The Board of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), meeting in Glasgow, Scotland on 3rd June, 2019 during the 71st World News Media Congress, 26th World Editors Forum, and 3rd Women in News Summit, calls for renewed global solidarity with the Rwandan press in the wake of attacks and the hardening government stance against independent, free media.

A panel discussion hosted by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Pansy Tlakula, revealed how criminal defamation and insult laws are hindering Africa’s press and in turn, the economic and social progress of its people.