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RADIO STATION WORKS FOR RECONCILIATION

In Burundi, where ethnic conflict in the 1990s led to the killing of at least 300,000 civilians, reconciliation is a long slow process. A few brave radio stations are working to overcome that legacy of violence, including Radio Publique Africaine (RPA), reports Dangerous Assignments, the magazine of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Nicknamed the "Voice of the People," RPA has a staff of 35, half of whom are former government soldiers, Tutsi militiamen or Hutu rebels. Now trained as journalists, they hold pencils and paper at editorial meetings, rather than the guns and bullets they used in previous years to kill each other. RPA's founder, Alexis Sinduhije, says he wanted to assemble such a mix of journalists to "humanize relations between the ethnic groups and set an example of former enemies working together to build peace."

RPA was launched in 2001 after Sinduhije finally convinced donors to provide funding, writes Aloys Niyoyita. Many had been reluctant to support media in Burundi following the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda in which some radio stations had played a role in inciting violence against Tutsis.

Since it began broadcasting, RPA has benefited rural aid workers and farmers, who say outlying provinces have become less isolated as a result of the radio station's broadcasts. They also say the station's call-in shows give them an outlet to "talk about our lives and our daily suffering."

RPA has also done investigations into politically sensitive issues, including the November 2001 murder of a World Health Organization official that was believed to be linked to government corruption, notes Niyoyita. And it has raised the hackles of the Burundian government for its coverage of the civil war, airing an interview with a spokesman from the rebel National Liberation Front in 2003.

Read the full story on CPJ's website: http://www.cpj.org

Visit these links:

- A Profile of Alexis Sinduhije: http://www.sfcg.org/sfcg/stories/sfcg_adrien.html
- Peace Radio in Burundi: http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/dossiers/html/burundi-p.html
- CPJ Report on Burundi: http://www.cpj.org/attacks03/africa03/burundi.html
- IRIN Radio: http://www.irinnews.org/radio/aboutradio.asp