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A conference held in the Rwandan capital of Kigali has highlighted the critical role of media stakeholders in addressing and combating hate speech around the world.
Around 30 stakeholders from different regions, including journalists, content creators and fact-checkers, gathered at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda over three days to share their experiences, knowledge and expertise, and to offer recommendations on tackling hate speech and preventing incitement to violence.
The seminar was organized by the Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) and the Ekis Trust in collaboration with the Organisation de la Francophonie and the Templeton World Philanthropy Foundation, and took place at the end of the 100-day commemoration of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
In addition to the Rwandan tragedy, the workshop explored other cases such as the Holocaust and the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, and benefited greatly from the experiences of many journalists who come from conflict or post-conflict environments or have reported in conflict zones.
“Hate speech provides the stage and context for leaders and influential people to incite direct violence. History tells us that hate speech and the dehumanization of others have preceded and occurred in nearly all genocides. Today, we are seeing these historical strategies being deployed on social media, allowing hate to spread faster and reach wider audiences,” said Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide.
Freddy Mutanguha, CEO of Egis Trust and Director of the Kigali Genocide Memorial, commented: “Hate speech sowed the seeds of fear and hostility that ultimately led to genocide in Rwanda.”
“Today, hate speech continues to sow conflict between neighbor and neighbor around the world. So we need your expertise, and the expertise and experience of everyone in this room, to help us more effectively combat hate speech in the global media landscape.”
The seminar was officially opened by Dr. Jean Damascene Bizimana, Minister of Solidarity and Civic Participation of Rwanda, who stressed the importance of atrocity prevention, which starts with words. He reminded delegates of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Serge Brammertz, Chief Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), explained how hate speech reaches the extreme level of direct and public incitement to commit genocide, in violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and as a crime under the Statutes of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia, as well as the Statute of the International Criminal Court.
He presented the emblematic “media case”, which focused on the role played by Rwanda’s Radio and Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) and Kangura magazine in spreading information that exacerbated tensions and led to the genocide, as well as the case of the former Yugoslavia, noting that today the trend is moving towards blatant denial of the genocide and hate speech that is not subject to any form of sanction.
The recommendations of the workshop will form the core of the Action Plan for Media Stakeholders to Address Hate Speech and Prevent Incitement to Violence that May Lead to Genocide and Related Crimes, which the Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide hopes to launch by the end of this year.
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