Accessed: 28-April-2009
APA-Kigali (Rwanda) The Rwandan government should immediately reverse its suspension of the Kinyarwanda radio service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Human Rights Watch said Tuesday in a protest statement, expressing growing media repression and casting doubts on the country´s commitment to free speech.
The Rwandan Minister of Information and government spokesperson, Louise Mushikiwabo, last Saturday order the suspension of BBC programmes in Rwanda, justifying that the United Kingdom government´s mouth-piece programs especially those in Kinyarwanda, amounted to a "blatant denial of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi of Rwanda" and called it "unacceptable. "
The UK government is the major single donor to the Rwandan government with more than 60 million pounds sterling injected annually as direct budget support. Over one million people were killed during the 1994 genocide in just 100 days targeting mainly the minority Tutsis. It ended with the military victory of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel group founded by Rwandan exiles and led by Paul Kagame, now the president.
Since the genocide, the Kagame-led government has sought to portray an image of national unity in Rwanda and it allows no public references in any form to Hutu or Tutsi ethnicity.
"This suspension of the BBC reflects the Rwandan government´s growing crackdown on free speech," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch in a statement also availed to APA. "If Rwanda is truly committed to the fundamental right of free expression, it should allow differing viewpoints on genocide issues and related government policies."
The world rights body adds that the BBC´s suspension was part of a broader pattern of increasing government interference in the Rwandan media, including threats to suspend major media outlets such as the BBC and Voice of America and the banning of independent Rwandan journalists from government news conferences.
The BBC suspension on April 25, 2009 occurred after the station broadcast a coming attraction for its weekly program Imvo n´imvano ("Analysis of the Source of a Problem") that was to include a debate on forgiveness among Rwandans after the genocide. The advance segment included comments by a former presidential candidate, Faustin Twagiramungu, opposing the government´s attempt to have the
country´s entire Hutu population apologize for the genocide, since not all Hutu people had killed Tutsi or otherwise participated in the genocide.
"Rwanda´s targeting of the media, including the suspension of the BBC, calls into question Rwanda´s respect for press freedom," said Gagnon. "With presidential elections scheduled for 2010, it is critical that the government guarantees free and fair discussion of issues, failing which Rwanda cannot be viewed by it partners as a thriving democracy."
SN/daj/APA
2009-04-28
APA-Kigali (Rwanda) The Rwandan government should immediately reverse its suspension of the Kinyarwanda radio service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Human Rights Watch said Tuesday in a protest statement, expressing growing media repression and casting doubts on the country´s commitment to free speech.
The Rwandan Minister of Information and government spokesperson, Louise Mushikiwabo, last Saturday order the suspension of BBC programmes in Rwanda, justifying that the United Kingdom government´s mouth-piece programs especially those in Kinyarwanda, amounted to a "blatant denial of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi of Rwanda" and called it "unacceptable. "
The UK government is the major single donor to the Rwandan government with more than 60 million pounds sterling injected annually as direct budget support. Over one million people were killed during the 1994 genocide in just 100 days targeting mainly the minority Tutsis. It ended with the military victory of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel group founded by Rwandan exiles and led by Paul Kagame, now the president.
Since the genocide, the Kagame-led government has sought to portray an image of national unity in Rwanda and it allows no public references in any form to Hutu or Tutsi ethnicity.
"This suspension of the BBC reflects the Rwandan government´s growing crackdown on free speech," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch in a statement also availed to APA. "If Rwanda is truly committed to the fundamental right of free expression, it should allow differing viewpoints on genocide issues and related government policies."
The world rights body adds that the BBC´s suspension was part of a broader pattern of increasing government interference in the Rwandan media, including threats to suspend major media outlets such as the BBC and Voice of America and the banning of independent Rwandan journalists from government news conferences.
The BBC suspension on April 25, 2009 occurred after the station broadcast a coming attraction for its weekly program Imvo n´imvano ("Analysis of the Source of a Problem") that was to include a debate on forgiveness among Rwandans after the genocide. The advance segment included comments by a former presidential candidate, Faustin Twagiramungu, opposing the government´s attempt to have the
country´s entire Hutu population apologize for the genocide, since not all Hutu people had killed Tutsi or otherwise participated in the genocide.
"Rwanda´s targeting of the media, including the suspension of the BBC, calls into question Rwanda´s respect for press freedom," said Gagnon. "With presidential elections scheduled for 2010, it is critical that the government guarantees free and fair discussion of issues, failing which Rwanda cannot be viewed by it partners as a thriving democracy."
SN/daj/APA
2009-04-28
Comments
Post a Comment