{"id":648,"date":"2021-08-25T16:38:46","date_gmt":"2021-08-25T16:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/journalists-urged-not-to-abuse-freedoms"},"modified":"2021-08-25T16:54:35","modified_gmt":"2021-08-25T16:54:35","slug":"journalists-urged-not-to-abuse-freedoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/journalists-urged-not-to-abuse-freedoms","title":{"rendered":"Journalists urged not to abuse freedoms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Rwanda<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Practicing journalism and free expression is a right provided for in the country\u2019s constitution but it should not impede the rights of others, members of the media heard on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Addressing journalists attending the training on \u2018Freedom of Expression and Media Offences\u2019, city lawyer Valery Gakunzi reminded practitioners that although Article 38 of the constitution states that freedoms of expression and access to information are rights, they should be practiced within the set laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe constitution guarantees rights to both freedom of expression and access to information but is also clear that these rights should not impede public order, good morals, protection of the young and the right of every citizen to honour and dignity and protection of personal and family privacy,\u201d he reminded.<\/p>\n

The training was organised by the Legal Aid Forum. He added that besides few inherent freedoms like the right not to be tortured under any circumstance, most others have legal limitations. He reminded the journalists that the stories that they are covering should look out for the legality, proportionality and necessity parameters.<\/p>\n

Challenge institutions<\/b><\/p>\n

Gakunzi challenged the journalists to take any public institution that denies them information to court. \u201cThe judiciary is the custodian of the Constitution. It is their job to protect the rights and civil liberties of the citizens as guaranteed by the constitution. It is not enough to complain. Anyone who feels frustrated for being denied their rights should take the institution responsible to court,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Executive Secretary of the Rwanda Media Commission (RMC) Emmanuel Mugisha agreed. He said that the blame-game between institutions and journalists has been ongoing for a while and invited the latter to take up what they consider the infringement of their rights to the courts of law.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we sit here, the complaints are the same all the time. If speaking out has not been enough, perhaps taking these matters to court is the better option,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Commendable steps<\/b><\/p>\n

The Head of Development Cooperation at the European Union Rwanda office, Lluis Navarro commended the efforts the government has put into improving the legal framework around freedom of expression and access to information.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccess to information is guaranteed in the Constitution. This right is also reflected in the 2013 Access to Information Law, which has been recognised as solid and progressive legislation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, he pointed out that there is still work that needs to be done to improve awareness among the public, as well as with authorities in order to implement and enforce the legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the improvement in the legal framework, we note some persistent reports on instances of self-censorship and curtailed freedom of expression. Such issues can ultimately limit accountability, which is key to sustainable development,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The open discussion training is organised by the Legal Aid Forum (LAF) and is bringing together journalists, judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators to explore different topics on media freedom, its limitations as well as how to deal with media related offences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. Practicing journalism and free expression is a right provided for in the country\u2019s constitution but it should not impede the rights of others, members of the media heard on Wednesday. Addressing journalists attending the training on \u2018Freedom of Expression and Media Offences\u2019, city lawyer Valery Gakunzi reminded practitioners that although Article 38 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30,28],"tags":[760,763,932,933,758],"class_list":["post-648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-freedoms","tag-journalists","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nJournalists urged not to abuse freedoms - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Practicing journalism and free expression is a right provided for in the country\u2019s constitution but it should not impede ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/journalists-urged-not-to-abuse-freedoms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Journalists urged not to abuse freedoms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Practicing journalism and free expression is a right provided for in the country\u2019s constitution but it should not impede ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/journalists-urged-not-to-abuse-freedoms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-25T16:38:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-25T16:54:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2021\/08\/img-612675ab70bf8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"847\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"491\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/journalists-urged-not-to-abuse-freedoms#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/journalists-urged-not-to-abuse-freedoms\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Journalists urged not to abuse freedoms\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-25T16:38:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-25T16:54:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/journalists-urged-not-to-abuse-freedoms\"},\"wordCount\":505,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/journalists-urged-not-to-abuse-freedoms#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2021\/08\/img-612675ab70bf8.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"freedoms\",\"Journalists\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Community\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/journalists-urged-not-to-abuse-freedoms#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/journalists-urged-not-to-abuse-freedoms\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/journalists-urged-not-to-abuse-freedoms\",\"name\":\"Journalists urged not to abuse freedoms - 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