(WAN/IFEX) – The following WAN press releases were issued on 2 June 2004: Istanbul, Turkey, 2 June 2004 – World Newspapers Condemn Zimbabwe Repression – World’s Press Calls on Cuba to Free Imprisoned Journalists – World’s Press Condemns Burma’s Repression – Venezuela Repression Condemned by World’s Press ————————————————————– World Newspapers Condemn Zimbabwe Repression The Board […]
(WAN/IFEX) – The following WAN press releases were issued on 2 June 2004:
Istanbul, Turkey, 2 June 2004
– World Newspapers Condemn Zimbabwe Repression
– World’s Press Calls on Cuba to Free Imprisoned Journalists
– World’s Press Condemns Burma’s Repression
– Venezuela Repression Condemned by World’s Press
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World Newspapers Condemn Zimbabwe Repression
The Board of the World Association of Newspapers has called for the repeal of Zimbabwe’s draconian press laws and for President Robert Mugabe to immediately cease all attempts to silence independent media.
“Laws exist to protect President Mugabe from criticism while he is able to make unrestrained attacks on his critics in the media and civil society,” said the WAN Board in a resolution issued during the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum, the global meetings of the world’s press which drew more than 1,300 publishers, chief editors and other senior newspaper executives to Istanbul, Turkey.
The resolution said:
The Board of the World Association of Newspapers, meeting at the 57th World Newspaper Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, 30 May to 2 June 2004, deplores the continuing attacks against independent media in Zimbabwe.
Journalists are subject to persistent abuse and threats in state-controlled media, and are threatened with arrest under draconian media and security laws.
Laws exist to protect President Mugabe from criticism while he is able to make unrestrained attacks on his critics in the media and civil society.
Under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (2002), a Media and Information Commission has been set up to license journalists and media organisations. The Commission’s chairman has demonstrated his hostility to the independent media and regularly abuses private newspapers. At the same time, the law on criminal defamation is used to suppress critical voices in the media.
The independent media is finding it increasingly difficult to perform its role as a public watchdog given the hostility and lawlessness of ruling-party officials and the closure of democratic space.
The government has declined to license alternative radio or TV stations despite a court order to remove the state’s broadcasting monopoly. Voters are unable to make an informed choice because they do not have access to a diversity of views.
The Board of WAN calls for the elimination of the repressive provisions of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, together with the Public Order and Security Act, and for these and other attempts to silence independent media to be ceased immediately.
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 13 news agencies and ten regional and world-wide press groups.
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World’s Press Calls on Cuba to Free Imprisoned Journalists
The Board of the World Association of Newspapers has called on Cuban President Fidel Castro to release 32 imprisoned journalists and to end the harassment of independent journalists in the country.
“The journalists are held in poor conditions, with insufficient medical care, subjected to isolation, prohibition of visits and severe punishment when they choose to fast or disobey prison rules to protest their mistreatment,'” said the WAN Board in a resolution issued during the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum, the global meetings of the world’s press.
The resolution said:
The Board of the World Association of Newspapers, meeting at the 57th World Newspaper Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, 30 May to 2 June 2004, strongly condemns the continued imprisonment of 32 Cuban journalists.
The journalists are held in poor conditions, with insufficient medical care, subjected to isolation, prohibition of visits and severe punishment when they choose to fast or disobey prison rules to protest their mistreatment.
A dozen of the imprisoned journalists, most of them elderly, are seriously ill, and six of them have been hospitalized with life-threatening conditions including cancer, cirrhosis and cardiovascular problems.
28 of the journalists were arrested and sentenced during a wave of repression in March 2003. They were sentenced to between 14 and 27 years in maximum security prisons far from their homes and families.
Three of the 32 journalists have been in custody for more than two years without trial.
The Board of WAN calls on the government of Cuba to release all imprisoned journalists and to cease the harassment of people who try to disseminate their ideas, opinions and news inside and outside the country.
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 13 news agencies and ten regional and world-wide press groups.
