(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced renewed concern over the declining press freedom situation in Rwanda, where journalists who are critical of the government are often harassed. The independent weekly “Umuseso”, the target of arrests and confiscations in the past, is now threatened with temporary closure. Moreover, one of its reporters has had to flee the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced renewed concern over the declining press freedom situation in Rwanda, where journalists who are critical of the government are often harassed.
The independent weekly “Umuseso”, the target of arrests and confiscations in the past, is now threatened with temporary closure. Moreover, one of its reporters has had to flee the country because the paper refused to reveal its sources.
“It is pointless for the regime to go on about its commitment to a free and diverse press if the reality is quite different,” the organisation said. “Umuseso’s refusal to reveal its sources is no reason to close it down, even provisionally.”
“If President Paul Kagame’s government wants to continue boasting about its support for press freedom, it must give journalists guarantees that they will be able to work safely,” RSF added.
On 18 August 2004, at the information minister’s request, Rwanda’s High Council of the Press (HCP) called on “Umuseso”‘s editor to “acknowledge his mistakes,” publish corrections and reveal his sources for a series of controversial articles accusing the national assembly vice-president of plotting to seize power.
On 13 September, after “Umuseso”‘s editorial staff refused to comply, the HCP formally asked the Information Ministry to suspend the newspaper for four months. The ministry has not yet responded.
Meanwhile, on 26 August, “Umuseso” reporter Tharcisse Semana, one of the controversial articles’ authors, fled the country after being repeatedly followed and harassed. He told RSF that on the night of 25 August, he was followed by several unidentified persons who threatened him with violence and tried unsuccessfully to steal a document from him that would have been compromising for a senior government official.
Semana managed to leave Rwanda the same night and is now in Uganda, where he remains concerned for his safety should he return to his country. Previously the target of threats because of his coverage of former Hutu president Pasteur Bizimungu’s trial, Semana told RSF he never spent two nights in a row in the same location until he left the country.
