(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 letter to President Frederick Chiluba: **Updates IFEX alerts of 25 March, 22 March, 19 March, 18 March, 17 March, 15 March, 12 March, 11 March and 10 March 1999** 25 March 1999 Your Excellency, ARTICLE 19, the International Centre Against Censorship, requests you to take action […]
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 letter to President
Frederick Chiluba:
**Updates IFEX alerts of 25 March, 22 March, 19 March, 18 March, 17
March, 15 March,
12 March, 11 March and 10 March 1999**
25 March 1999
Your Excellency,
ARTICLE 19, the International Centre Against Censorship, requests you to
take action to ensure that charges of espionage which have been brought
against nine media workers are lifted. Those facing charges are
journalists
Brighton Phiri, Kelvin Shimo, Joe Kaunda, Amos Malupenga, Lubasi
Katunda,
Douglas Hampande, Macpherson Muyumba and Goodson Machona of The Post,
and
the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Fred M’membe.
ARTICLE 19 is extremely concerned about the use of the charge of
espionage
to suppress legitimate debate on a matter of public interest. It
represents
a disproportionate punishment under the highest international standards,
as
set out in Principle 24 of The Johannesburg Principles on National
Security,
Freedom of Expression and Access to Information. The Johannesburg
Principles
were drawn up by an expert working group in 1995 and subsequently
adopted by
the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression.
The prosecutions appear to have been brought in connection with an
article
which appeared in The Post on 9 March 1999, which questioned the
capacity of
the Zambian military to withstand an attack from Angolan forces. Zambia
is
not at war, and ARTICLE 19 would argue that the disclosure does not
actually
harm and is not likely to harm a legitimate national security interest,
as
laid down in principle 15 of the Johannesburg Principles. Indeed, in a
democratic context, the legitimacy of such a subject for discussion is
unquestionable. The Zambian people have the right to debate the
government’s
priorities, and may wish to question the government’s spending
priorities or
contractual agreements if they feel that national defence is under
threat.
Principle 11 of The Johannesburg Principles states that everyone has the
right to obtain information from public authorities, including
information
relating to national security.
ARTICLE 19 is also concerned at the measures taken by the Zambian
authorities in the pursuit of this matter, and we would urge you to
investigate urgently their actions. These included police surrounding
the
offices of The Post, preventing people from entering and leaving, and
cutting off water and power supplies. Such actions led to the prevention
of
publication and distribution of The Post on 11 March 1999, a serious
breach
of freedom of expression standards. We would be grateful for information
about the legal basis for such actions.
The last matter we wish to ask for your help with is to investigate
reports
that the state-owned Daily Mail has refused to print the Citizen
newspaper
and Zancom Digest on the basis of content. Such direct interference in
the
working of the media would seem to undermine the Zambian Government’s
obligation to its citizens to uphold their right to freedom of
expression,
and underlines the urgent need for government to distance itself from
direct
control in such enterprises.
The actions described seriously interfere with the media’s ability to
act on
behalf of the public interest and to investigate or question the
workings of
government. The role of the media as ‘watchdog’ of government has been
established in international courts and is effectively guaranteed under
Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
to
which Zambia is a Party.
ARTICLE 19 would welcome the opportunity to share our experience of
international law and best practice in the area of freedom of expression
with your authorities. I enclose a copy of The Johannesburg Principles
on
National Security, Freedom of Expression and Access to Information for
your
interest.
We urge you to give these matters your urgent attention and look forward
to
receiving your response to the concerns we have raised over specific
incidents and issues.
Yours sincerely
Andrew Puddephatt
Executive Director
Article 19
Appeals To
President Frederick Chiluba
President of the Republic of Zambia
State House
Lusaka, Zambia
Fax: + 260 1 221 939
E-mail: state@zamnet.zm /mfalus@zamnet.zm
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
