May 15th, 2012
A
Rwandan community radio presenter is
being held in pre-trial detention for “minimising” the 1994 Tutsi genocide. Habarugira Epaphrodite was arrested last month after confusing the Kinyarwanda words for “victims” and “survivors” whilst reading a news report on ceremonies to mark the 18th anniversary of the genocide on 22 April. The error made it sound as though Epaphrodite condoned the genocide. The presenter was fired from the radio station the following day, and was arrested on 24 April. He has been held in prison since his arrest.
February 4th, 2010
Five people were arrested on 3 February after a group of men assaulted
Victoire Ingabire; her assistant Joseph Ntawangundi was badly beaten in the attack in the capital, Kigali. Ingabire who intends to run for president returned to Rwanda in January after 16 years in the Netherlands. She has been criticised for highlighting the deaths of Hutus in the genocide and for claiming that the current government is dominated by a Tutsi elite. Gregory Mthembu Salter, a research associate at the
South African Institute of International Affairs, said the attack may reflect a need for Rwanda to better uphold freedom of speech.
August 10th, 2009
The Media High Council (MHC) in Rwanda have called for a three-month suspension to local language tabloid, Umuseso, for allegedly going beyond the boundaries of media rules by allegedly likening the current government to the one that was in power in the run-up to the 1994 genocide. Read more
here
