(IFJ/MISA/WAN/IFEX) – The following is a joint press statement by the IFJ, MISA, WAN and other organisations: Petition to the African Union Following is the text of a press statement issued at the 2nd African Union meeting of Heads of State in Maputo, Mozambique by CREDO for Freedom of Expression of Associated Rights, FAHAMU, the […]
(IFJ/MISA/WAN/IFEX) – The following is a joint press statement by the IFJ, MISA, WAN and other organisations:
Petition to the African Union
Following is the text of a press statement issued at the 2nd African Union meeting of Heads of State in Maputo, Mozambique by CREDO for Freedom of Expression of Associated Rights, FAHAMU, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA).
Tomorrow, Wednesday, July 9, 2003, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) will, on behalf of the above mentioned organisations and dozens more from Africa and across the world, present a petition to the African Union calling for the release of all incarcerated journalists and for the repeal of anti-media and anti-freedom of expression legislation in African Union member states.
The petition, amongst other points, emphasises that:
“Active participation of citizens in shaping policy and decision making of their countries is impossible if their own governments continue to deny them the rights necessary to ensure such participation. These include the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, association and political participation, as well as media freedom to facilitate a free exchange of information, ideas and opinion.
“It was with great hope and expectation that all Africans and friends of Africa welcomed the launch of the African Union and looked forward to a new future based on its constitutive Acts. However two years into this bold experiment, no significant progress has been made. Even worse, two of the first five countries to sign up, i.e. Eritrea and Zimbabwe, have been turned into living hells for the media by the governments of those countries.”
In statements supporting the petition:
Timothy Balding, Director General of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), stated, “The right for journalists to practice without fear of legal persecution and personal injury is fundamental to any functioning democracy. Too many journalists in Africa are forced to operate in appalling conditions which not only infringe on their capacity to operate as media professionals, but also violate their basic human rights.”
Aidan White, General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), also stated, “In most African countries journalists work under intolerable conditions because of disregard for their professional, social, trade union and basic human rights. Governments must realise that the promotion of human rights, peace, tolerance and stability, public accountability, access to information and general people’s participation in the decision making process are key challenges for a vibrant and constructive Africa.”
Luckson Chipare, Regional Director of MISA, acknowledges that, “while the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights has adopted a Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression, which stresses ‘the fundamental importance of freedom of expression as an individual human right, as a cornerstone of democracy and as a means of ensuring respect for all human rights and freedoms,’ there are reservations about how the Commission will enforce these measures in the context of the AU and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad). While the Declaration does aspire to boosting free speech within the AU and Nepad initiative, the question must be asked as to how, for example, can the provisions of the African Charter be enforced on those governments who do not adhere to them? For instance, in Southern Africa, media practitioners often face detention, arrest, imprisonment and even death. During 2002, 27 journalists were beaten, 4 were bombed, 45 were detained, 38 were threatened and 40 were censored.”
Rotimi Sankore, on behalf of CREDO and FAHAMU, stated, “the African Union must respond to this petition if it is to have any credibility amongst Africans and the international community and show in real terms that it is indeed different from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which at some point was chaired by vicious dictators such as former President Idi Amin of Uganda, with the overt or tacit support of past African Heads of State.”
The petition ends by calling on the “concerned African leaders to without delay release all incarcerated journalists, re-open all closed media houses, repeal anti-media legislation and recognise the importance of a free press, freedom of expression and other associated rights as vital ingredients necessary to build free, democratic and prosperous societies. Only when this is done will the NEPAD initiative and any future similar initiatives have any real meaning for the peoples of Africa.”
Signed,
* Centre for Research Education & Development Of – [CREDO] – Freedom of Expression & Associated Rights, Rotimi Sankore, Co-ordinator
* FAHAMU, Firoze Manji, Director
* International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Aidan White, General Secretary
* The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Luckson Chipare, Regional Director
* World Association of Newspapers (WAN), Timothy Balding, Director General
Note for Editors:
The petition was launched by CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights and FAHAMU on June 5th in Pambazuka, the mass circulating weekly electronic newsletter focusing on rights and development issues in Africa.
**The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) is a dynamic, member-driven network of national chapters coordinated by a professional regional secretariat which seeks – through monitoring, training, capacity building, research and the distribution of information – to foster free independent and diverse media throughout southern Africa in the service of democracy and development, as stated in the Windhoek Declaration and the African Charter on Broadcasting.
**The Centre for Research Education & Development Of – [CREDO] – Freedom of Expression & Associated Rights is an international human rights organisation focusing on work in Africa. CREDO believes that freedom of expression and other strongly associated rights are major platforms on which all civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights stand. CREDO’s work focuses on themes in Africa related to: freedom of expression, media freedom, rights/access to information and information resources; freedom of opinion, association, assembly, political participation and related rights; and anti-discrimination issues, e.g. discrimination based on gender, race and ethnicity.
**Fahamu is committed to supporting progressive social change in the South through using information and communication technologies. Fahamu believes that civil society organisations have a critical role to play in defending human rights, and that information and communication technologies can and should be harnessed for that cause. We are committed to enabling civil society organisations to use the Internet in the interests of promoting social justice.
**The IFJ is the worlds largest organisation of journalists and represents 500,000 journalists in more than 100 countries. The IFJ promotes international action to defend press freedom and social justice through strong, free and independent trade unions of journalists. In Africa, the IFJ works with its numerous affiliates and through its Media For Democracy in Africa Programme. It opposes discrimination of all kinds and condemns the use of media as propaganda or to promote intolerance and conflict; believes in freedom of political and cultural expression and defends trade union and other basic human rights; and works to improve conditions for independence of journalists and high standards of journalism in the African media.
**The Paris-based World Association of Newspapers (WAN), the global organisation for the newspaper industry, represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 100 countries, 13 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups. WAN also publishes RAP 21, a newsletter for RAP 21, the African Press Network for the 21st Century. It was launched two years ago by the WAN, together with the Union of Publishers in Central Africa (UEPAC). RAP 21, amongst other activities and objectives, co-ordinates support for the independent media in Africa, with a view to developing media pluralism.
