
Mariama Njie
Marie Clark
Marie Laure Coulmin Koutsaftis
Marie McCartan
Marina Tarasova
Mark Wilson-Pierce
Mary Grehan
Maybelle Wallis
Mbemba Camara
Megan Wynne
Mia Gallagher
Michael Jordan
Michael Ondaatje
Mike Williams
Milagros Socorro
Minh Thuy
Miriam Calejja Shaw
Mohamed Sheriff
Monique Proulx
Moses Kainwo
Muhamed Dželilović
Musa S. Sheriff
Muspha Jarju
Nakisanze Segawa
Nathaniel A. Pearce
Natasha Remoundou
Nayrouz Qarmout
Nedžad Ibrahimović
Nell Regan
Niall Mac Coitir
Niamh MacCabe
Nina George
Nyima Sillah
Omar El Akkad
Omar Farouk
Other Press LLC
Orhan Pamuk
Otosirieze Obi-Young
Pádraig Hanratty
Padraig O’Morain
Paul Auster
Paula McGrath
Pedro Alejandro Olivares Torruella
Petr Obraztsov
Philippe Pujas
Philippe Sands
Piers Davies
Priscilla Robinson Wolf
Rae Marie Taylor
Rainny Ansumana
Ralf Nestmeyer
Réaltán Ní Leannáin
Regina Kammerer
Rev. Johanna Warren
Rex Marshall
Roberta Bacic
Romana Cacchioli
Rosalynn Comino
Ruth Borthwick
Saad Salloum
Saffiatou Fatty
Salman Rushdie
Sainabou Sambou
Samuel F. Pimenta
Sandra Cisneros
Sandra Santana
Sandra Symons
Sarah Oldfield
Sarah Thilykou
Sean Horgan
Selma Raljević
Senada Kreso
Sergey Belorusets
Shady Lewis
Shauna Gilligan
Sheila Barrett
Simon Robinson
Siobhán Daffy
Siobhán Hegarty
Siri Hustvedt
Sofi Oksanen
Sophia Hillan
SP McArdle
Stefania Gualberti
Sylvestre Clancier
Tanja Tuma
Tatiana Ponomaryova
Tenneh Kabba
Thai Lan
Theresa Amui
Thierry Mesny
Tina Callaghan
Tony Cohan
Tsitsi Dangarembga
Vawn Corrigan
Víctor Muñoz
Viviana Fiorentino
Vonne van der Meer
Water Davies
Wladimir Sergijenko
Yann Martel
Yassin al-Haj Saleh
Yorn Young
Yunus Saliu
Yuri Ryabinin
For further information, please contact Sabrina Tucci, Communications and Campaigns Manager: [email protected] | Twitter: @pen_int | Facebook: @peninternational | www.pen-international.org