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AFEX Condemns Imprisonment of Journalist in DRC for “Insulting” Governor

Felicia Anthonio
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AFEX Condemns Imprisonment of Journalist in DRC for “Insulting” Governor

The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) and its member in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Journaliste en Danger (JED) denounce the sentencing of a journalist working with Radio-Television Sarah (RTS).

According to JED, the Mbandaka Peace Tribunal on Friday, March 1, 2019, sentenced Steeve Mwanyo Iwewe to a year in prison for “insulting” the governor of Ecuador, a province located north-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Iwewe was also asked to pay a fine of $200 to the complainant.

The incident dates back to February 27, 2019 when Iwewe was covering demonstrations by officers of the Environmental Coordination council in the province, who were demanding the local government to absorb 5% of the cost of their operations.

Upon arrival at the scene of demonstration, the governor of the area, Bobo Boloko Bolumbu inquired about the situation and ordered one of his aides to prevent the journalist (Iwewe) from filming the demonstrations.

The journalist resisted and asked the governor to allow him carry out his journalistic work freely.  

“You came here to do your work, let me also do mine freely (…)”, he reportedly told the governor.  

Iwewe’s remarks angered the governor who ordered the police officers present to arrest him.

The police physically assaulted Steeve Mwanyo Iwewe and detained him at the Mbankak central police station for a few hours. He was transferred to the Mbandaka High Court the same day for trial. However, following the intervention of Iwewe’s lawyers, the case was canceled.  The lawyers cited procedural flaws with regard to the arrest and the inhuman treatment inflicted on their client. Steeve Mwanyo Iwewe was taken to Mbandaka Central Prison where he was detained, until March 1, 2019 when he was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Three other journalists working with the same television station, Trésor Nsaebeinga, Yannick Vital Mbombo and Jean-Claude Mafundisho told JED that they have been in hiding since February 28, 2019 for fear of reprisals. They added that their homes were visited on the evening of February 27 (the same day Iwewe was arrested) by police officers with arrest warrants following another complaint to the Mbandaka District Prosecutor’s Office by provincial governor for similar charges.

AFEX joins JED to firmly condemn this flagrant act of injustice against the journalist. Locking up a journalist for 12 months in prison for insisting on his constitutionally guaranteed right to cover a public event as a journalist betrays serious gaps in the Congolese criminal justice system. This is a flagrant abuse of authority by the governor to silence the media, which AFEX condemns in no ambiguous terms.

We call on the presiding judge overturn the decision and release Iwewe so he can continue his journalistic work freely and safely.

AFEX urges journalists in DRC to rise up against this act of repression against their colleague and call for the journalist.

AFEX Calls on Zambia’s Media Regulator to Reinstate Prime Television

Felicia Anthonio
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AFEX Calls on Zambia’s Media Regulator to Reinstate Prime Television

The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) together with its member, MiSA Zambia, is dismayed at the decision of the country’s media regulatory body, the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) to suspend privately owned, Prime Television.

The IBA on March 1, 2019 summoned the management of the TV station to respond to allegations of ‘biased’ reporting levelled against the station by the ruling PF party during Parliamentary by-elections held in Sesheke, a town located in the western province of Zambia. The IBA also ordered the management to render an apology to the Secretary General of the PF party within 14 days.

However, on March 4, 2019, three days after Prime TV was summoned, the IBA at a press briefing announced the suspension of the licence of the TV station for 30 days with immediate effect. Announcing the suspension, the Director General and Board Secretary of the IBA, Josephine Mapoma said the licence of Prime TV had been revoked for exhibiting “unprofessionalism in its broadcasting” through unbalanced coverage, opinionated news material, likely to incite violence and use of derogatory language.

The IBA also indicated it had suspended the licence of Valley FM for 60 days, revoked licences of two other radio stations and issued about 20 licences to different media outlets across Zambia. 

Prime Television has been subjected to series of attacks such as verbal and physical assaults from affiliates of PF party including high ranking government officials following the station’s reportage of the Sesheke parliamentary by-elections.

AFEX finds the decision of the IBA which is supposed to be the mediator in resolving the conflict between the TV station and the disgruntled officials of the PF party as hasty, targeted and censoring.

