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Amnesty Urges Rwanda Ease Restrictions on Freedom of Expression

   VOA News  June 04, 2011

   [1]Amnesty International is calling on Rwanda to ease restrictions on
   free speech.
   The rights group says the months leading up to last year's presidential
   election were marked by a clampdown on freedom of expression.
   Amnesty is calling on Rwanda to allow opposition politicians,
   journalists and human rights activists to express their views without
   fear for their safety.
   Amnesty also wants Rwanda to revise laws on genocide ideology and
   divisionism, which the rights group says Rwanda uses to limit free
   speech.
   The laws were put in place after Rwanda's 1994 genocide, when extremist
   Hutus killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
   Amnesty says the laws prohibit hate speech but are so broad they
   criminal other expression, including criticism of the government.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

References

   1. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AFR47/002/2011/en/ef7cd1a3-d1db-46da-b569-818b7555b83b/afr470022011en.pdf