Rwanda has appointed a legal reform commission to examine...

Rwanda has appointed a legal reform commission to examine all existing laws in the country as part of an ongoing preparation for a change of government through elections in 2003. The country's constitution is also under review.
Rwanda's 70-member parliament is discussing the Media Bill, which is proposing the death penalty and life imprisonment for local journalists.Article 88 of the Bill imposes a minimum jail term of 20 years or death for any local journalist found guilty of using the mass media to incite any section of the Rwandan population to engage in genocide.
The Rwandan press house chief, Dr Vuningoma James, expressed shock at the death penalty proposal in the Media Bill, saying that in the earlier consultations with the Ministry of Local Government and Social Affairs which prepared the bill, which is charged with handling all information agencies, nothing on that provision was discussed with journalists.
Though the Rwanda Patriotic Front [RPF] government of President Paul Kagame says the bill is intended to pave the way for an independent media, journalists see it as a blow to the freedom of press.