A group of Rwandan journalists has formed a coalition known as Alliance of Journalists for Promotion of Human Rights in Rwanda (AJPHR), The New Times has learnt.

The reporters who claim to know a few laws that protect persons in their particular domain say the main purpose of the alliance is the promotion of human rights in Rwanda.

Fidèle Gakire, the alliance coordinator, told The New Times that they are still working on being internationally recognised. 
"The alliance has been in existence for about a year now although we are still working on making it internationally recognised,” he said.

Gakire claims that they came up with the idea after seeing that the respect of human rights has a link to the profession of journalism and the history and role of some fellow journalists during the 1994 Genocide.

He went on to say that they are still encouraging more journalists to join the alliance so that they can collectively address human rights issues.

"We are calling upon more journalists to join the coalition and it only requires Rwf 5000 and your particulars as a journalist,” Gakire added.

However, when The New Times contacted the Executive Secretary of the High Council of the Press, Patrice Mulama, he claimed not to know about the Alliance’s existence but promised to find out about it.

"Well, I have not heard about the alliance and I can not deny its existence. However, I am going to try and find out about its existence,” he said.

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