Suspending Prime TV for 30 days means denying citizens who rely on the station to be informed their fundamental right to freedom of expression and access to information which is enshrined in Article 20 of the country’s constitution as well as other regional and international frameworks.

The AFEX network considers it worrying that the IBA is suspending Prime TV after the Deputy Media Director of the PF party, Antonio Mwanza, was quoted a few weeks ago by an online blog, saying the media regulator had been directed to revoke the licence of the station .

 AFEX and MiSA Zambia maintain that the IBA is supposed to be independent of any form of influence from any quarters including the ruling government. It is therefore disturbing that it appears the IBA is being used as a tool to silence media houses whose reportage are contrary to the views of the ruling government.  

We denounce the suspension of Prime TV as an affront to press freedom. AFEX calls on the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) to reinstate the station and allow it to carry out its constitutional duty of informing the public.

Critical Private TV Station under Attack from State Officials in Zambia

Felicia Anthonio
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Critical Private TV Station under Attack from State Officials in Zambia

The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) firmly condemns the recent attacks by affiliates of Zambia’s ruling, Patriotic Front (PF) party against Prime Television based in the capital, Lusaka.

The privately owned TV station has come under attack following its reportage on the Sesheke parliamentary by-elections.

On January 26, 2019, the Secretary General of the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party, Davies Mwila, dismissed Prime TV reporters from a press briefing he was addressing. He also declared publicly that Prime Television is barred from covering all activities of his political party. The comments by the Secretary General of PF have has incited cadres of the party against journalists working with the TV station.

In the most recent attacks against the station, a group of young people believed to be a pro-PF vigilante group reportedly attacked three reporters of the station in separate incidents within a space of two weeks.  On February 14, 2019, members of the vigilante group attacked Wells Chifunda who is a court reporter for Prime TV. Six days prior to the above incident, the supporters of the party on February 8, 2019, physically assaulted and confiscated a laptop belonging to Lyold Kapusa, a reporter for Prime TV while another reporter, Kazela Habwanda of the TV station was also attacked by the group in a separate incident on February 5.

Some state actors also encouraged these attacks by openly antagonising the media outlet in their public pronouncements. On February 13, 2019, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Dora Siliya at a press briefing accused Prime TV of reporting the violent incidents that happened during Parliamentary By Elections in Sesheke, a town located in the western province of Zambia in a sensational manner.

The Deputy Media Director of the PF party, Antonio Mwanza, was also quoted by an online blog, TP News, on February 13, 2019 as saying that “Prime TV must be closed down…the IBA [the media regulator] has already been directed to revoke the licence….”

Following the hostile declarations by these powerful officials, the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) on February 15, 2019, sent Prime TV a letter requesting for the station’s editorial policy and broadcast recordings of its political show, News Bulletin and Oxygen of Democracy Programme. The request followed a complaint by the Secretary General of PF party accused Prime TV of biased and unethical reportage in the said political news bulletin.

Also, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Jean Kapata, a senior political party official of the PF party threatened to cause an attack on Prime TV. Kapata was quoted saying “to Prime TV, we are not warning you we are telling you that if you continue this type of reports, disparaging the government day in day out, these women that you are seeing here shall come and close down your studio.”

The IBA again on February 28, 2019 summoned the management of Prime TV and demanded that the station renders an apology to the Secretary General of the PF party within 14 days for alleged biased reporting on the party.

Richard Mulonga, Founder of Bloggers of Zambia indicated that the decision by the ruling party to ban Prime TV from covering all its activities will deny the stations’ viewers access to updates with regards to implementation of government policies.

“We are worried because the decision by the PF to ban Prime Television from reporting on the activities of the ruling PF party contravenes provisions of our national constitution and it is an affront to the right to freedom of expression and access to information of the people of Zambia.”

AFEX is concerned about the concerted attacks on Prime TV by cadres and officials of the ruling PF party in Zambia. We also deplore the complicity of the media regulator, IBA in these attacks that are obviously calculated to silence the critical media house.

Prime TV, like any other media outlet in Zambia, has a constitutionally guaranteed right to carry out its journalistic work freely and without interference from any quarters. The hostility to which Prime TV has been subjected is therefore an affront to article 20 of Zambia’s republican constitution.

