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The executive director of the International Press Institute (IPI), Alison Bethel McKenzie,
delivered a wide-ranging report on press freedom in the world to the
institute's world congress in Cape Town on Sunday. Excerpts from the
report relating to the state of press freedom in Africa:
South Africa
[W]e are on the eve of elections [in South Africa] ... We have just
heard [a speech read for] Minister Collins Chabane... on behalf of
President Jacob Zuma ... we thank him for his warm welcome to South
Africa and we are honoured to be here in this great land of hope.
But we say to President Zuma, please do not cheat us of that hope.
Parliament last November approved and sent to the president the
Protection of State Information Bill, also known as the “secrecy bill”,
which in our view gives too much authority to politicians to determine
what is confidential information. It also lacks a public interest
defence, which would directly impact whistleblowers and journalists who
obtain information through their confidential sources.
We strongly urge the President to veto the “secrecy bill” and send it
back to the Parliament for reconsideration - before the election. Doing
so would send the message that South Africa is determined to protect
freedom of the press and defend the right of the public to access
information that affects their lives.
There has also been no progress under the African National
Congress-led government in banning defamation and insult laws ... a
horrible legacy of the apartheid era. The Table Mountain Declaration ...
signed right here in Cape Town in 2007 with IPI's backing ... calls for
abolishing criminal defamation and insult laws in Africa. Only two
African leaders have signed it ... President Issoufou of Niger and
President Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia.
It's not too late for President Zuma to add his name and personal commitment to abolish these heinous laws.
Doing so is not just important to South Africa. It is important to
all of Africa and beyond because it sends the message that Africans can
be global leaders on this issue ... as Ghana did when it abolished
criminal defamation more than a decade ago.
Yet for all the progress in Africa ... and much progress has been made ... terrific challenges still remain.
Ethiopia
Just look at Ethiopia. Our board members, Ferial Haffaje and Kiburu
Yusuf, were there with me when we tried to visit five journalists
imprisoned on terrorism charges. When we were there last November, these
journalists were being denied access to their lawyers, their friends
and their colleagues. One of them, a courageous young woman named Reeyot
Alemu, is battling breast cancer from her prison cell. Her struggle and
that of her colleagues ... Solomon Kebede, Wubset Taye, Eskinder Nega
and Yusuf Getachew … brought tears to the eyes of members of our
delegation who spoke with those closest to them.
Somalia
Ethiopia's neighbour, Somalia, remains Africa's most dangerous
country for journalists ... at least 24 journalists have been killed
there since the start of 2012. Meanwhile, Eritrea's dictator has
literally locked away journalists and thrown away the key ... some of
our colleagues have languished in prisons for years. Some have died in
confinement.
Rwanda
This week the world is marking the 20th anniversary of the start of
the Rwanda genocide. As a series of commentaries we published this past
week showed, some local media played a terrible role in fanning ethnic
hatred in 1994. While there is no defence for such hate speech, we are
concerned that the Rwandan authorities use that experience to maintain
tight control over today's news media and call on the government to
allow independent media to flourish.
Angola
A few moments ago I mentioned the scourge of criminal defamation and
insult laws. In Angola, journalists who step out of line regularly face
the cudgel of criminal defamation. Rafael Marques, who will be speaking
here at the Congress, wrote a report alleging involvement of high-level
government officials in abuses of mining workers. Angolan prosecutors
have harassed him for a year, accusing him of criminal defamation. IPI
and a coalition of our partners have rallied in his defence ... for
example, by pressuring the European Union, a main trading partner and
aid donor, to demand accountability from Angola's autocrats for
harassing Marques and other journalists.
Tanzania and Uganda
Even in countries with relatively strong constitutional foundations
for press freedom, there is a tendency to flaunt laws. Governments in
Tanzania and Uganda have dredged up old press laws to suspend newspapers
... damaging these publications' reputations and financial stability.
Kenya
Kenya is another concern. President Kenyatta has signed legislation
... the Information and Communication Act ... that we believe would lead
to state control of news and information during emergencies, plus give
the government the power to perform functions currently executed by the
country's Media Council. We've protested these measures and Kenyan
journalists are not about to have their rights trampled on. They've
filed legal challenges against the Information and Communication Act on
the grounds that it is unconstitutional.
Gambia and Sierra Leone
Elsewhere in Africa, we've led the campaign against the use of
sedition laws to arrest and intimidate journalists in The Gambia and
Sierra Leone.
Egypt
And in Egypt these past few months, dozens of journalists have been
detained, sometimes for days or months without being indicted. Recently
20 were put on trial for charges such as reporting “false news” or
aiding terrorists. And IPI member Al Jazeera has borne the brunt of the
government's wrath, with no less than four journalists still in jail on
trumped-up charges.
Morocco
Elsewhere, Morocco has to stand out as one of the more bizarre cases
we've handled in recent months. Ali Anouzla, whom many of you might know
as editor of Lakome.com, was arrested last September and is now on
trial for “glorifying terrorism”. What did he do? Anouzla published a
news article that included a link to a YouTube video posted on the
website of El País in Spain. The video was removed by YouTube, but it
allegedly accused King Mohammed of corruption and despotism, and urged
young Moroccans to engage in jihad. IPI has joined with more than 40
other organisations in calling for the charges to be dropped.
In the Middle East, we've seen the great promise of the Arab Spring
wither in many countries. I've already mentioned the terrible death toll
for our colleagues in Syria.
Tunisia and Egypt
But the Arab Spring has also delivered some advances for press freedom.
Tunisian and Egyptian voters have adopted promising constitutions
with strong guarantees of press freedom. We challenge leaders in both
countries to live by the spirit of these constitutions and to adjust
national laws to the new guarantees ... and then abide by those laws.
Concluding overview
Twenty years ago, IPI held its World Congress in South Africa ... in
part to celebrate freedom, but also to show that we stood on guard to
defend those freedoms everywhere in the world.
The transitions that were beginning in Africa, in Europe, in Latin
America and in Asia would not be easy ... and we continue to see far too
many obstacles to press freedom today. For every Tunisia, with its
promising new constitution, there is a Russia, where those in power
tighten their grip on the media. For all the successes of our Campaign
to Abolish Criminal Defamation in the Caribbean, there are countries
around the world that continue to use it in a sinister effort to hush
journalists.
Just weeks before he became president [in 1994], Nelson Mandela was
here ... at the IPI World Congress. He gave a touching endorsement of
why IPI and press freedom matter. As tempting as it is to read Nelson
Mandela's gently eloquent speech in full, let me highlight one excerpt
that embodies why we are here today.
He said: “A critical, independent and investigative press is the
lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state
interference. It must have the economic strength to stand up to the
blandishments of government officials. It must have sufficient
independence from vested interests to be bold and inquiring, without
fear or favour. It must enjoy the protection of the Constitution, so
that it can protect our rights as citizens.”
Twenty years on, we still have our work cut out for us. This Congress
will demonstrate the challenges, as well as the potential to fight
back.
Thank you all for your support this past year, your participation in
this important congress ... and your determination to carry on in the
years ahead in defence of journalists around the world.
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