Rwanda’s Twitter Wars

It’s great for getting a heads-up on potential breaking stories or possible follow-up pieces.

But I also have a confession — I am somewhat of a Twitter lurker, happy to stay in the shadows reading other people’s news, thoughts and opinions and I only very rarely exercise my own thumbs to throw out my musings on a particular topic.

Despite constant haranguing from our social media department at eNCA.com I don’t feel the inclination to tweet every passing thought.

No, my tweets are usually well-considered, painstakingly read and reread before I hit the send button.

My topics are almost entirely news related, for, despite the obligatory disclaimer in my profile that all opinions are my own, I firmly believe with the possible exception of my wife, nobody else is reading my tweets purely because they like me.

No, it’s all about my position as the Africa person at eNCA — people read because they are interested in the news topics I put out there.

My current trip to Rwanda has given me the perfect opportunity to share thoughts, photos and articles on the commemoration of 20 years since the start of the genocide.

The tweets are also a perfect way to get people to the eNCA.com website, where our coverage is being posted.

So I have being sending tweets through whenever I have had the chance.

I was rather surprised then when on Friday an individual going by the name Francois Gatete reacted bitterly to my coverage.

He accused me having anti-Kagame sentiments and said I was trying to politicise the genocide.

His displeasure relates to articles I wrote questioning the government of Paul Kagame’s success in trying to reconcile the country.

Mr Gatete appears to be a Rwandan software developer, despite calling himself a farmer on his Twitter profile.

His objections to my reporting highlights just one of the many challenges faced by journalists in Rwanda.

In a country still trying to heal from the horrors of its past the Rwandan government and its supporters do not take kindly to being questioned.

While Article 34 of Rwanda’s constitution stipulates, “freedom of the press and freedom of information are recognised and guaranteed by the state”, there are other broader laws that can be and are used to restrict the media.

According to Freedom House, an independent watchdog organisation, Rwanda’s media laws have strict regulations, accreditation requirements and licensing procedures, which are not unusual and similar to other media laws in other countries. But what is different is they also have laws that require journalists to reveal their sources to the government.

There is also a law prohibiting “ethnic, regional, racial, religious, language or other divisive characteristics”, as well as laws forbidding defaming the head of state or public officials.

The punishment for any of these crimes is a lengthy jail time and fines. Freedom House believes these laws are vague and sweeping.

Rwandan journalists face arrest and prosecution as well as harassment and scrutiny.

Many who question the government have fled into exile or have been imprisoned.

Agnes Uwimana Nkusi, the editor of bimonthly Umurabyo and Saidati Mukakibibi, a reporter with the same paper, were found guilty of attacking state security, defaming President Kagame, as well as minimising the genocide and inciting division.

This was for articles and editorials the defunct paper published about allegations of government corruption. They were sentenced to a collective 17 years in prison. The judiciary did reduce the sentences subsequently and Mukakibibi was released last year and Nkusi is expected to be released in a few months.

Foreign journalists are also targeted. In February this year Sonia Rolley, a Radio France Internationale journalist who was based in Kigali until she was expelled in 2006, was being harassed for months on Twitter by a person using the alias of Richard Goldston (perhaps a reference to Judge Richard Goldstone, who headed the UN International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda).

Fellow journalist Steve Terrill at one point demanded that Goldson stop his “misogynistic harassment”.

The response to Terrill was then sent using President Kagame’s official Twitter account, sparking allegations that somebody close to the president was in fact Goldston.

The presidency released a tweet saying Goldston was a junior employee, acting on his own, though it is unclear how a junior would get access to the president’s Twitter account.

A month later when Terrill arrived in Kigali to report on the build-up to the genocide commemorations, he was detained at the airport and deported.

Earlier this week Reporters without Borders released its annual Press Freedom Index and Rwanda ranked 162 out of 180 countries.

The government responded in a local newspaper by saying Reporters without Borders does not fully understand what is happening in Rwanda and the ranking was not a true reflection of press freedom in the country.

But Reporters without Borders disagrees.

“The Rwandan government often responds to charges of blocking information by portraying itself as the target of malicious international groups that secretly wage what it calls a Blame Rwanda campaign,” said Cléa Kahn-Sriber, head of the Reporters Without Borders Africa desk said in a statement.

“President Kagame needs to understand that people can use legitimate arguments to criticise his government without questioning the very foundations of the Rwandan state. How will his country be able to rebuild its social fabric when raising even slightly sensitive subjects are forbidden?”

So, my message to Mr Gatete and others who might feel the media is somehow trying to drag Rwanda down, is that a free media is one of the cornerstones of any democracy, journalists questioning the actions of governments are not unpatriotic dissidents, but rather they are the ones who are the watchdogs of society and they are the ones who will guard against another genocide.

SOurce: http://www.enca.com/