Yesterday, the Burundian community took to their car horns in protest of attempts by the government to repress the country’s independent media. For 15 seconds, vehicle drivers, public transporters and bikers honked their horns in support of the Burundian media. The National Security Council in Burundi called for severe sanctions for issuing information about the bloodshed in Gatumba last September, which led to the deaths of 39 people. In Bujumbura, Burundi’s capital, several private radio stations are faced with losing their license.

By Marie-Claire Ndikumana, Bujumbura
 
Disobedience
Investigators from the National Security Council looking into September’s Gatumba incident submitted their report on October 20, but so far, the content is unknown.

The Security Council’s statement came as a total surprise. Based on our constitutional law, the council has no right to give these kinds of orders. ''The Constitution is clear” says François Bizimana, a member of the Assembly of the East African Community. “The National Security Council has an advisory role and not a decision-making one.”

Also, in the past two weeks, nine journalists from different independent media organisations (namely Radio Publique Africaine, Bonesha FM radio and Radio Isanganiro – all RNW partners, red.) were summoned to the prosecutor’s office to justify their work.

Threats
Burundians question whether the statement issued by the Security Council is an attempt to intimidate journalists in Bujumbura. Today, under the pressure of the Burundian government, the media are also faced with unwanted visits from state journalists. It seems that the radio station Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) in particular has been targeted. The station was accused by Minister Edouard Nduwimana, Burundi’s minister of interior relations, of hatred and disobedience, and deliberately spreading lies. This week, Nduwimana gave the RPA 3 days to deliver a report detailing all of the station’s activities over the last three years.

“The government value their own laws more than they do democracy” says Innocent Munoz, chairman of the Burundian organisation of Press Observatory. “But so far, the media has not violated the law.”