BBC TEAM MEETS WITH GOVERMENT FOLLOWING SUSPENSION

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000328

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/06/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM RW
SUBJECT: BBC TEAM MEETS WITH GOVERMENT FOLLOWING SUSPENSION
OF BROADCASTS

REF: A. KIGALI 302

B. KIGALI 256

Classified By: CDA Sim for reasons 1.4 (b) (d)


1. (C) On May 21, Jerry Timmins, the Head of BBC World
Service for Africa and the Middle East, met with Rwandan
officials to discuss the April 25 suspension of BBC
Kinyarwanda Service broadcasts in Rwanda (ref B). According
to BBC personnel who participated in the five-hour
discussion, Information Minister Louise Mushikiwabo took a
tough line, pressing for an apology and an admission that the
BBC broadcast had incited ethnic hatred and propagated the
idea of a double genocide. In support of this contention,
BBC personnel said, Mushikiwabo used a distorted transcript
of the offending BBC broadcast that was reportedly prepared
by the government-controlled Media High Council (MHC). This
transcript apparently took statements out of context and
mis-translated key phrases. BBC officials presented
Mushikiwabo with their own translation of the program,
pointing out the deficiencies in the MHC transcript.


2. (C) BBC officials reportedly denied any fanning of ethnic
hatreds or suggestion of genocide denial in the BBC program.
The Africa/Middle East Head offered various formulas for
restarting a positive relationship between the BBC and the
Government of Rwanda (GOR). These included a reaffirmation
of the BBC's commitment to balanced and accurate reporting
and editorial content, an offer to host Rwandan National
Unification and Reconciliation Commission officers at BBC
headquarters in London, and a continuation of an internship
program for Rwandan journalists with the BBC. The BBC team
asked for an immediate lifting of the suspension of
Kinyarwanda Service transmissions by GOR facilities (the
Service continues on short wave and internet podcasts),and
the ending of a lengthy ban on local BBC personnel attending
GOR events and press conferences. Mushikiwabo asked for
these terms to be put in writing, and the BBC is preparing a
communication in London.


3. (C) The local head of the BBC told us on May 26 that
absent the lifting of the ban on Kinyarwanda broadcasts and
on BBC journalists' participation in local events, there
would likely be no further negotiations. Nor would the BBC
bow to Mushikiwabo's continuing demand for an apology. He
added, however, if Mushikiwabo sought to portray the
forthcoming BBC letter as an apology, the BBC likely would
not contradict her. The BBC's central goal remained the
resumption of local broadcasts and access to local events.
In an interview in the government-associated New Times on May
27, Mushikiwabo claimed that the BBC had "acknowledged that
something was wrong" with its programming, and that the BBC
team had agreed to "make changes in programming." In a
follow-up conversation, the local BBC head rejected these
assertions, telling us that Timmins and the BBC made no such
admissions or agreements to change programming.


4. (C) Comment. The GOR has very real concerns regarding
inflammatory rhetoric on ethnic issues and attempts to alter
the historical record of the genocide. However,
misconstruing or excising nuanced remarks by political
opponents ultimately does not advance the GOR's own goal of a
reconciled, cooperative and strengthened society. Similarly

the public mischaracterization of discussions with the BBC
does not advance the GOR's reputation internationally
especially as it relates to the overall state of media
freedom here. We will continue to urge the GOR to engage
with the BBC to find an acceptable compromise that puts BBC's
Kinyarwanda service back on the air. End comment.


SIM