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BACKGROUND INFORMATION Katabaruka, a professor at the Catholic University of Bukavu in Sud-Kivu, a province in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was giving a class at the Adventist Lay University of Kigali (UNILAK) on 16 February 2007 when he was arrested. A prosecutor told him he would be tried for endangering state security, "segregation" and "sectarianism." On 23 February 2007, a court ordered him held for 30 days pending trial. Katabaruka has, over the years, written a number of alarming reports about the humanitarian situation on the border between Rwanda and the DRC. His name appeared as one of the authors of an 8 June 2005 report for the Missionary Service News Agency (MISNA) entitled "Rwanda Alert." The other two authors were an Italian nun and a Congolese nun with Catholic missions in the east of the DRC. It was a scathing assessment of Kagame and the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) since Kagame became president in 1994. The professor, speaking with RSF, said that the appearance of his name on the report was "unfortunate" and he was not responsible for its content. He added: "They must have put my name at the foot of the report because, at the time, I was supervising some of the work of these nuns." URGENT NEAR cannot continue without your support. NEAR depends on the generosity of people like you. To make a contribution, please: -
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