Zambia’s governance system is hinged on the principle of democracy where freedom of expression is critical to citizens’ participation in the country’s governance processes. It is in line with this principle that AFEX is urging officials of the PF party to cease its intolerant attitude towards divergent views and opinions from critical media outlets in Zambia.

Additionally, we call upon the IBA to be a true regulator of the broadcasting media in Zambia and avoid being viewed as a tool that is used by the ruling class to settle scores with media houses whose publications they find uncomfortable.

We also urge the media to remain professional and committed to promoting the public’s interest at all times.

AFEX Joins Global Press Freedom Organisations Urging Nigeria to Keep the Internet on during Election Period

Felicia Anthonio
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AFEX Joins Global Press Freedom Organisations Urging Nigeria to Keep the Internet on during Election Period

The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) has joined other global press freedom organisations to call on the government of Nigeria to ensure that access to the Internet, social media platforms, SMS and all other associated communication services is unrestricted throughout the electioneering period.

The call was contained in a letter signed by 16 press freedom groups of the #KeepItOn coalition across the globe and addressed to the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The petitioners highlighted the need for the authorities to keep the Internet on as it is an enabler of other rights including freedom of expression and access to information.

Earlier this month on February 1, 2019, the government denied claims that it was planning to shut down the Internet during the country’s federal elections.

Nigeria’s presidential elections is scheduled for tomorrow, February 16, 2019.

You can access a copy of the letter submitted to the NCC here.

MISA Zimbabwe Highlights the Role of the Radio in Fostering Dialogue and Tolerance on World Radio Day

Felicia Anthonio
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MISA Zimbabwe Highlights the Role of the Radio in Fostering Dialogue and Tolerance on World Radio Day

This statement was originally oublished on zimbabwe.misa.org on February 13, 2019.

MISA Zimbabwe joins the world in commemorating World Radio Day. This day is celebrated annually on the 13th of February and this year’s commemorations are being held under the theme: Dialogue, Tolerance and Peace.

This year’s theme acknowledges the role played by radio in facilitating dialogue and building tolerance through respectful sharing of divergent views, thus fostering peace within communities and nations.

The theme is indeed timeous for Zimbabwe as it coincides with the repeated calls for meaningful national dialogue to address the country’s deteriorating socio-economic and political environment in the wake of the disputed outcome of the 2018 presidential elections.

It is in that regard that radio can play a fundamental role in facilitating national dialogue in Zimbabwe. Radio serves as a convenient information-sharing platform that is more popular and easily accessible than television because of its wide reach.

Ideally, Zimbabweans can, for example, follow and share ideas as well as participate in radio programmes focusing on the envisaged national dialogue through the country’s various national radio stations.

However, in Zimbabwe, the reality on the ground is far from the ideal. Access to radio is mainly still concentrated in mostly urban and peri-urban communities. This means that communities in outlying, rural areas, especially those along Zimbabwe’s national borders, have to rely on radio broadcasts from Zimbabwe’s neighbouring countries.

These marginalised communities are thus effectively excluded from participating in national conversations that take place on national publicly owned radio stations such as Radio Zimbabwe, Classic FM, Power FM, and National FM.

This makes a strong case for the licensing of community radio stations as provided for in terms of the Broadcasting Services Act. The Act provides for the three-tier broadcasting system comprising, public, commercial, and community broadcasting in Zimbabwe.

Currently, the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe has only licensed national and commercial radio stations. Community radio stations are still to be licensed and legally recognised in Zimbabwe, 18 years after enactment of the BSA in 2001.

By their nature, commercial and national radio stations usually offer generic one-size fits all content broadcast in Zimbabwe’s major languages. Such programming is at times not relevant to specific community needs and issues. This gap can easily be filled by community radio stations.

Other countries with robust community radio initiatives, define communities to include members that live together within a specific geographical area, as well as groups of people who share a common set of beliefs or interests even though residing in different geographical areas.

As Zimbabwe commemorates this day, MISA Zimbabwe reiterates its calls for the speedy licensing of local community radio stations. This will go a long way in giving marginalised communities their voice in national affairs that seek to promote dialogue and tolerance in Zimbabwe.

