André Sibomana (1954–1998) was a

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

n priest and journalist and an exemplary figure in the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

. He was also a human rights activist and a founder of the Rwandan Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Person and of Public Liberties, which is there to record information on all human rights violations occurring in Rwanda and publish them in a report. From 1988 André Sibomana was editor of the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

newspaper ''Kinyamateka'', owned by the

Episcopal Conference An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The fir ...

, which was the only private newspaper in Rwanda and circulated widely in the Rwandan parishes. Sibomana was committed to true investigative journalism, but he lived in a State that didn't guarantee freedom of information. Since he published independent reports that proved extremely embarrassing for the authorities, he was tried several times in 1990, but in vain as he had the proofs of what he published. Thus, Sibomana was one of the few independent voices in

in the period leading up to the genocide. When the latter broke out, he realised he'd soon become a target of the extremists. He escaped from the capital

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali is a relativ ...

and he used his position to save the lives of many others. "For many people in Rwanda, refraining from murder was, in itself, an act of resistance. Several peasant farmers were killed because they refused to strike the corpses of their Tutsi neighbours. There are courageous and upright men who were not able or did not dare to come to the aid of their fellows and now live with remorse for having failed to do so. There is no merit in my having rescued a few people, because it was in my power to do so. My position gave me a better chance than others," Sibomana explains on page 86 of the interview he gave t
Laure Guibert and Hervé Deguine
in 1996 in Israel, which was published later. After the war, André Sibomana returned to his job as editor of ''Kinyamateka'' and he supported reconciliation until he died in 1998. He adopted seven orphans. In 2000, Sibomana was named as one of the

International Press Institute International Press Institute (IPI) is a global organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of press freedom and the improvement of journalism practices. The institution was founded by 34 editors from 15 countries at Columbia Universit ...

's 50

World Press Freedom Heroes International Press Institute World Press Freedom Heroes are individuals who have been recognized by the Vienna-based International Press Institute for "significant contributions to the maintenance of press freedom and freedom of expression" and " ...

of the past 50 years.

References

André Sibomana, J’accuse per il Rwanda, published by Gruppo Abele, Turin, 1998 See also Italy for Rwanda, 1994–2004, published by Teatri 90, Milan, 2004

External links

Sibomana on Gardens of the Righteous Worldwide Committee - Gariwo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sibomana, Andre 1954 births 1998 deaths Rwandan activists Rwandan journalists 20th-century Rwandan Roman Catholic priests 20th-century journalists Roman Catholic bishops of Kabgayi