Reporters without Borders urges EU to blacklist Rwanda

Reporters Without Borders in Rwanda have called upon the European Union and other donors to suspend financial support towards next month's general elections citing crackdown on media freedom in the country.
This follows the arrest of several members of Kigali's independent tabloid Umurabyo on Monday.

Mr Saidati Mukakibibi was detained by Rwandan police on charges of defamation, inciting public disorder and ethnic division. The charges stem from an article published in the newspaper comparing President Paul Kagame and his government to Adolf Hitler in the Nazi Germany.

Mr Mukakibibi's arrest came just days after the tabloid's owner and editor, Ms Agnes Uwimana Nkusi, was detained on similar charges.

In 2007, ms Nkusi served a one-year prison sentence for sectarianism and defamation. The editor has been in detention since July 8, and has not yet been produced in court.

International observers have accused President Kagame and the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front party of suppressing opposition groups and the media in order to secure re-election in the August polls, a claim President Kagame has denied.
According to the Research Director for Reporters Without Borders, Ms Gilles Lordet, the international community has become an accomplice to the repression by providing aid to the Rwandan government.

"The situation and the conditions are not there for fair and honest elections in Rwanda," Mr Lordet said. "We saw that through the pressure that exists on the journalists and the violence against journalists. We do not think that the conditions are fulfilled to have regular elections in Rwanda and that, in a way, the donors are just supporting this situation."

The Umurabyo arrests are the latest of several incidents that concern Reporters Without Borders.

In April this year, Rwanda’s High Media Council suspended the activities of the two leading opposition publications, Umuseso and Umuvugizi, accusing them of publishing "information that endangers public order."
Rwandan authorities received further condemnation when the deputy editor of Umuvugizi, Jean-Leonard Rugambage, was killed by gunmen last month outside his home.