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World’s Press Condemns Burma’s Repression
The Board of the World Association of Newspapers has called for the release of all imprisoned journalists in Burma and for the ruling military junta to allow press freedom and freedom of expression in the country.
“Burma is one of the most repressive countries in the world, and all forms of expression are strictly controlled and censored by the ruling military regime,” the Board said in a resolution which was passed during the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum, which brought more than 1,300 newspaper executives to Istanbul, Turkey, for the global meetings of the world’s press.
“The Board of WAN calls on the government of Burma to ensure that all imprisoned journalists are immediately released and that the country fully restores press freedom and freedom of expression,” said the resolution.
The resolution said:
The Board of the World Association of Newspapers, meeting at the 57th World Newspaper Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, 30 May to 2 June 2004, calls on the Burmese government to restore press freedom and freedom of expression in the country. Burma is one of the most repressive countries in the world, and all forms of expression are strictly controlled and censored by the ruling military regime.
At least eleven journalists are known to remain behind bars in Burma. Among them is U Win Tin, one of the country’s most distinguished journalists. The prison conditions for the 73-year-old U Win Tin and his colleagues continue to deteriorate, causing some of them serious health problems.
The latest journalist to be imprisoned is Ne Min, a former BBC stringer who was sentenced to 15 years in prison on 7 May 2004.
In November 2003, the editor of a sports weekly was sentenced to death on charges of “committing high treason by plotting to murder senior government figures,” after writing about corruption in Burmese football. His sentence was later reduced to three years.
On 17 May 2004, the military regime announced the opening of a National Convention to write a new constitution. The convention was interrupted in 1996, following the withdrawal of the National League for Democracy (NLD).
Independent media have been banned from freely reporting on preparations for the convention and the NLD’s position. NLD party leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest. International media, including Agence France-Presse, the BBC World Service and Voice of America applied for visas to cover the convention, but received no answer from the Burmese authorities.
The Board of WAN calls on the government of Burma to ensure that all imprisoned journalists are immediately released and that the country fully restores press freedom and freedom of expression.
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 13 news agencies and ten regional and world-wide press groups.
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Venezuela Repression Condemned by World’s Press
The Board of the World Association of Newspapers has strongly condemned the repression of freedom of speech and the press in Venezuela, and has called on President Hugo Chávez to stop proposed legislation and other measures aimed at silencing the independent press.
“The government has once again threatened to apply military measures and repression against the media and to enact new and pending legislation limiting freedom of the press,” said the WAN Board in a resolution which was passed during the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum, which brought more than 1,000 newspaper executives to Istanbul, Turkey, for the global meetings of the world’s press.
In cracking down on the opposition press, Venezuela has recently created a government-controlled committee to regulate the content of news broadcasting and has reopened discussions that would criminalize libel statutes. Recently, the majority of pro-government members of Congress approved a petition that asks the Attorney General to annul the nationality of several Venezuelan journalists, media owners and other opposition personalities.
The resolution said:
Whereas
The government of President Hugo Chávez Frías, ignoring his obligations and his commitment to respect the freedom of speech and the free press in accordance with the Venezuelan Constitution of 1999, has once again threatened to apply military measures and repression against the media and to enact new and pending legislation limiting the freedom of the press;
Whereas
In line with the abovementioned, on an initiative of the government, the National Assembly has approved after two debates the draft Law of Social Responsibility in Radio and Television, leading to the creation of government controlled watchdog committees to regulate the contents of news broadcasting; and besides, it has re-opened discussions on the reform to the penal code, which would punish with prison those who transmit false information through the media or protest against public officials as well as further criminalizing the current libel statutes;
Whereas
The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) in its sentence number 1,942 validated the so-called contempt laws to punish criticisms by the press and journalists against the public powers and their representatives, in open contrast with the principles of democracy; and with this new sentence strengthens a previous sentence, number 1,013, of the same court, which has established general rules that restrict free speech and the freedom of the press in Venezuela,
The World Association of Newspapers Agrees to
Condemn the impending implementation by the Venezuelan State of all these aforementioned policies against free speech and freedom of the press.
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 13 news agencies and ten regional and world-wide press groups.
