Kampala: Governments in the East&Horn of Africa must observe media freedom-a call for redress

Press Statement

27th November 2006

As the year 2006 draws to its close, the human rights movement in the East and Horn of Africa continues to nurse the shocking reports relating to infringement on press freedom by governments and government agencies within the sub-region. This infringement is despite the fact that press freedom is recognized in national, regional and international legislation as a key factor in ensuring transparency and democratic governance.

From Djibouti and Eritrea to Ethiopia, from Kenya to Somalia and Somaliland, from Sudan including Southern Sudan to Tanzania and Uganda, journalists continue to be subjected to a wide range of violations including harassment, intimidation, banning of media houses or restriction of their activities, unlawful arrests, incommunicado detention, imprisonment on unclear charges, torture, ill-treatment and extra-judicial killings. Such is the misery inflicted on persons supposed to undertake the role of watchdogs of society to ensure due accountability in public offices.

Today, more than 40 journalists and other human rights defenders (HRDs) from across the East and Horn of Africa are gathered in Entebbe, Uganda, to discuss their work and share ideas on how best to guarantee their own safety in the face of ongoing attacks on freedom of the media in the region. Together, they call upon their national governments to ensure that their right to gather, seek, receive and impart information and ideas is respected and upheld.

In addition to existing provisions in respective national Constitutions, the journalists wish to highlight that article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), clearly states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers […]” yet this is just one out of several other similar legislations on media freedom contained in national, regional and international human rights instruments. Governments must abide by their national, regional and international obligations to media freedom as cited above.

“The continued attempt by governments to silence the media or enforce undue censorship creates a communication gap, denying people their right to information. This must stop,” says Hassan Shire Sheikh, Chairperson of EHAHRDP/Net.

In the past one year of its operation, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network has carried out work on several cases of violations of media freedom. These have included:

ERITREA: The September 2001 crackdown on independent media and subsequent arrest of 16 journalists, has contributed to making Eritrea one of Africa’s worst violators of media freedom. The arrested journalists remain in detention as of today, nearly half a decade after their arrests, and no clear case has been brought against them. The latest information the Network has received indicates that nine other journalists were rounded up into prison on November 12th 2006. Again no clear case has been brought against them.

ETHIOPIA: In Ethiopia, several journalists are in prison following government’s crackdown on the media in the aftermath of the November 2005 public demonstrations contesting allegedly fraudulent elections held in May of the same year. At least 14 journalists are facing treason charges and if condemned, could face the death penalty.

In KENYA, the events of February 21st 2006 are still fresh in many people’s minds. The police raided the Standard Newspaper, burnt copies, disabled the printing plant and detained several journalists allegedly due to stories that had been published about the President Mwai Kibaki (See EHAHRDN Index: KEN 011/004/2006). The reporters were later released after three days with no charges defined against them. In the wake of all this, a prominent journalist was threatened by state authorities and was later offered temporary asylum in Uganda by the Network Secretariat until the situation returned to normal.

SOMALIA: the situation of the media in Somalia has gone beyond targeting journalists and closure of critical media houses to halting the activities of organizations working to protect the rights of journalists. Forces loyal to the Islamic Courts Union raided the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) offices in August this year, displacing the Union’s staff and halting its activities for over a month; Earlier in June 2006, an unidentified gunman murdered a Swedish journalist, Martin Adler, during a demonstration in Mogadishu; In the wake of increasing fighting between the Transitional Federal Government and the Islamic Courts Union, intimidation of the media is on the increase, with journalists being reprimanded for any information seen to disfavour either faction.

SUDAN: The recent gruesome murder of Mohamed Taha, Editor of Sudanese Daily Al-Wifaq is one among several cases relating to a risky operation ground for journalists in Sudan (See; EHAHRD-Net Index: SUD 028/006/2006, 7th September 2006). Mohamed Taha, Editor of Sudanese Daily Al-Wifaq was taken from his home on the night of 5th September 2006 by masked men, only his decapitated body to be recovered the next day by police in Kalakala District, 25 Kilometers south of the capital Khartoum.

In the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed January 9th 2005, between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Khartoum government, the two sides agreed to “Unceasingly create and maintain a conducive atmosphere for peace and tranquility (1.1); Abide by good governance, democracy and foster civil society (1.3). Unfortunately with continued suppression of the freedom of the press, the values of democracy, good governance and an effective civil society may not be achieved unless the service of the media is entrusted to open up avenues for discussion and therefore, effective implementation.

UGANDA; Though Uganda is rated by Freedom House among the 54 countries in the world that are partly free in terms of media freedom, this fairly good performance has occasionally been tinted by incidents here and there. The arrest of Andrew Mwenda, a prominent radio talk show host in 2005 and other cases brought against the Weekly Observer newspaper editors, coupled with frequent threats by the authorities against the New Vision and the Daily Monitor Newspapers, can only signal nothing but a psychological battle by government against freedom of the media.

“The above examples are, but just a small fraction of the gloomy situation of the media within the sub-region. The entire Network wishes to advise all governments to observe freedom of the media as entrenched in national, regional and international human rights instruments to which they are signatory, and without undue restrictions,” says Hassan Shire Sheikh.

For further information, please contact:

Tumusiime Kabwende Deo
Press Officer
+256-712-075721

Regional Coordination Office
EAST AND HORN OF AFRICA HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS PROJECT (EHAHRDP)
Human Rights House, Plot 1853, Lulume Rd., Nsambya
P.O. Box 11027 Kampala, Uganda
Phone: +256-41-510263(general)/ext.112
+256-41-267118(direct)
Fax: +256-41-267117
E-mail: ehahrdp yahoo.ca, hshire yorku.ca
Website: http://www.yorku.ca/crs/AHRDP/index.html