This article is very brief, but gives an update on the progress of the tribunal against Augustin Ngirabatware. Ngirabatware was arrested at the request of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Germany in late 2007. The ICTR issued a warrant for his arrest in 2001 on charges related to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Ngirabatware made his first appearance before the ICTR the day after this article was published, and denied all charges against him.

Rwanda genocide suspect moved to Africa

(CNN) -- A former top Rwandan official charged for his alleged role in genocide during the 1990s has been transferred to a U.N. detention facility in Africa.

Augustin Ngirabatware, the country's former minister of planning, was moved from Frankfurt, Germany on Wednesday to a U.N. detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania, according to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. He was arrested in Germany on September 17, 2007.

Ngirabatware is charged with nine counts, including genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the Geneva Conventions.

The tribunal says he will soon make his initial appearance before the court, but did not give a date.

About 830,000 Rwandans, both minority Tutsis and majority Hutus with moderate political views, were killed by Hutu extremists during the 1994 genocide.

The killings began April 7, 1994, the day after a plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot out of the sky with a missile as it prepared to land in the Rwandan capital of Kigali.

Journalists jailed for inciting Rwandan genocide

In June, two journalists in Rwanda were sentenced to life in prison for participating in "hate media" which fueled the 1994 genocide. The media played a huge role in the genocide because of the mass amounts of propaganda spilling over radio and tv, which in turn influenced even children and grandparents to participate in the killing of 800,000 Tutsis. The two journalists, Ferdinand Nahimana and Hassan Ngez, were members of Radio Television Libres des Mille Collines, which was known as Radio Machete. RTLM aided in the genocide by telling and instructing people as to where Tutsis were hiding.

I feel Freedom of Speech should be necessary in Rwanda but there needs to be some responsibility. The propaganda that flooded the media during the genocide is exactly the reason that their media today is so heavily controlled. And although I don't like hearing about journalists being imprisoned because of something they said or wrote about, if they're carelessly using the media to manipulate people then action must be taken.

By Mike Gruber
Rwanda Group

Nzuwonemeye's Hearing to Week

Rwanda: Prosecutor Wants French Writer Convicted

Even over 14 years after the genocides, writers and those in other media outlets continue to be threatened and even some convicted for exercising what we in the United States refer to as freedom of speech. In this article which was posted September 27th prominent French writer, Pierre Pean, was being charged with defamation and incitement for racial hatred in his book "Noires Fureurs, Blancs Menteurs (Black Furies, White Liars)" which was based on the Rwandan genocide.

Pean wrote that the Tutsis had a culture of lies and deceit or were "professionals" in manipulation. He said in his book, published in 2005, that it made investigating Rwanda "an almost impossible task".

Pean is suppose to receive his judgement before the end the year. The prosecution is also requesting that the publication of the judgement appears in three French newspapers.

There are a lot of topics that are written about that may seem offensive or racist to a lot of people. However, an author should be able to speak their mind if they feel some type of way about a subject. People should be able to dislike it or even protest. However, for the author to be prosecuted seems to be cruel and unusual punishment.

By Ashley Mannings

Women to rule Rwanda Parliament

Women to rule Rwanda Parliament

by Rachel Paul

RWANDA - COUNTRY PROFILE

Rwanda- Country Profile

by Rachel Paul

Rwanda's 100 days of Genocide

Rwanda's 100 days of Genocide

by- Rachel Paul

Politics of Rwanda

After its military victory in July 1994, the Rwandan Patriotic Front organized a coalition government loosely based on the 1993 Arusha accords. The National Movement for Democracy and Development – Habyarimana's party that had instigated and implemented the genocidal ideology – along with the CDR (another Hutu extremist party) were banned, with most of its leaders either arrested or in exile. It is not clear whether any Hutu parties are currently allowed in Rwanda. After the 1994 genocide, the RPF installed a single-party "coalition-based" government. Paul Kagame became Vice-President. In 2000, he was elected president of Rwanda by the parliament.


President Paul Kagame in 2007
A new constitution, written by the Kagame government, was adopted by referendum in 2003. The first post-war presidential and legislative elections were held in August and September 2003, respectively. Opposition parties were banned until just before the elections, so no true opposition to the ruling RPF existed. The RPF-led government has continued to promote reconciliation and unity amongst all Rwandans as enshrined in the new constitution that forbids any political activity or discrimination based on race, ethnicity or religion. Right of return to Rwandans displaced between 1959 and 1994, primarily Tutsis, was enshrined in the constitution, but no mention of the return of Hutus that fled Kagame's RPF forces into the Congo in the great refugee crisis of 1994-1998 or subsequently, is made in the constitution. Nevertheless, the constitution guarantees "All persons originating from Rwanda and their descendants shall, upon their request, be entitled to Rwandan nationality" and "No Rwandan shall be banished from the country."

