Other Ten political leaders notable for their attacks on free expression to attend twentieth Conference of Heads of State of Africa and France

(RSF/IFEX) – Further to the President of the Republic’s invitation, on Friday 27 November and Saturday 28 November 1998, close to fifty African heads of state, heads of government and foreign ministers will be in Paris to attend the twentieth Conference of Heads of State of Africa and France. Among them will be ten political […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Further to the President of the Republic’s invitation, on
Friday 27 November and Saturday 28 November 1998, close to fifty African
heads of state, heads of government and foreign ministers will be in Paris
to attend the twentieth Conference of Heads of State of Africa and France.
Among them will be ten political leaders who have become notable for their
repeated attacks on freedom of opinion and expression. RSF is drawing the
French President’s attention to one or several examples of this tendency
from each of these ten countries.

**Updates IFEX alerts as noted in text**

Since 25 April 1997, Issayas Afeworki, President of the Eritrean Republic,
has kept the local correspondent of Agence France-Presse under house arrest
in Asmara. Ruth Simon is visited by her family but can only leave her home
on rare occasions with a police escort (see IFEX alerts of 19 October, 29
April 1998, and 16 June 1997).

The regime of Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali shuts the door to
press freedom. Journalists kept under close watch, intimidation, firings,
tapped telephone line and passport seizures are all common occurences. Two
journalists have been jailed in Tunisia since 1991 (see IFEX alerts of 30
April 1998 and 28 August 1997).

In Cameroon, President Paul Biya sentences journalists to long prison terms.
Pius Njawé, chief editor of the three times weekly “Le Messager”, was freed
on 12 October, after spending ten months in prison for having reported that
the President suffered a heart problem during a football match. Two other
journalists are still imprisoned (see IFEX alerts of 19 October, 13 October,
11 September, 24 June, 3 June, 7 May 1998 and others).

Six journalists are still imprisoned in Rwanda. Dominique Makeli, journalist
with Radio Rwanda, is detained since September 1994. Despite the many
appeals from RSF and other international organisations, President Pasteur
Bizimungu has given no encouraging sign to signal the journalists’ impending
release (see IFEX alerts of 15 October, 17 February, 9 February 1998 and 6
February 1995).

In Angola, three journalists have been assassinated in the past four years.
On 5 June 1998, Simão Roberto, a reporter with the government daily Jornal
de Angola, was killed by unknown assailants, in broad daylight, in the
capital. To this day, official inquiries have led nowhere. The regime of
José Eduardo Dos Santos lets these crimes go unpunished (see IFEX alert of
10 June 1998).

Three journalists are currently jailed in Togo, accused of slander. One of
them, Elias Hounkali, a journalist with “Le Nouveau Combat”, is incarcerated
since 6 August. Journalists who report on military issues or reveal
information pertaining to President Gnassingbé Eyadéma’s entourage are
systematically victim of swift repercussions (see IFEX alert of 22 October
and 11 August 1998).

Since Laurent-Désiré Kabila took power in the Democartic Republic of Congo
in May 1997, over thirty journalists have been jailed, two foreign
correspondents have been deported and ten journalists have been whipped.
Albert Bosange Yema, chief editor of the weekly “L’Alarme”, is detained
since 7 February, guilty of having published an opposition party press
release in his newspaper (see IFEX alerts of 3 June, 29 May, 25 May, 7 May,
27 February and 12 February 1998).

In Equatorial Guinea, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema forbids the emergence
of a free and independent press. The only independent press organ which has
resisted economic and legal pressures, “La Verdad”, was only able to publish
once in 1998 (see IFEX alerts of 4 June 1998, 29 November and 25 November
1996).

In Mauritius, under the iron rule of the President, Colonel Ould Ahmed Taya,
independent newspapers are victims of steady harassment: censorship,
arrests, administrative measures and repeated suspensions are leading to the
slow economic asphyxiation of the press.

In Ethiopia, the government led by Mélès Zenawi has sent thirty journalists
to jail in 1998. Fifteen are still detained; only one has been tried.
Ethiopia has the distinction of being the country with the most imprisoned
journalists in the world (see IFEX alerts of 19 November, 29 October and 21
October).

Recommended Action

Mr. Jacques Chirac

Président de la République

Palais de l’Elysée

75008 Paris

France

For Mr. Chirac’s fax number, please contact Alexandre Lévy or Ludovic Brun

at RSF.