(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has announced that it has officially joined the investigation into the 21 October 2003 murder in Côte d’Ivoire of Radio France International (RFI) journalist Jean Hélène. The organisation also deplored the climate of hatred and tension fuelled by media on both sides in the country’s civil war and noted that it endangers […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has announced that it has officially joined the investigation into the 21 October 2003 murder in Côte d’Ivoire of Radio France International (RFI) journalist Jean Hélène. The organisation also deplored the climate of hatred and tension fuelled by media on both sides in the country’s civil war and noted that it endangers the lives of local and foreign journalists.
An RSF team comprised of Secretary-General Robert Ménard, lawyer Guillaume Prigent and legal expert Laurence Deguitre visited Abidjan from 26 to 28 November and discussed the Hélène murder probe, along with key issues such as journalists’ safety and the free flow and diversity of news, with a range of political figures.
President Laurent Gbagbo, who has never explicitly condemned calls for vengeance made by pro-government media, declined to meet the team, which noted during their discussions that the February killing of a reporter for the government news agency Agence ivoirienne de presse (AIP) in the western part of the country has still not been investigated (see IFEX alerts of 20 March and 12 February 2003).
The organisation was granted the status of civil party in the Hélène investigation on 27 November. RSF was subsequently allowed to examine the case file, which has been sent to Ange Kessi Kouamé, the government’s prosecutor, for comment. Examining magistrate Kokobo Blé will then decide whether to order the public trial of the accused, Sgt. Théodore Séry Dago. His military court trial will likely take place before 15 December, and will be headed by a civilian judge. Five other soldiers are to be tried for abuses at the same time.
The RSF team welcomed the progress made in the investigation. Ballistic and forensic tests have been carried out and the crime was reconstituted on 18 November in the presence of French Prosecutor Yves Bot and examining magistrate Patrick Ramael, though it was marred by demonstrations by supporters of the accused.
Prosecutor Kouamé told the team that he wanted to see human rights respected and the guilty people punished. He invited RSF and other rights groups to lodge complaints about abuses committed by soldiers.
Examples of local media incitement to hatred since the rebel uprising of September 2002 have included a 10 October 2002 article in “Notre Voie” entitled, “Constant disinformation by Western media”, accusing the foreign press of “stirring up unrest” in the country for the benefit of “certain interests” well known to Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist Ouattara Mohamed Junior, Hélène, French TV5 reporter Denise Epoté-Durand and other foreign media.
“The modern-day slave-traders and vultures are dirty and corrupt people trying to destroy Africa”, the article went on to say. The paper accused the foreign media of supporting “terrorists”, “trying to blacken the name” of President Gbagbo’s government and destabilising the country.
Since Hélène’s murder, such incendiary writings have increased. The opposition press blamed the killing on the pro-government media, which in turn has denounced political exploitation of the murder.
“Le Temps” ran an article on 23 October entitled, “Injustice produces violence”, which described “a systematic and hateful campaign of denigration” and said locally-based foreign journalists had held a “crisis meeting” and decided to blame “hate media” and “pro-government elements” of being indirectly responsible for Hélène’s murder.
“The fanatical ideologists in the small band of foreign journalists in Abidjan are already shamelessly and unscrupulously dancing on the grave of their colleague in a crazy and cynical way that threatens everyone”, “Le Temps” said, while describing Hélène’s death as a “sad little event”.
“Notre Voie” published an article on 25 October entitled, “Vultures, ravens and hyenas at the journalist’s body”, which called on people to “stop being emotional and to remain dignified despite the unfortunate accidental death of a journalist they say was very good but who always turned up in countries where rebels were trying to take over”.
In a 27 October article entitled, “The death of Jean Hélène, another false alibi”, “Notre Voie” said the case was “just a foul and odious pretence” and that some suspected Hélène of being “more than just a journalist”.
Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, who told the RSF team he wanted to “calm the country down,” admitted the media was “aggravating political tensions” and said political leaders should call on their media supporters to behave more professionally. He regretted the absence of Communications Minister Guillaume Soro and said the regulatory National Press Commission (Commission nationale de Presse, CNP) and the media’s own supervisory body, the Press Freedom and Standards Monitoring Centre (Observatoire de la liberté de la presse, de l’éthique et de la déontologie, OLPED), should be strengthened. He said journalists might be able to make use of a special police brigade being set up to protect prominent people.
The free flow and diversity of news is not guaranteed in Côte d’Ivoire. Pro-government “young patriot” groups have destroyed copies of five daily newspapers (“24 Heures”, “Le Jour”, “Le Front”, “Le Libéral” and “Le Patriote”) and one twice-weekly paper (“Le Repère”) in the streets of the capital since 15 October. Newspapers backing the government are not available in the rebel-held northern part of the country and the state-run television station RTI cannot broadcast in the region.
Internal Security Minister Martin Bléou told the RSF team that police had been ordered to find and punish those who had destroyed the newspapers. He said he would provide protection for media personnel who requested it.
Local Government Minister Issa Diakité, representing Communications Minister Soro (who has fled Abidjan, saying he fears for his life), confessed that he did not know how to solve the problem of inflammatory media and the obstacles to the free flow of news. He said the non-distribution of newspapers in the north was because government troops seized them at roadblocks in Yamoussokro.
He said the government had postponed press law reforms, including abolition of prison terms for press offences and beefing up regulatory bodies. Justice Minister Henriette Dagri Diabaté said they would be introduced once the situation was calmer. She admitted it was unacceptable that “Le Patriote”, which supports her Rassemblement des Républicains Party, had run a headline on 7 November saying, “Militias formed, mass graves: Gbagbo, the black Hitler”, but said the paper was simply reacting to the content of pro-Gbagbo newspapers. She called it a “balance of terror.”
The RSF team told journalists and the head of the OLPED self-monitoring body, Alfred Dan Moussa, that even though the quality of certain papers was very good, it was concerned about the media’s serious professional lapses. The team said both sides were putting out disinformation and shared responsibility for the atmosphere of hostility towards foreign (and especially French) journalists since last year’s rebellion.
The team also met locally-based foreign journalists, some of whom recognised they had made errors in their reporting. They said they no longer felt safe in the country, and the AFP journalists said they did not go out in the streets alone.
Most foreign media, including RFI, plan to leave Abidjan by the end of the year for neighbouring countries, for various reasons. The BBC will transfer staff to nearby Senegal and Ghana. AFP plans to stay on for the moment.
