Background Briefing

IV. Media Coverage

As in past incidents, Rwandan media gave wide coverage to the killing of Murasira, but far less to the killings of the eight other people, whose names and ages were rarely cited. Several reports in media close to the government failed to mention the reprisal killings, and in one the slaughter of the unarmed victims, mostly women and children, was described as a “skirmish.”46 An exclusive focus on the genocide survivors as victims may increase their fear while the failure to report as extensively on the killings of other Rwandans may also contribute to a sense that any abuse against them will pass unnoticed.  Such media coverage amplifies the impact of inadequate official reaction to the reprisal killings and the alleged extrajudicial execution and may suggest to some Rwandans that their lives are valued less than the lives of others.

 



46 See, for example, Ntambara, “Genocide Survivor hacked to Death,” The New Times; R. Mukombozi, “Kagame Warns on Killings,” The New Times, November 28, 2006; Paul Ntambara, “Tackle Genocide Survivors, Witnesses’ Protection Issue,” The New Times, December 7, 2006; BBC Radio, Kinyarwanda service, 6:30 p.m. broadcast, November 24, 2006; and H. Mwiholeze, "Gruesome Murder of Young Man a Pattern of Murders of Genocide Survivors," Focus, Kigali, November 27 - December 3, 2006.