UN Court in Tanzania Urges Regional Media to Promote Peace

Text of report by Lusekelo Philemon entitled “EA media urged to avoid hatred” published by Tanzanian newspaper The Guardian on Sunday website on 13 April

To avert a recurrence of events fuelled by the media in Rwanda in 1994 the Arusha-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has appealed to the media fraternity in east African region to refuse to be used to ignite hatred and killings.

The media in Rwanda was brought before ICTR for fuelling the 1994- Rwanda genocide, a crime against humanity that caused deaths of hundreds of thousands of people with many more others becoming refugees.

Presenting a paper on Media Practice-Addressing Conflicts, Instability and their Prevention from an Eastern African Perspective at the second East African Media Summit in Dar es Salaam on Friday [11 April], ICTR Senior Legal Adviser, Roland Amoussouga said what happened in Rwanda should be a lesson to media people, stressing that media’s role lay in promoting peace in the region.

Giving a practical example on what happened in Rwanda, Amoussouga who is also ICTR chief of external relations and strategic planning said three journalists-Ferdinand Nahimana, Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza and Hassan Ngeze used their media houses to fuel genocide in 1994.

The media should understand that the impact of a conflict in a country spreads all over the other countries in the region, he said. Ignatius Kabagambe, the managing editor of Rwanda’s New Times, said ethics was the cornerstone to journalism.

“I would encourage governments in EAC to strengthen their national media councils that will stand for ethics,” he said.

In his key note address on role of the media in addressing the causes of conflict, instability and their prevention: EAC dimension, a Tanzanian seasoned journalist, Jenerali Ulimwengu, challenged the media to create more space for all people regardless of their religious, racial, ethnic and political affiliations.

He also urged journalists to avoid rabble-rousing words when writing or airing for public consumption. “A word is like a bullet as it directly penetrates into the society,” Ulimwengu said.

Originally published by The Guardian on Sunday website, Dar es Salaam in English 13 Apr 08.

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