29 April 2009
Government suspends BBC radio service for "unacceptable speech" in
programme on genocide
SOURCE: Media Institute, Nairobi
(Media Institute/IFEX) - On 25 April 2009, the Rwandan government suspended
the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) local-language radio service
in the country saying it threatened the country's national reconciliation
by hosting people with views negating the 1994 genocide.
A press statement released by Information Minister and government
spokesperson Louise Mushikiwabo attibuted the closure of the BBC's
Kinyarwanda service to "unacceptable speech" on the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
She pointed out that the BBC's broadcasts, especially its local vernacular
programme "Imvo n'Imvano" (Analysis of the Source of a Problem), had,
despite repeated written and verbal protests from government, consistently
showed total disregard for Rwanda's unity and reconciliation efforts.
"This action by government was prompted by one of their programme called
'Imvo n'Imvano' this Saturday morning which was previewed last night (24
April)," Mushikiwabo told the state radio.
The suspension followed the station's broadcast of a promotion of a
forthcoming feature of its weekly program "Imvo n'Imvano" 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. It
also included a man of mixed Hutu-Tutsi ethnicity questioning why the
government had refused to allow relatives of those killed by the Rwanda
Patriotic Front (RPF) - led by President Paul Kagame that took over the
country and stopped the genocide - to mourn for their loved ones.
The minister said she contacted the BBC on the issue expecting them to
reconsider "after hearing from us, but the broadcaster took no heed,
leaving the government with no option but to take decisive action to save
millions of Rwandans from the past of genocide ideology."
"The divisive and disparaging nature of these programs as they stand today
is no longer acceptable, in light of the hard-earned peaceful coexistence
of the people of Rwanda over the last 15 years," the statement read, adding
that the government can no longer stand anyone who tries to create the
impression that there was double genocide (one by the Hutu and the other by
the Tutsi-led RPF in a bid to end it) in 1994.
The 1994 genocide mainly targeting the minority Tutsis claimed about a
million people in just 100 days. But critics of President Paul Kagame's
government and his ruling RPF, especially those claiming to belong to the
Hutu class in exile, have always contended that several Hutus were also
killed in revenge by RPF soldiers during the 1994 mayhem. They assert that
there were therefore two genocides, one of Tutsis by extreme Hutus and
another by Tutsis, probably acting in revenge.
Rwanda has since banned the use of ethnic labels and established stringent
laws against divisionism and "genocide ideology" - a reference to those who
argue that the RPF is guilty of genocide too. Last year, the parliament
passed a harsh anti-genocide law, and the current controversial media law
is the latest of the government's measures to bury the ghost of genocide.
For more information, see: http://www.eastafricapress.net
For further information, contact Director David Makali or Programs Director
Kodi Barth, Media Institute, P.O. Box 46356, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya, tel:
+254 20 253 372, mobile: +254 720 103 693, fax: +254 20 252 373, e-mail:
mediainst@wananchi.com, Internet: http://www.eastafricapress.net
Comments (1)
Actually there was no double genocide,those who say that are the ones who argue thatand their fellow friends.
Thanks
Posted by innocent | May 1, 2009 6:34 PM
Posted on May 1, 2009 18:34