(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: REPORT FROM ZIMBABWE: Parliamentary Elections Do Not Ameliorate Dangers for Independent Journalists July 18, 2000 — In a riveting account from Harare, just published on CPJ’s Web site , The Standard reporter Ray Choto writes about conditions for journalists in the wake of Zimbabwe’s historic parliamentary […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release:
REPORT FROM ZIMBABWE:
Parliamentary Elections Do Not Ameliorate Dangers for Independent Journalists
July 18, 2000 — In a riveting account from Harare, just published on CPJ’s Web site , The Standard reporter Ray Choto writes about conditions for journalists in the wake of Zimbabwe’s historic parliamentary elections in June.
“Practicing independent journalism in the year 2000 in Zimbabwe is like a walk in a minefield,” reports Choto. “You do not know how dangerous your next step will be.”
Choto details the torture he and his editor Mark Chavunduka endured in January 1999, after he reported in The Standard on the detention of 23 military officials. He says that the handful of independent journalists who do not work for the state-controlled media in Zimbabwe often face harrowing conditions. And in the run-up to the June elections, state media were put on notice that they had a job to do: support the government.
According to Choto, Zimbabwe’s information minister “reminded editors of the state-owned newspapers and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation that as state employees they were first obligated to support the current administration’s policy and views.
“Journalists threatened with the loss of their jobs,” explains Choto, “were forced into a professionally compromised position. They wrote what they were told to, and coverage in the state media was heavily biased in favor of the ruling Zanu PF.”
“As for members of the independent press,” Choto writes, “the Mugabe regime labeled us ‘enemies of the state.’ It was said that foreign journalists created negative publicity that purposefully tarnished Zimbabwe’s image abroad.”
The illegal detention and torture of Choto and his editor were allowed under the draconian Law and Order Maintenance Act (LOMA) which, according to Choto, makes it a criminal offense to publish anything “likely to cause alarm or despondency.”
Another, perhaps even more pernicious, restriction on the media is Zimbabwe’s Official Secrets Act, which makes the publication – or even receipt – of information not authorized by the government an imprisonable offense. This means, according to Choto, that journalists “are breaking the law any time we use sources not approved by the government to write a story.”
For the complete text of Ray Choto’s report, “Like A Walk in a Minefield,” visit .
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom around the world.
