New security bill may restrict independent press, state paper reports
New York, November 28, 2001—In a November 21 article, the state-owned Herald newspaper reported that the Zimbabwean government had drafted a Public Order and Security Bill intended to replace the harsh Law and Order Maintenance Act of 1960. The bill is expected to reach Parliament by the end of the year. Ostensibly meant to cover…
EDITOR RELEASED
New York, November 9, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the release of Geoff Nyarota, editor-in-chief of the Daily News, and Wilf Mbanga, the former chief executive officer of the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), the paper’s publisher. Nyarota and Mbanga were arrested on the morning of November 8 and taken to the headquarters…
CPJ condemns arrest of editor
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns today’s arrests and detentions of Geoff Nyarota, editor-in-chief of the Daily News, Zimbabwe’s only independent daily newspaper, and Wilf Mbanga, the former chief executive officer of the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), the company that publishes the Daily News.
INDEPENDENT PRESS UNDER SIEGE IN ZIMBABWE
New York, August 23, 2001—President Robert Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government have intensified the harsh crackdown on the independent press ahead of next year’s presidential elections. In the last two weeks, several journalists in Harare have faced detention and interrogation, threats of criminal prosecution, and other forms of…
JOURNALIST ON ALLEGED GOVERNMENT DEATH LIST SUMMONED BY POLICE
New York, August 21, 2001—Two days after a Harare newspaper reported that prominent local journalist Basildon Peta topped an alleged government “hit list,” police summoned the journalist for questioning. Peta is the news editor of the weekly Financial Gazette and a stringer for the Independent of London and The Star of Johannesburg, South Africa. He…
Zimbabwe: Government grows more hostile to independent press as election nears
Your Excellency: A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) visited Harare from July 11 to 14 to assess press freedom conditions in Zimbabwe during the run-up to the general elections, scheduled for next spring. The delegation, which consisted of board member Clarence Page, deputy director Joel Simon, and Africa program coordinator Yves Sorokobi, met with journalists from the independent press and held informal discussions with members of the state media. They also spoke at length with Zimbabwean human rights activists and foreign correspondents based in the country.
ZIMBABWEAN GOVERNMENT GROWS MORE HOSTILE TO INDEPENDENT PRESS AS ELECTION NEARS
New York, August 16, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists today sent a letter to Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe chronicling a host of press freedom violations. The letter called on Mugabe to take specific steps to “eliminate all obstacles inhibiting the work of the press so that [upcoming] elections can take place in an environment in…
POPULAR EDITOR AND THREE COLLEAGUES ARRESTED
New York, August 15, 2001—Police arrested Daily News editor Geoff Nyarota at 12:15 a.m. this morning at his home in Harare, according to international news reports confirmed by CPJ sources in Zimbabwe. Police later detained Daily News reporter Sam Munyavi, editor John Gambanga, and Gambanga’s assistant, Bill Saidi. All four journalists remain in police custody…
CPJ delegation visits Harare to support local press
Harare, July 26, 2001–For more than two years, since the January 1999 arrest and torture of two journalists from the Harare weekly The Standard, the press in Zimbabwe has operated under a virtual state of siege. In April 2000, the offices of the Daily News were bombed. In January 2001, a commando team blew up…