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…
Joseph Lelyveld: Awardee 2001
Burton Benjamin Memorial Award During nearly four decades at The New York Times, JOSEPH LELYVELDhelped define the highest principles of American journalism. Lelyveld began at The Times as a copy boy in 1962. His distinguished reporting included years as a foreign correspondent in London, New Delhi, Hong Kong, and Johannesburg. His 1985 book, Move Your…
CPJ calls on President Mugabe to drop defamation charges against newspaper
New York, April 6, 2001 — CPJ is greatly disturbed by criminal defamation charges brought by President Robert Mugabe against three journalists at the Harare Daily News. Daily News editor Geoff Narrate and two of his reporters, Sandra Nyaira and Julius Zava, were charged on Wednesday with criminal defamation of President Robert Mugabe and parliamentary…
Government bans political TV program
New York, June 6, 2001 — A weekly television talk show was banned yesterday after only three broadcasts because callers criticized Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. On June 5, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) chairman Gideon Gono wrote to the show’s sponsor saying that the live phone-in television program had been cancelled for “policy” reasons. The program,…