//END

High Court in Zimbabwe Annuls Internet Shutdown Directive by State Minister, Orders Restoration

Felicia Anthonio
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High Court in Zimbabwe Annuls Internet Shutdown Directive by State Minister, Orders Restoration

This statetment was originally published on zimbabwe.misa.org on January 21, 2019.

High Court judge Justice Owen Tagu on 21 January 2019 ruled that the Minister of State in the President’s Office Responsible for National Security does not have the authority to issue any directives in terms of the Interception of Communications Act.

This means that the directives issued by Minister Owen Ncube to shut down the Internet in Zimbabwe are illegal and therefore, without effect.

The Interception of Communications Act is one of 12 Acts directly administered by the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. The President does have the right to assign any other Cabinet members to act on his behalf to administer any of these 12 Acts.

This is in terms of Statutory Instrument 212 of 2018 as read with section 104(1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

Advocate Eric Matinenga pointed this out as a preliminary point when he appeared on behalf of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and MISA Zimbabwe in their application challenging the use of the Interception of Communications Act (ICA).

Justice Tagu agreed with Advocate Matinenga’s submission that the Minister was not assigned with any authority to issue such directives by the President. He ruled that the directives issued in the minister’s name be set aside as they are unlawful.

The judge restricted his decision to the preliminary point raised by Advocate Matinenga. This means the court did not consider the other legal arguments contained in the joint court application.

The court did not consider whether the government has the right to completely shut down the Internet. And, if so, whether the Interception of Communications Act is the proper law to effect internet shutdowns or any other disruptions of communications.

The decision, therefore, means that mobile network operators and Internet service providers should restore full Internet access including access to social media applications and websites. Access to Applications such as WhatsApp and Facebook had been restricted since the morning of Tuesday 15 January 2019.

MISA Calls for Release of Journalist from Prolonged Detention

Felicia Anthonio
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MISA Calls for Release of Journalist from Prolonged Detention

This statetment was originally published on zimbabwe.misa.org on January 22, 2019.

MISA Zimbabwe joins the international community in calling for the immediate release of Mozambican journalist Amade Abubacar who has been in detention since 5 January 2019.

Abubacar is a community radio journalist for the state-owned Rádio e Televisao Comunitária Nacedje de Macomia.

Military personnel picked Abubacar in Macomia, a town in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province on 5 January 2019. He is accused of colluding with militants that have sown terror in the northern Mozambican region. He remained in a military prison from the time of his arrest and was only transferred into police custody on 16 January 2019.

Abubacar appeared in court on 18 January 2019. The court denied him bail and further remanded him in custody. According to reports, the court ruled that his detention was lawful citing that he had appeared within 48 hours of his transfer to the police, completely ignoring his 11-day detention by the military.

Cabo Delgado is quickly turning into a media freedom violations hotspot. Abubacar’s arrest follows that of eNCA correspondent Pindai Dube in June 2018, and that of investigative journalist Estacio Valoi, Amnesty International researcher David Matsinhe, and their driver, Girafe Saide Tufane in December 2018.

This raises concerns that the military insurgencies are generally making Cabo Delgado an inhospitable province for journalists who might want to cover political events connected to the country’s national elections scheduled for this year.

MISA Zimbabwe Position

Abubacar’s prolonged detention by the military is a violation of his rights as well as his arrest under unconfirmed charges. The Mozambican government is setting a bad precedent in the violation of free expression and access to information in the region. The Southern African Development Community is strongly urged to act on the deteriorating media rights situation in Mozambique.

Ends

MISA Zimbabwe is a member of the Southern Africa Development Community Internet Governance Forum (SAIGF) Multi-Stakeholder Coordinating Team.

MISA Zimbabwe Regional Solidarity Statement

Internet Shutdowns, Fatal Clampdowns; a Continuing Threat to Freedom of Expression and Assembly Rights in Africa

Felicia Anthonio
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Internet Shutdowns, Fatal Clampdowns; a Continuing Threat to Freedom of Expression and Assembly Rights in Africa

By Felicia Anthonio, Coordinator of the African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX)

In recent times, there has been an increase in the use of Internet shutdowns and excessive force by governments against protesters as a control measure of demonstrations across the African continent. The use of these repressive measures often result in the violation of fundamental rights of citizens such as freedom of expression, access to information, assembly and right to life.

