(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is appalled to learn that Major Pierre Buyoya’s government has ordered the Burundian army to treat journalists as legitimate military targets. On 9 September 1999, Buyoya’s defence minister, Colonel Alfred Nkurunziza, said in a speech broadcast on state radio that the army should consider all journalists as enemies, and therefore legitimate targets, […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is appalled to learn that Major Pierre Buyoya’s government
has ordered the Burundian army to treat journalists as legitimate military
targets.
On 9 September 1999, Buyoya’s defence minister, Colonel Alfred Nkurunziza,
said in a speech broadcast on state radio that the army should consider all
journalists as enemies, and therefore legitimate targets, if they entered
the Bujumbura Rurale province near the capital, where the army is fighting
ethnic Hutu rebels.
Addressing his remarks to army commanders, the defense minister singled out
Radio France Internationale (RFI), a Paris-based station popular in
Francophone Africa, for particular criticism. According to journalists in
Burundi, Colonel Nkurunziza said: “That radio (RFI) … is openly supporting
the rebels. When you see journalists here you [should] consider them as
enemies, as rebels.”
A total of four Burundian journalists and one South African journalist have
already been killed in Burundi since the outbreak of civil war in October
1993. The present threat appears to target all journalists who have been
critical of Major Buyoya’s government. Some journalists working for
international news organisations have already expressed fears that they may
become targets.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
grave violation of the right to freedom of expression, a universal right
that His Excellency’s government is legally obliged to respect under
international treaties to which Burundi is a signatory
threats are publicly repudiated, and to guarantee all journalists in Burundi
their right to report on both sides of the current conflict
Appeals To
His Excellency Major Pierre Buyoya
Presidence de la Republique
P.O. Box 1870
Bujumbura, Burundi
Fax: +257 227 490
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
