UNESCO condemns attack on Kenyan Christian radio station
-19/05/06
In its latest statem
UNESCO condemns attack on Kenyan Christian radio station
-19/05/06
In its latest statement on freedom of expression and the media, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has condemned last week’s attack on a Christian radio station in Nairobi, Kenya, that left one person dead and two others injured.
“No religion and no community win when violence is used to settle differences,” UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura said in a statement warning that this “murderous attack” that could so easily trigger inter-communal violence.
“This aggression is unacceptable for several reasons: first, it is an intolerable attack on press freedom, a right that is at the heart of UNESCO’s mandate; it is also carries the seeds of new misunderstanding and violence, yet dialogue between civilizations and religions is the only option for humanity,” he added.
On the night of 12 May 2006, assailants raided Radio Hope, which belongs to the Nairobi Pentecostal Church, killing one security guard and wounding a second and a radio presenter.
A passer-by was injured when the assailants fled after setting fire to the premises with Molotov cocktails. The attack followed a programme in Swahili which Muslims understood as a call to convert to Christianity.
Mr Matsuura has issued frequent condemnations of the murder of journalists around the world on behalf of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in recent years.
The United Nations this year instituted World Press Freedom Day to highlight global abuses of freedom of speech. It has been actively supported by Reporters Without Borders.
[Also on Ekklesia: Movie brings aid, politics and church growth to Kenya; Church acts to combat impact of Kenyan drought; Kenyan bishops call on government to eliminate corruption; Church representatives to visit Rwanda on 10th anniversary of genocide; Ethiopian religion reporting imperilled, says World Press Freedom Day; Opponent of Ugandan dictator wins world Methodist peace prize; Kenyan peacemakers in air crash tragedy; Aid agency launches emergency appeal for East Africa; Christian-owned Kenyan company produces cheap AIDS drugs]
UNESCO condemns attack on Kenyan Christian radio station
-19/05/06
In its latest statement on freedom of expression and the media, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has condemned last week’s attack on a Christian radio station in Nairobi, Kenya, that left one person dead and two others injured.
“No religion and no community win when violence is used to settle differences,” UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura said in a statement warning that this “murderous attack” that could so easily trigger inter-communal violence.
“This aggression is unacceptable for several reasons: first, it is an intolerable attack on press freedom, a right that is at the heart of UNESCO’s mandate; it is also carries the seeds of new misunderstanding and violence, yet dialogue between civilizations and religions is the only option for humanity,” he added.
On the night of 12 May 2006, assailants raided Radio Hope, which belongs to the Nairobi Pentecostal Church, killing one security guard and wounding a second and a radio presenter.
A passer-by was injured when the assailants fled after setting fire to the premises with Molotov cocktails. The attack followed a programme in Swahili which Muslims understood as a call to convert to Christianity.
Mr Matsuura has issued frequent condemnations of the murder of journalists around the world on behalf of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in recent years.
The United Nations this year instituted World Press Freedom Day to highlight global abuses of freedom of speech. It has been actively supported by Reporters Without Borders.
[Also on Ekklesia: Movie brings aid, politics and church growth to Kenya; Church acts to combat impact of Kenyan drought; Kenyan bishops call on government to eliminate corruption; Church representatives to visit Rwanda on 10th anniversary of genocide; Ethiopian religion reporting imperilled, says World Press Freedom Day; Opponent of Ugandan dictator wins world Methodist peace prize; Kenyan peacemakers in air crash tragedy; Aid agency launches emergency appeal for East Africa; Christian-owned Kenyan company produces cheap AIDS drugs]