Over the past one month, the governments of Sudan and Zimbabwe have failed to safeguard the fundamental rights of citizens with their respective responses to a series of protests in the two countries. There have been massive protests in Sudan and Zimbabwe over severe economic hardships. Governments in both countries have done little to attend to the demands of the citizenry, but rather responded with a heavy hand that has resulted in loss of lives.

The resort to repressive measures including Internet shutdowns, arrest and detention of opposition figures or activists and use of lethal force against protesters have led to deterioration in the already unenviable human rights situations of the two countries.

Security agents in Sudan in response to massive protests which broke out in various cities in the country in December 2018 fired live bullets and tear gas at protesters resulting in the killing of about 20 persons with several people injured. Several opposition figures have also been arbitrarily arrested for allegedly fuelling the protests. Aside these violations, the Al-Bashir led government ordered key telecom service providers in the country (MTN Sudan, Zain Sudan and Sudatel) to shut down access to social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram on mobile networks to counter the anti-government protests.

Similarly, in January 2019, the government of Zimbabwe deployed lethal force and Internet blackout to control protests in Harare and other cities over hikes in fuel prices. The government cracked down on protesters with brutal force from security agents and an order for complete Internet shutdown in the country with about seven million of the country’s Internet population (2017 statistics) being digitally cut off from the rest of the world. Police brutalities against protesters resulted in the killing of about five persons. There have also been reported cases of other violations including arbitrary arrests, detention and physical assault of activists.

The repressive measures adopted by the two countries have proven futile as the protests continue to gather momentum despite these repressive measures being introduced.  

The situation in the two countries reflect a general pattern in Africa where the Internet is shut down and/or security forces launch fatal attacks on demonstrators, particularly anti-government protesters, with impunity.   The governments of Togo, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo shut down the Internet amidst deadly crackdowns on anti-government protesters in 2017.  Click here to read AFEX’s Annual Report on the State of Internet Freedom in Africa for more information about countries that have experienced Internet shutdowns and violations in 2017.

Incidentally, the right to freedom of expression is enshrined in the constitutions of Sudan and Zimbabwe. Both of them are also signatories to regional and international frameworks such as the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR), the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civic and Political Rights (ICCPR).

African Governments have a duty to ensure the fundamental rights of their citizenry are upheld at all times. It is, therefore, worrying if governments who themselves are supposed to safeguard the enjoyment of such freedoms, become the major violators of the rights of citizens.

African leaders should therefore adopt a more humane, rights-respecting approach to controlling public protests in line with their commitments under their countries’ constitutions and the many protocols and charters relating to freedom of expression and assembly that they have signed.

Killing of Ghanaian Journalist, Three Critical Safety of Journalists’ Issues to Consider

Felicia Anthonio
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Killing of Ghanaian Journalist, Three Critical Safety of Journalists’ Issues to Consider

This statement was originally published on www.mfwa.org on January 21, 2019.

On Wednesday, January 16, 2019, Ahmed Hussein Suale, a member of the Tiger Eye PI investigative team led by Anas Aremeyaw Anas, was shot and killed by unknown gunmen.

The incident has attracted local, regional and international attention and condemnation. All actors including the UN have called on the Ghanaian authorities to promptly and thoroughly investigate the matter to bring the perpetrators to book.

While we are saddened by the death of Suale, the incident brings to bare three critical challenges on safety of journalists in Ghana that must be highlighted and given attention by all actors.

  1. State Failure

While individuals and institutions have a responsibility to protect journalists, the state has a primary responsibility in providing safety and protection for all, including journalists. But over the years, the Ghanaian state has woefully failed to live up to its duties as far as safety of journalists is concerned.

In the last four years for example, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has reported 62 incidents of attacks on journalists and media houses in Ghana. This translates into more than one attack on journalists per month.

On many of these instances, the MFWA has often petitioned the appropriate authorities with due follow-ups or issued statements demanding action from authorities.