By law, at least a third of the Parliament representation must be female. It is believed that women will not allow the mass killings of the past to be repeated. Rwanda topped a recently conducted global survey on the percentage of women in Parliament with as much as 49 percent female representation, currently the highest in the world.

The Senate has at least 26 members, each with an 8 year term. Eight posts are appointed by the president. 12 are elected representatives of the 11 provinces and the city of Kigali. Four members are designated by the Forum of Political Organizations (a quasi-governmental organization that currently is an arm of the dominant political party); one member is a university lecturer or researcher elected by the public universities; one member is a university lecturer or researcher elected by the private universities. Any past President has permanent membership in the Senate. Under this scheme, up to 12 appointees to the Senate are appointed by the President and his party. The elected members must be approved by the Supreme Court. The 14 Supreme Court members are designated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The Chamber of Deputies has 80 members, each with a 5 year term; 24 posts are reserved for women and are elected by province; 53 posts can be men or women and are also are elected by local elections; 2 posts are elected by the National Youth Council; 1 post is elected by Federation of the Associations of the Disabled.

The President and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies must be from different political parties. The President is elected every 7 years, and may serve a maximum of 2 terms. In 2006, however, the structure of the country was reorganized. It is unclear how this affects current elected representation proportions.

The current Rwandan government, led by Paul Kagame, has been praised by many for establishing security and promoting reconciliation and economic development, but is also criticized by some for being overly militant and opposed to dissent. The country now has many international visitors and is regarded as a safer place for tourists, with only a single isolated mortar attack in early 2007 around Volcanoes National Park near Gisenyi.

With new independent radio stations and other media arising, Rwanda is attempting a free press, but there are reports of journalists disappearing and being apprehended whenever articles question the government. The transmitter for Radio France International was banned by the government in Rwanda in 2006 when it became critical of Kagame and the RPF.

Posted by:- Rachel Paul

Hi, my name is Rachel Paul. I am technically a junior but I will be graduating a year early. My major is journalism and Im doing a minor in English. My focus is on Print Journalism. Im originally Indian but Ive lived in Dubai all my life. I like reading books on countries and politics. I also like to write. I have my own blog if anyones interested in checking it out. ryp5024@blogspot.com

Its just some articles I have written and some which I have gotten published.

Living in the states is a new experience for me and I am enjoying it.

WELCOME TO THE MEDIA MONITORING BLOG

Welcome to the Media Monitoring Blog of media systems around the world. This is an effort by the students of mass media to contribute to the understanding of national media systems. This semester we will be focusing on eight countries:

• Burma
• China
• Croatia
• Iran
• Italy
• Mexico
• Thailand
• Russia

Every week, students who are responsible for each of the countries would post a commentary, analysis, observation, historical fact, quote, video clip, newspaper article, etc concerning the media system on this blog. Most postings would likely to be inspired or prompted by something that has happened, is happening or likely to happen in that particular country.

As we know, a media system consists of many elements and is constantly being influenced by many factors including:

• The Cultural Characteristics (culture, religion, political heritage, etc) of the country
• The Media Philosophies of the country
• Media Law and Regulations in that country
• The various ways of Financing of media and the Ownership of the media
• The issue of Accessibility (related to Distribution) of the media
• News Reporting and Journalistic Norms of the country
• The Import and Export of the Media (related to Diversity of the Media)
• The Audience or the local consumer
• The Media Content itself (print, broadcast, Internet, new media, etc)
• World events, other national media systems, etc

Therefore, we can expect the Media Monitoring Blog to be a holistic and multi-faceted exercise in order to present a clearer picture of the particular media system.

How to navigate the Media Monitoring Blog:
Each posting will be labelled and these labels work as keywords for the reader to search through the blog. You would likely find the following keywords on the sidebar of this Blog:

Italy, Iran, Thailand, China, Russia, Mexico, Burma, Croatia, etc

Media Content, Laws, Population, Culture, Language, Banned, Hugo Chavez, Audience, Radio, Television, Internet, telenovela, Film, Blog,YouTube

Therefore, a reader looking for something related to Youtube being banned in Thailand would look for keywords (located on the siderbar of this Blog) such as:

"Thailand"
"Internet"
"YouTube"

and click on one of these keywords to find the relevant link.

Have fun reading and blogging!

Ming Kuok, LIM
Course Instructor