10 December 2003

"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.

Ferdinand Nahimana, Hassan Ngueze and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza were convicted for their role in the 1994 genocide in which up to 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred. Nahimana, a founder of Radio-Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), and Ngueze, a former editor of the magazine "Kangura," were sentenced to life imprisonment. Barayagwiza received a 35-year jail term.

Life imprisonment is the most severe penalty that can be handed down by the ICTR. The decision comes three years after charges were first laid against the three men, all of whom pleaded not guilty.

In the months before and during the genocide, RTLM and "Kangura" incited Rwandans to hunt down Tutsis and moderate Hutus and murder them, RSF says. They listed the names and addresses of targeted individuals and in some cases, urged listeners and readers to "eliminate the enemy."

In January 1994, Ngeze wrote in "Kangura": "What isn't being said to the inyenzi ("cockroaches" - the media's term for Tutsis) is that if they raise their heads again, it won't be necessary to go and fight the enemy remaining in the bush. Instead, we will start by purging the internal enemy . . . they
will disappear."
Nahimana and Barayagwiza helped establish RTLM and it was Nahimana who allegedly organised the radio station's staff to incite genocide, RSF says.

It is widely believed that RTLM played a critical role in the genocide. Canadian general Romeo Dallaire, commander of the UN peacekeeping operation in Rwanda during the genocide, told the BBC: "Simply jamming [the] broadcasts and replacing them with messages of peace and reconciliation would have had a significant impact on the course of events."

Visit these links:

- IFEX members' reports on Rwanda: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/40/

- RSF:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=6437&Valider=OK
- ICTR: http://www.ictr.org/

- BBC report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3257748.stm



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Also from the Communiqué, 10 December 2003

INTERNATIONAL: IFEX MEMBERS PROMOTE FREE EXPRESSION AT INFORMATION SOCIETY SUMMIT 10 December 2003 INTERNATIONAL: WIPC CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON WRITERS AND IMPUNITY 10 December 2003 BURMA: DEATH SENTENCED FOR JOURNALIST "DISTURBING" 10 December 2003 INTERNATIONAL: IFJ LAUNCHES PUBLIC BROADCASTING CAMPAIGN 10 December 2003 SOUTH KOREA: PUBLIC BROADCASTER THREATENED, SAYS IFJ 10 December 2003 CROATIA: CROATIAN LIBRARIANS PROMOTE ACCESS TO INFORMATION 10 December 2003 INTERNATIONAL: SEMINAR EXAMINES MEDIA'S ROLE IN PEACE-BUILDING 10 December 2003 INTERNATIONAL: CHECHEN ACTIVIST WINS 2004 MARTIN ENNALS AWARD 10 December 2003 INTERNATIONAL: Commonwealth Survey Shows Right-to-Information Deficit 10 December 2003

Rwanda

Proposed media law fails to safeguard free press 5 January 2012 Three journalists arrested in the span of a week 16 November 2011 Supreme Court urged to overturn journalists' convictions 1 November 2011 Rugambage murder trial verdict raises more questions than it answers, says RSF 26 September 2011 Newspaper receives threats, suspends publication 31 August 2011 See all alerts: Rwanda


Central and Eastern Africa

SOUTH SUDAN: Journalist assaulted in Parliament 9 February 2012 UGANDA: Court acquits “Daily Monitor” editors 8 February 2012 DJIBOUTI: Radio journalist threatened and tortured for 24 hours 3 February 2012 KENYA: WiPC interview with Robert Wanyonyi on witnessing and reporting on crime 1 February 2012


 
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