Recent examples of such abuses include the attacks on a reporter by a body guard of former President John Mahama; the attack on four reporters by security officers of the ruling New Patriotic Party at the party’s headquarters in Accra; soldiers’ assault on a freelance journalist, Kendrick Offei.

Others have included police brutality against Joy News reporter, Latif Idrissu and attack on GBC reporter, Yahyah Kwamoah by presidential staffer Stan Dogbe. There have also been attacks on media organisations such as Hot FM in Accra, Radio Justice in Tamale, and the Daily Guide’s offices in Kumasi.

Sadly, apart from actions taken by individual media organisations, notably the Multimedia Group, to secure justice for their abused staff, there is no evidence of state-led investigations leading to conclusions and justice for victims. Not even when an assault happened at their Headquarters have the police been able to unravel it.

For instance, one would have expected the state security agencies to have taken action against the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, on his publicly made and widely publicised incitement of violence against the late Suale.

The consequence of the continued phenomenon of state inaction on issues of attacks on journalists have bred a thriving culture of impunity that can only create the impression that journalists can be abused without accountability.

  1. Inertia on the Part of the Media

The media themselves – media organisations, journalists and other workers – bear a great responsibility in raising the profile of safety of journalists issues and setting the agenda for authorities to consider them as priority national issues.

Unfortunately, over the years, reports on attacks on journalists rarely make top-level headlines in media coverage and discussions. At best, such reports are often taken up by the media organisation of the victims and very few others, and even in that case, the issue is not discussed on a sustained basis.

Quite often too, journalists who are victims of attacks and their respective media organisations fail to report the incidents to the police for investigations, and when they do, they often do not follow up. Indeed, in conversations between MFWA and the Ghana police on matters of safety of journalists, the police have often raised the issue of cases not being reported to them as one of their challenges.

  1. Undignified Compromises

There have been a number of occasions when the pursuit of justice in cases of violence against journalists have been compromised through backdoor settlement.

Such settlements, which sometimes include compensations, are done on the blind side of media actors seeking justice and through whose action the matter became high-profile.

In some instances too, such backdoor negotiations and compensations on abuses that are criminal in nature, are actually facilitated by media actors to the detriment of the pursuit of justice.

The spate of impunity over attacks on journalists and media houses across the country is extremely worrying.

It is unquestionable that journalists themselves and their respective media organisations have a role to play when it comes to their safety. However, the state has the ultimate responsibility to ensure the safety and security of all, including journalists.

While we still commiserate with the family of the late Ahmed Suale and demand prompt and thorough investigations into the incident, the MFWA calls on the government to demonstrate greater commitment to matters relating to the safety of journalists.

We also call on management of media organisations to take appropriate steps to guarantee the security and safety of their staff and where violations occur, to take necessary actions to seek justice.

AFEX Urges President Mnangagwa to End the Crackdown on Freedom of Expression and Assembly Rights in Zimbabwe

Felicia Anthonio
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0
AFEX Urges President Mnangagwa to End the Crackdown on Freedom of Expression and Assembly Rights in Zimbabwe

The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) is deeply concerned about the current government crackdown on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly rights in Zimbabwe.

AFEX denounces in particular, the use of lethal force against protesters resulting in the alleged killing of at least five persons with several reported injuries. AFEX has also received reports of arbitrary arrest and detention of protesters.

The AFEX network further condemns the use of Internet shutdowns by the Zimbabwean government as a mechanism to stifle the freedom of expression rights of the people of Zimbabwe.

The government of Zimbabwe has for the second time in a week, ordered Internet Service Providers to shut down Internet connection in the country. The directive was contained in a message sent out by one of the Internet Service Providers in Zimbabwe, Econet to its customers on January 17, 2019:

    A copy of the message announcing the second Internet shutdown sent out to customers by Econet

Government’s announcement of hike in prices of fuel and other commodities has since January 12, 2019 resulted in massive protests across the country.

On January 16, 2019, the government ordered a complete Internet blackout as protests intensified across the country. AFEX member in Zimbabwe, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA Zimbabwe) together with other journalists filed a lawsuit at the High Court against the government for switching off the Internet. The shutdown lasted 28 hours, only for the government to order another shutdown on January 17, 2019.

