The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release: CAMEROON BROADCASTING DECREE IS FALSE DAWN NOT REAL REFORM A month before the next meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (1), the Cameroon parliament passed a decree which apparently opens the way for private broadcasters to finally begin operating in Cameroon (2). ARTICLE 19 is warning […]
The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release:
CAMEROON BROADCASTING DECREE IS FALSE DAWN NOT REAL REFORM
A month before the next meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (1), the Cameroon parliament passed a decree which apparently opens the way for private broadcasters to finally begin operating in Cameroon (2). ARTICLE 19 is warning that there is unlikely to be substantial change to the diversity of broadcasting, since licensing will remain firmly in the hands of the authorities.
The change, ten years after it was first promised, comes as part of the Cameroon government’s recent public relations offensive, aimed at improving international perceptions of its human rights situation. A damning report from the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture adds weight to ARTICLE 19’s call for the Commonwealth to place Cameroon on the Ministerial Action Group’s agenda at its meeting on 2-3 May.3
Andrew Puddephatt, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19 said:
“While the ending of the state’s broadcasting monopoly is welcome, this new decree raises fears that licences will be issued only to private broadcasters who are ‘friends’ of the ruling party, or those willing to steer clear of sensitive political issues.”
ARTICLE 19 today reiterated that if Cameroon is to live up to its international commitments, the regulatory authority for private broadcasting must be genuinely independent of government.
Notes to Editors
1. Prior to this decree, state-owned Cameroon Radio/Television (CRTV) had an effective monopoly on broadcasting.
2. ARTICLE 19 has been calling for CMAG to put Cameroon on its mandate for serious and persistent violations of the Harare Principles since 1998. It came close to doing so in late 1999, when the military coup in Pakistan allowed the Commonwealth a diversion from acting on Cameroon’s chronic human rights problems.
3. Visit the Africa publications section of ARTICLE 19’s website to view our October 1999 report on Cameroon at www.article19.org, or contact africa@article19.org for a hard copy.
