W(h)ither free expression in post-genocide Rwanda?
At the national level, the Rwandan government has enacted laws prohibiting "divisionism", "sectarianism", and "genocide ideology"—broadly defined offences that purportedly penalize hate speech but are chiefly used to suppress critics of Kagame and the RPF. Journalists and political opponents have been threatened with, censored by, and in some cases convicted of such charges under Rwanda's 2009 Media Law and a 2008 law against genocide ideology.
- • Agnes Nkusi Uwimana, editor of Umurabyo newspaper: Found guilty of genocide ideology, divisionism, defamation, and threatening state security, and sentenced to 17 years in prison in February 2011 for writing an article that was critical of government policies and accused Kagame and senior government officials of corruption. The prosecution alleged Uwimana's article "incited the people against an elected government."
- • Victoire Ingabire, opposition leader: Arrested in 2010 for drawing attention to the exclusion of Hutu genocide victims while making a speech at a genocide memorial centre. She was subsequently tried under six charges, including genocide ideology and divisionism, and while the court initially found her guilty of conspiracy and genocide denial, she was later also convicted of "spreading false rumours intended to incite the public to rise up against the state."
When discussing free expression in Rwanda, it is difficult to skirt facts about the role Rwandan media played in abetting the 1994 genocide. The domestic media campaign that propagated hate and violence against Tutsis and their allies has been internationally condemned. In December 2008 the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda found three senior media officials guilty of genocide, incitement to genocide, conspiracy, crimes against humanity, extermination and persecution. Among them was the chief editor of a newspaper that published the notorious "Hutu Ten Commandments", which promoted brutal forms of gender-based violence against female Tutsis.
Mounting international scrutiny over the absence of free expression in Rwanda forced Kagame's government to draft amendments to its national media laws, which came into force in March 2013 along with the country's first access to information act.
Though encouraging, these legal reforms should not overshadow the government's continued disregard for free expression of political opponents in and outside Rwanda. Domestic and foreign journalists still face harassment from the state months after the revised media law was enacted, and many continue to flee the country to escape intimidation and threats to their well-being.
Check out these resources to learn more
- • The Globe and Mail—"Assassination in Africa: Inside the plots to kill Rwanda's dissidents" by Geoffrey York and Judi Rever
- • TIME—"Q&A: Rwandan President Paul Kagame" by Alex Perry
- • The New York Times—"Room for Debate: An Autocrat, but Still an Improvement?"
- • Human Rights Watch—Rwanda: Repression Across Borders
- • UNDP—Human Development Report: Rwanda
- • Amnesty International—Rwanda: Safer to Stay Silent: The Chilling Effect of Rwanda's Laws on 'Genocide Ideology' and 'Sectarianism'
- • A Thousand Hills: Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It by Stephen Kinzer
- • We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch
- • Remaking Rwanda: State Building and Human Rights after Mass Violence edited by Scott Straus and Lars Waldorf (includes "Limitations to Political Reform: The Undemocratic Nature of Transition in Rwanda" by Timothy Longman and "Instrumentalizing Genocide: The RPF's Campaign against 'Genocide Ideology'" by Lars Waldorf, both of which were used as resources for this article)
Francine Navarro is a Research and Publications Intern at CJFE.
Posted by: Nzinink <nzinink@yahoo.com>
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