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Rwanda

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From the Communiqué

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"HATE MEDIA" TRIAL ENDS IN CONVICTIONS

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has sentenced three journalists to jail terms of between 35 years and life imprisonment for inciting genocide in 1994, Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) writes.

REPORTER MURDERED

In Rwanda, Jean-Marie Hategekimana, a reporter for the government weekly "Imvaho," was murdered on the night of 11 to 12 March in a bar in Kigali, says Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF). Hategekimana had been talking with three individuals including an official from the Ibuka group of genocide survivors' associations when two men burst into the bar and attempted to rob them. They shot all four individuals, who were declared dead on arrival at hospital, says RSF. Hategekimana was buried on 14 March. There is no indication as to whether he was killed because of his work as a journalist.

NEW PRESS LAW RAISES CONCERNS

The legacy of the Rwandan media's role in fueling hatred during the 1994 genocide "should not be used as an excuse to reduce opposition voices to silence," concludes Reporters sans frontières (RSF) in a report released last week. RSF recently returned from a visit to Rwanda in which it examined the country's press freedom conditions.

DEATH PENALTY PROPOSED FOR JOURNALISTS WHO INCITE HATRED

Rwanda is considering introducing the death penalty for local journalists who incite racial hatred, according to the United Nations Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN). The country's parliament is currently debating a media bill that would impose a minimum jail term of 20 years or even death for any local journalist found guilty of using the mass media to incite genocide. Any foreign journalist who incites the public to commit genocide would be banned from entering or staying in Rwanda. The bill also proposes that journalists be compelled to reveal their sources.