Charles Kabonero, a Rwandan newspaper editor who recently fled his country to escape constant harassment, criminal charges, and threats to his security, has been named the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism’s International Journalist in Residence for the 2009-2010 academic year.

Kabonero, 29, is managing editor of the Rwandan Independent Media Group (RIMEG), which publishes Newsline, Rwanda Champion, and Umuseso, Rwanda’s leading independent paper. He took over the reigns of RIMEG after his predecessor, Robert Sebufirira, fled Rwanda in 2004 following a series of death threats. RIMEG’s publications are known for their critical reporting on sensitive topics such as corruption, nepotism, and embezzlement within the Rwandan Defense Forces and the ruling RPF party. Kabonero has struggled to keep the operation afloat despite enormous financial and political pressures.

In 2004, Kabonero was tried on criminal charges of defamation and “divisionism” in connection with an article that accused a parliamentarian of plotting to seize power. He was acquitted on divisionism charges and only fined for defamation. He was tried again on criminal defamation charges in June 2007, when he published an investigative report alleging that a powerful businessman embezzled funds, but the prosecution eventually dropped the case.

More recently the media group has faced enormous financial pressure since authorities stripped it and other publications deemed critical of the government of vital advertising revenue. In 2008, top officials also accused RIMEG, which has benefited from grants from international organizations and aid programs, of being in collusion with “external negative forces.” Kabonero was labeled as a threat to state security and told he would be “dealt with properly.”

These comments made Kabonero uneasy but in April 2009 he grew more insecure when he was subjected to a heightened level of surveillance, including a startling incident in which security agents burst into his office while he was meeting with a British embassy official and took photos of them together. He then checked with his government sources who informed him there was talk among official circles of targeting him. In early June, Kabonero fled to Uganda.

Prior to becoming managing editor of RIMEG, Kabonero, worked for two years as senior political reporter at several of its publications and spent one year as a reporter for Rwanda Herald Newspaper. He was born as a refugee in Mbarara, Uganda in 1980 and returned to Rwanda in 1998.

Kabonero has a well established reputation among the freedom of expression community for his dedication to keeping RIMEG and independent media alive in Rwanda, where the Kagame administration has sought to quash critical voices under the of banner of unity. RIMEG runs on a shoestring budget and has seen at least six staff members go into exile in the last five years due to threats.

The International Journalist in Residence program is an initiative between the CUNY J-School and The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). It is designed to establish links between the American journalism community and international journalists forced to leave their countries. Kabonero’s presence will give J-School students a personal perspective on the plight of journalists for whom freedom of the press is a matter of daily struggle.

Under the program, Kabonero will attend classes and get to use the J-School’s research and technological facilities. He succeeds Alaa Majeed, who worked as a translator, reporter, and producer in her native country of Iraq for Knight Ridder/McClatchy’s Baghdad bureau, PBS, Al Jazeera International, The Christian Science Monitor, The Nation, and NPR.