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WiPC Launches
Campaign to Decrminalise Defamation Laws in Africa
The
Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN (WiPC) has stepped up
campaigns to get African leaders to decriminalize defamation legislation
in order that the guarantees of freedom of expression in the continent
may meet international standards and practices and not suppress the
media and freedom of expression. On January 29, WiPC presented the sixth
and final in a series of reports as part of its campaign on the use of
insult and defamation laws to suppress writers and journalists
worldwide.
The
report looks at how criminal defamation legislation is used in Africa to
silence print journalists who criticise powerful individuals or bodies,
particularly those connected with governments, or who investigate and
report on state corruption and mismanagement, and other abuses of power.
It takes a closer look at four African countries where current use of
criminal defamation laws is particularly rife, namely: Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Senegal and Tunisia. It shows how
such laws can impact negatively on individual journalists and also
provides an overview of the wider movement pushing to decriminalise
defamation in Africa. Its aim is to encourage PEN members worldwide, and
other interested parties, to join this campaign, to decriminalize
defamation in Africa.
The
report says that in Africa, as in other nations of the world, the use of
criminal defamation laws remains commonplace, despite the growing
consensus internationally that such laws constitute an unjustifiable
restriction on freedom of expression, and numerous human rights
standards calling for their abolition. It added that at least 90 percent
of African countries retain such laws, which, far from being dormant,
are employed on a regular basis.
WiPC, in
the report, stated that it recorded 67 cases of criminal defamation
involving 90 writers, mainly journalists, in 27 countries in Africa -
including a number of countries which have long promised to abolish such
legislation.
It
pointed out that all of these cases, without exception, involved
journalists who criticised state or other powerful figures, and/or
investigated or exposed corruption, or other malpractices by officials.
For speaking out, all of these journalists have been countered with a
lawsuit, or the threat of one, bringing not only inconvenience and
financial penalty, but also arrest, months or years in prison, or at the
very least the legal implications and social stigma of a criminal
prosecution. WiPC regretted that it has become alarming that there are
indications that the use of criminal defamation laws in Africa, far from
diminishing, is actually becoming more widespread.
It cited
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where an editor, Patrice Booto
was detained for nine months in 2005-06 for 'offending the head of
state' and 'insulting the government' , and served seven of these months
prior to his conviction. Booto’s offence was the publication of an
article questioning a large donation made by President Kabila to
neighbouring Tanzania.
Other
instances in the DRC cited by WiPC include frequent detention of
journalists accused of defamation for weeks and sometimes months without
trial and sometimes without charge. This has been the scenario since the
country’s elections held in November 2006, the first after independence.
It said in late 2007, the government signalled its intention to step up
its use of insult law.
The
report says in Ethiopia, an editor Wesenseged Gebrekidan was imprisoned
for a total of 21 months from November 2005 on years-old defamation
charges, combined with anti-state charges. He was just one of some18
journalists and two academics arrested and put on trial as part of a
generalised government crackdown in the aftermath of post election
violence. Meanwhile, convictions for alleged defamation by journalists
continued apace.
Drawing
attention to Senegal, it says despite President Wade's 2004 promises to
repeal criminal penalties for press offences, at least nine journalists
faced criminal defamation charges in the period reviewed, with the
number of related arrests and lawsuits escalating in late 2007.
Journalists still on trial, according to the report, including Abdou
Latif Coulibaly, Pape Amadou Gaye, Moussa Guèye and Pape Moussa Doucar,
adding that they face potential prison sentences if convicted, in some
cases up to five or 10 years. In all cases, the charges relate to the
journalists' reporting on the President or government bodies.
In
Tunisia, human rights lawyer and activist Mohammed Abbou spent two and a
half years in prison for an internet article that criticised the
Tunisian government's alleged use of torture; he was released in July
2007. A month later, editor Omar Mestiri narrowly escaped a prison
sentence of up to three years for criticising a lawyer allegedly
convicted of fraud. Both men continue to suffer official harassment by
other means, as do countless other journalists and human rights
defenders in the country.
The
organization called on individuals and organizations to write to the
affected authorities in these countries expressing grave concern that
journalists are routinely being jailed or threatened with criminal
convictions for alleged defamation, in violation of their right to free
expression guaranteed by various international Covenants and Charters;
noting that in the vast majority of these cases, the criminal defamation
charges stem from articles exposing alleged corruption and malpractice
by the state and other powerful figures, tending to limit the media's
role as public watchdog; and urging governments to review its
defamation laws and review any criminal restrictions on content, in line
with the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa,
and other international human rights standards.
The full
report is available and can be downloaded at
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/images/article/Freeexpr.pdf
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