Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged at your government’s continued clampdown on independent media in Zimbabwe, including proposed new legislation that could be used to jail journalists for up to 20 years. At a time when several other African countries are lifting criminal sanctions for press offenses, bringing their laws in line with international standards, Your Excellency’s government is preparing to introduce penalties that are among the harshest on the continent. This will only further impede Zimbabwe’s media, which already face other restrictive laws.
New York, November 30, 2004—The popular weekly Dira, Zanzibar’s only independent newspaper, remains shuttered after a court refused to reverse a one-year-old government ban. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on authorities to lift the “outrageous” ban, and repeal laws that allow the government to silence critical reporting. The High Court on Tanzania’s semi-autonomous island…
New York, November 23, 2004—The editor of Umuseso, Rwanda’s only independent newspaper, was acquitted today on a criminal charge of ethnic “divisionism,” but convicted of defamation for a story that raised questions about parliament’s vice president. Charles Kabonero averted a prison sentence, but was ordered to pay a fine of 8,500 Rwandan francs (US$15) and…
New York, November 16, 2004—The editor of Umuseso, a Rwandan language independent weekly, was tried today on criminal charges of defamation and “divisionism” in connection with an article that accused parliamentary Vice President Denis Polisi of plotting to seize power. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the trial, saying journalists should not be criminally prosecuted…
New York, November 12, 2004—Antoine Massé, a correspondent for the private daily Le Courrier d’Abidjan, was fatally shot November 7 while covering violent clashes between French troops and demonstrators in the western Ivoirian town of Duékoué, his editor told the Committee to Protect Journalists today. CPJ called on French and Ivoirian authorities to conduct thorough…
New York, November 8, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the detention of Mathieu N’do, managing editor of the pro-opposition weekly San Finna. Local sources say N’do was arrested November 5 at the airport in the capital, Ouagadougou, as he was returning from Ivory Coast, where he had traveled to report on…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by Thursday’s violent attacks on four private newspapers in Abidjan, and by a government ban against eight newspapers. These grave attacks on press freedom came as hostilities resumed in the rebel-held north of the country. We are also alarmed at the silencing of three international radio stations in Abidjan, reportedly by an act of sabotage.
New York, October 20, 2004—Yesterday, the Gambia’s Council of Ministers decided to revoke the controversial National Media Commission Act, according to a statement broadcast on state radio. The National Assembly must now approve the measure, though it is unclear when that vote will occur. The legislation, enacted in 2002, created a media regulatory body with…
In Togo, journalists are skeptical but see opportunity in the regime’s bid to shed sanctions. By Adam Posluns with reporting by Alexis Arieff With 37 years in power, Togolese President Gnassingbé Eyadéma is Africa’s longest-serving head of state. Even after the country introduced multiparty elections more than a decade ago, Eyadéma and his ruling party,…