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International
org's express concern about the approach to press freedom of NEPAD
initiative
World Press
Freedom Committee (WPFC)
February 03, 2005
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/64243/
February 1,
2005
Fax letter to:
(212) 963-4879
Mr. Kofi Annan
Secretary General
United Nations
New York, NY 10017, USA
Dear Mr. Secretary
General,
We are a group
of international organizations (listed below) dedicated to the worldwide
furtherance of press freedom and freedom of expression, as set forth
in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other
international texts.
We appeal for
your aid in countering actions of governments in certain African
countries to restrict freedom of news media and freedom of expression.
The effects of such conduct could well be contagious in Africa and
elsewhere.
Our concern
has been heightened by the approach to press freedom of the African
Union's NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development) initiative.
The African
Union has devised the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) on good
governance, underscoring that the APRM is designed to foster democracy
in Africa. Yet, the APRM's good governance criteria have a serious
defect in that they omit a key requirement for good governance:
the fostering of free and independent news media.
Indeed, Mr.
Secretary General, when you spelled out your views on good governance
criteria to the African Union summit in Addis Ababa on July 6, you
yourself included the need for a free and independent press. We
fear that omission of this requirement from NEPAD's APRM criteria
has encouraged some countries to believe they have a green light
to repress their media.
Recently, we
have seen such examples as:
- The Gambia
passing legislation providing Draconian punishment of media for
criminal libel. A leading Gambian editor, Deyda Hydara of The Point
newspaper in Banjul and a correspondent for Agence France Presse
and Reporters sans frontieres, was assassinated Dec. 16, 2004. Numerous
independent observers posit that his death was connected to his
outspoken public opposition to that law.
- A few weeks
earlier, the Ethiopian Government ignored protests of several international
press freedom organizations at a day-long meeting in Addis Ababa
(Sept. 28) against the serious media-repressive provisions of its
Draft Press Law. The government announced its intention to proceed
with this unacceptable law.
- Somalia in
2004 produced a new press law enforcing registration of press outlets
with the Attorney General, licensing and imposing criminal defamation
and new repressive legislation on publication of military secrets.
We need not
dwell on the Zimbabwean government's actions against the local and
international media over the last few years -- condemned by numerous
media organizations and governments.
In recent years
throughout Africa, there has been a significant increase in detentions,
prosecutions, prison sentences and other punitive acts against editors
and journalists, mostly under "insult laws" (1). A growing practice
in many countries is use by authorities of repressive legislation
to intimidate journalists, causing many to flee their countries.
There has been
an increase, too, in regulations to impede or censor media attempts
to inform the public, such as withholding of advertising, taxes
on newsprint and shunning contact with publications that irk governments.
This conduct
varies seriously from what African governments should be doing under
the AU Charter and the NEPAD initiative.
Some African
governments have taken their commitments seriously. Kenya and Ghana
are reviewing media-repressive legislation and making appropriate
changes.
We believe the
situation in Africa is now such that there is need for concerted
action both by civil society and institutions like the UN, UNESCO,
the European Union and similar bodies to remind African countries
of their obligations under Article 19 and other commitments they
have undertaken.
We appeal to
you to speak out strongly against countries failing to live up to
their freedom of expression commitments.
While erosion
of liberties and rights has accelerated in parts of Africa, standards
in established democracies are also being seriously weakened in
the name of the struggle against terrorism. This has encouraged
the spread of restrictions on free media.
Is it not now
time for the UN Secretary General to draw attention to deterioration
in media freedom and freedom of expression in Africa and to call
for repeal of media-repressive laws by The Gambia, Ethiopia and
Zimbabwe and other African states in the African Union's NEPAD process?
Is it not now
time for the Secretary General to point out how inappropriate it
is for countries, such as Ethiopia and The Gambia, engaged in tightening
repression of news media and freedom of expression to remain as
hosts of the African Union's headquarters in Addis Ababa and of
the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in Banjul?
Would the immediate
way forward be for the UN to invite civil society organizations
to a meeting to issue a statement of concern on the erosion of these
important freedoms and calling for the world body to demand that
countries respect their Article 19 and similar commitments to uphold
and implement free speech/free press standards?
Yours sincerely,
James H. Ottaway,
Jr., Chairman, World Press Freedom Committee
E. Markham Bench, Executive Director, World Press Freedom Committee
Luckson Chipare, Director, Media Institute of Southern Africa
Johann Fritz, Director, International Press Institute
Dr. Eladio Lárez, President, International Association of
Broadcasting
Dr. Héctor Oscar Amengual, Director General, International
Association of Broadcasting
C.P. Andrés García Lavín, President of Honor
and President of the International Relations Commission, International
Association of Broadcasting
Julio E. Muñoz, Ph.D, Executive Director, Inter American
Press Association
Alejo Miró Quesada, President, Inter American Press Association
Andres Garcia Gamboa, former President and Chairman of the Information
Society Committee, Inter American Press Association
cc:
HE President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, President, African Union,
(251) 151 2622/3036
HE Mr. Alpha Oumar Konaré, Chairman, African Union Commission,
(251) 151 3036
Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Chairman, UN Secretary General's Advisory Panel
on International Support for NEPAD, (212) 963-4556, africarenewal@un.org
Mrs. Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, (4122)
917-9012
Mr. Ibrahim Gambari, UN Under Secretary-General and Special Advisor
on Africa
Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, UNESCO Director-General, (331) 4568-5555
Mr. Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary General for Communications and
Public Information, (212) 963-4361
Notes
1. "Insult Laws"
criminalize criticism of heads of state, parliamentarians, civil
servants, the judiciary and even foreign diplomats, ostensibly to
protect the dignity and status of office, but which in reality constitute
censorship to prevent legitimate comment and criticism on public
affairs.
Recommended
action:
Similar
appeals can be sent to:
Kofi Annan
Secretary General
United Nations
New York, NY 10017, USA
Fax: +1 212 963 4879
Please copy
appeals to the source if possible.
More information:
For
further information, contact the WPFC, 11690-C Sunrise Valley Drive,
Reston, Virginia 20191 U.S.A., tel: +1 703 715 9811, fax: +1 703
620 6790, e-mail: freepress@wpfc.org,
Internet: http://www.wpfc.org/http://www.wpfc.org
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