MHC to support families of journalists killed during the Genocide

The Media High Council (MHC) will support the families of the journalists who were killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. This was disclosed by Patrice Mulama, MHC Executive Secretary, after briefing the media on the council’s findings on the number of journalists who were killed during the genocide. Mulama said the move will be under the regulatory body’s social responsibility progamme. “We want to come up with something in conjunction with other media organisations as we identify the families which are mostly in need of support,” said Mulama. “We will collaborate with the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide and IBUKA, to agree on what to provide, it could be shelter or something else.” He said that the support will come after establishing the final list of the journalists killed, which he said, 90 percent has been obtained so far. The available list of slain journalists was complied by Reporters Without Borders in 1995 and according to Mulama, is contested after it was found that it contains victims who were not journalists. The list indicates 50 victims. Mulama said the revised list will be released in two weeks.According to the MHC, the move was inspired by various reports and discussions with members of the press and the general public who called for further studies on the media’s role during the Genocide. The MHC has been consulting journalists who were in practice at the time and connected us to victims’ relatives in an effort of the finding the true beneficiaries before publication. The aim of the list will be used by the media fraternity to honour their fallen colleagues. The new research comprises of the victims of the period from when the liberation struggle began in 1990 to July 1994, when the RPF stopped the Genocide. Ends