UNESCO condemns attack on Christian radio station in Kenya

In its latest defence of freedom of expression and the media, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today 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 Koïchiro 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, 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 urging Muslims to convert to Christianity.

Mr. Matsuura has issued frequent condemnations of the murder of journalists around the world in recent years.