Back to Index

This article participates on the following special index pages:

SADC election protocols flaunted
IBA Weekly Column on Zimbabwe - No 049
September 13, 2004

When President Robert Mugabe agreed last month to abide by the new set of guidelines for democratic elections set by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), there were hopes that he would strive to bring Zimbabwe into line with the regional body's new principles. Mr Mugabe quickly dashed those hopes by continuing his negative stance towards such benchmarks.

The ink was not even dry on the new SADC charter, signed at the summit in Grande Baie, Mauritius, when Mr Mugabe's Government published a bill which calls for severe restrictions on all non-Governmental organisations and charities operating in Zimbabwe. The NGO bill, expected to be approved by Parliament in coming weeks, is clearly in violation of the SADC electoral principles which call for freedom of association and the ability of organisations to operate without Government harassment.

The Mugabe Government has now gone further in its longstanding repression against a free press by putting before Parliament a new set of press restrictions. The current Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) is already in violation of the SADC accord as it gives the Government the authority to shut down newspapers and to stop journalists from working. Since it was enacted in March 2002, AIPPA has been used to close three privately-owned, mainstream newspapers, including Zimbabwe's most popular newspaper, The Daily News. The law has also been used to arrest and charge more than 30 journalists with criminal offences.

Recently Mr Mugabe's Minister of Information, Jonathan Moyo, published in the Government gazette, amendments that will make the notorious act even more repressive. The amendments will further tighten the already restrictive media laws by preventing local journalists from working for foreign media. The amendments are expected to be tabled in Parliament when it resumes sitting in early October. The main aim of the amendments is to make the offence of working as a journalist without being registered with the Government-appointed Media and Information Commission punishable by a fine and, or, a jail term of up to two years. Currently the law simply prohibits journalists from working without being licensed, but does not specify the punishment.

The part of the proposed amendment which will prohibit journalists accredited to work for local media from for writing for any foreign media states: 'Registered journalists will only work for media houses under which they are registered and are not allowed to work for outside media.' This would prevent Zimbabwean journalists from writing the occasional article for a different publication, particularly for the foreign press.

The new amendments also tinker with the composition of the powerful regulating body, the Media and Information Commission. The amendment to Section 40 of  AIPPA states that two members of the seven-member commission should be nominated by journalists' organisations or media companies. This would allow the Government to take nominations from the state-owned newspaper group, Zimpapers, and avoid requesting submissions from the somewhat more independent Zimbabwe Union of Journalists. Banning local journalists from working for foreign media may greatly reduce news reaching the outside world.

The Government has already expelled from the country all foreign journalists, though international news agencies Reuters and Agence France Press still have bureaus in Zimbabwe run by Zimbabwean staff who are accredited by the Government. The amendment would prevent them from writing for any other publications. More vulnerable is Associated Press which operates in Zimbabwe with freelance Zimbabwean journalists who have applied for accreditation but who have not received it. Several other Zimbabwean journalists writing for South African and British publications are in a similar position as they have not received accreditation from Mr Moyo's Commission.

If the new amendments are passed into law, journalists could be jailed if found guilty of practicing journalism without Government accreditation. Journalists' unions in Zimbabwe criticised the proposed new regulations saying they imposed further hurdles on an already severely stifled media.  

'We have been hoping for amendments that would make the (media) law fair and create a conducive environment for journalists to work in. But these amendments rather make the law more draconian,' said the Zimbabwean chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) to the news service, Zim Online. The Independent Journalists Association of Zimbabwe said: 'These amendments will make the media law more sinister and therefore are against our calls for consultation in efforts to save the media fraternity currently under siege.'

Once brought before Parliament, the proposed legislation is expected to be passed by Parliament as the Mugabe Government controls a comfortable majority. The restrictive amendments to the press law and the new legislation to curtail activities of non-Governmental organisations will draw heated attacks from the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, from civic organisations and from the international community. But the Mugabe Government appears to be impervious to such criticisms, and remains determined to continue its efforts to stamp out all democratic space inside Zimbabwe.

Already civic organisations have attempted to hold public demonstrations against the proposed legislation, only to have police break up their assemblies and arrest participants. The SADC charter for democratic elections calls for freedom of the press and an environment conducive for free, fair and peaceful elections. By amending the AIPPA press law to make it even more restrictive, and by proposing new repressive legislation against non-Governmental organisations, the Mugabe Government is blatantly acting in defiance of the SADC protocol.

SADC has won considerable praise for its new guidelines for democratic elections. However, the actions of the Mugabe Government challenge SADC to take action to uphold its principles.

* This column is provided by the International Bar Association. An organisation that represents the Law Societies and Bar Associations around the world, and works to uphold the rule of law. For further information, visit the website www.ibanet.org

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP