Burundi will continue to block broadcasts from two
international media organizations and expand restrictions on their operations,
the government announced Friday. At a meeting in Bujumbura, the president of the National
Council of Communication, Nestor Bankumukunzi, said the British Broadcasting
Corp. and the Voice of America are no longer allowed to broadcast, effective
immediately.
The ban is indefinite and extends to journalists, both foreign and
domestic, who provide information to either broadcaster.
"We are alarmed that reporters in Burundi are now
forbidden to communicate with VOA and believe these continuing threats to our
journalists undermine press freedom in the country," VOA Director Amanda
Bennett said. "We stand with the people of Burundi against those who are
restricting their access to accurate and reliable news and information."
The BBC condemned the decision, calling it "a serious
blow against media freedom."
Last May, the Burundi government suspended both news
organizations for six months, a week before holding a referendum on a new
constitution. The outlets have been off the air since.
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Rachel Nicholson, a researcher for Amnesty International,
said Burundi's government is angry at the broadcasters for different reasons.
The government was upset by a documentary the BBC broadcast
last year, she said, about members of Burundi's intelligence service operating
secret sites where dissidents are detained and tortured.
Burundi has accused VOA of employing a journalist who
opposes the government, Nicholson added. Patrick Nduwimana, the former director
of Bonesha FM Radio in Burundi, is "wanted for participating in deadly
violence that preceded the May attempted coup," the National Council of
Communications wrote in Friday's statement.
In a phone interview with VOA, Willy Nyamitwe, senior
adviser to Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza, said the news organizations
were banned for spreading falsehoods.
“Some international media are biased. Everybody knows some
reports were fake reports, fake news," Nyamitwe said. "So if people
cannot even try to speak the truth, but if some people are using some media
outlets only to spread lies, what other comments do I have to do?"
Nyamitwe also said that Burundi has an open media landscape
and that all countries have the right to ban news organizations that spread
lies. "There are thousands of journalists in the country. There are tens
of media houses, radio stations, TV stations, newspapers, media online.
“So I think people are exaggerating thinking that there's no
media houses in the country," he said. "I do know that even in the
United States there are some media houses that have been called biased or fake
news media houses."
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In its 2018 press freedom report, Reporters Without Borders
ranked Burundi 159th out of 180 countries worldwide. It said security forces
routinely harass journalists and pointed to the unsolved 2016 disappearance of
journalist Jean Bigirimana as evidence of intimidation and violence against
reporters. (VOA)