(MISA/IFEX) – On 25 April 1999, President Robert Mugabe said he was going to broaden state powers against the country’s press, reports the “Namibian” newspaper. **Updates IFEX alerts of 26 April, 25 March and 10 February 1999** In an interview with the state-owned “Sunday Mail”, Mugabe said that current laws gave journalists a higher status […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On 25 April 1999, President Robert Mugabe said he was going to
broaden state powers against the country’s press, reports the “Namibian”
newspaper.
**Updates IFEX alerts of 26 April, 25 March and 10 February 1999**
In an interview with the state-owned “Sunday Mail”, Mugabe said that current
laws gave journalists a higher status than “gods or angels”, and that they
were protected by the shield of so-called civil liberties and human rights.
“The government will strengthen laws of criminal libel so that journalists
will not be able to use their pen as a bloody sword…on individuals they
think they don’t like.
“That we shall do, not to prevent journalists from doing their work, but
from going beyond the scope of their powers in assassinating people they
don’t like,” Mugabe said.
Background Information
The Zimbabwean government, faced with increasing criticism locally and
abroad over its governance and human rights record, has repeatedly issued
threats since the beginning of the year to alter laws affecting the media.
On 4 February of this year, the Minister of Information, Chen
Chimutengwende, announced that the government was planning to introduce
stringent measures to regulate the operations of private sector media
organisations in Zimbabwe. The proposed measures would include restricting
the media sector to local investors, disallowing donors from pouring funds
into private media, and the introduction of a legal framework within which
they should operate.
On 8 March, the Senior Secretary for Information, Posts and
Telecommunications, Willard Chwewe, reiterated Chimutengwende’s
announcement, saying that the government had embarked on research aimed at
introducing a media policy and law that would “facilitate” the operations of
various media organisations in the country. He added that the proposed law
would create institutions such as a Media Council to regulate the
professional conduct of journalists.
The Paris-based freedom of expression group, Reporters Sans Frontières
(RSF), has expressed its concern about the latest threat to reinforce
defamation laws.
RSF notes that the Zimbabwean Constitution already permits legal action for
damages in case of defamation. Section 20(1)(b)(i) includes, “protecting the
reputations, rights and freedoms of other persons or the private lives of
persons concerned in legal proceedings.” RSF considers that Article 19 (3)
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which has been
ratified by Zimbabwe, includes the necessary restrictions on freedom of
expression. The Zimbabwean Constitution already includes a long list of
restrictions on freedom of expression in Article 20 (2), and Zimbabwean law
also provides for criminal defamation, which RSF considers unjustified.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the Minister of Information:
reinforced, and that the independent press is protected
defending the right to prosecute those responsible for defamation, provided
that the punishment is appropriate to the offence, and in any case, does not
include imprisonment
Appeals To
His Excellency Chen Chimutengwende
Minister of Information
Harare, Zimbabwe
Fax: + 263 47 36 910 / 47 03 891
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