And as network disruptions have proven to cause more harm than good for the security of any nation and its people, the protests in Zimbabwe have amplified despite the Internet shutdown with protesters being more agitated.

AFEX reaffirms that the government of Zimbabwe has a responsibility to protect citizens’ rights at all times as enshrined in its national constitution and other regional and international frameworks.

Moreover, Internet shutdowns contradict provisions of UN Resolution A/HRC/32/L.20 which provides that the rights people enjoy offline must be protected online.

AFEX joins the global community to condemn this act of censorship from the government and appeals to President Emmerson Mnangagwa ensure an end to the use of Internet blackout quell protests. We urge the Zimbawean government to uphold the Internet freedoms of the ordinary people to allow them pursue their personal and professional endeavours.

AFEX Condemns South Sudan’s Media Authority Censorship

Felicia Anthonio
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0
AFEX Condemns South Sudan’s Media Authority Censorship

The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) condemns the summoning of the Editor in Chief of Al Watan Arabic newspaper by South Sudan’s Media Authority, for publishing articles on on-going demonstrations in neighbouring Sudan.

The Editor in Chief, Michael Rial Christopher, was summoned by the Media Authority on January 7, 2019 after the Sudanese Embassy in Juba lodged a complaint with the regulator, accusing the Al Watan newspaper of being supportive of ongoing protests in Sudan. The Al Watan Arabi newspaper had on January 3, 4 and 7, 2019 published three separate opinion pieces about protests.

The Media Authority in South Sudan further issued a directive contained in a letter signed by the Acting Director, Sapana Abuyi on the same day (on January 7) cautioning the newspaper to desist with immediate effect from “writing anything on topics relating to the ongoing protests in Sudan, which is an internal political issue of a friendly neighbouring country”.

The letter further ordered the newspaper to publish an official apology to the Sudanese Embassy within 72 hours, an order which the newspaper has refused.

There have been ongoing protests in Sudan over the past weeks with citizens protesting the poor standards and high costs of living in the country. A crackdown on the protesters has resulted in at least 19 deaths and several injuries

A Copy of the Warning Letter Issued by South Sudan’s Media Authority to Al Watan Arabic Newspaper

AFEX finds the directive to the Al Watan newspaper not to cover the events in neighbouring Sudan as a dangerous case of censorship. The directive clearly violates the South Sudan’s constitution which guarantees press freedom. In this age of globalization, the media’s responsibility to highlight important events defies national borders. This is particularly so in the present case of Sudan where fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are reportedly being violated so that the international community can intervene before the situation degenerates.

We therefore call on South Sudan’s Media Authority to withdraw the gag order and allow the media to work independently.

AFEX urges the media in South Sudan to remain steadfast and demonstrate mutual solidarity in the face of the media regulator’s tyranny.  

AFEX Deplores Bomb Attack against Somali Journalist

Felicia Anthonio
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AFEX Deplores Bomb Attack against Somali Journalist

The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) denounces an attempt by hooligans on the life of Somali journalist and Chairman of rights-based NGO, Human Rights Journalists (HRJ) in Somalia.

According to local media report, Ismail Sheikh Khalifa is seriously injured after an explosive device which was planted in his car went off in the early evening of December 4, 2018 in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Khalifa is said to have sustained serious injuries and was bleeding profusely. He is currently undergoing treatment at the Erdogan Hospital (formerly Digfeer hospital).

The reason behind the attempt on Khalifah’s life is unclear and no perpetrators have claimed responsibility for the attack or have been apprehended.

AFEX is seriously concerned about the deteriorating safety of journalists’ situation in Somalia. The use of explosives to target journalists in Somalia is not new. On December 11, 2017, Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed, nicknamed Gabow, who used to work for privately owned Kalsan TV, was killed after an improvised explosive device was fitted to his car.

We call upon the police to investigate this heinous attack against Ismail Sheikh Khalifa and bring the perpetrators to book. AFEX calls on the government of Somalia to ensure that attacks against journalists are investigated to a logical conclusion and perpetrators severely punished.

Additionally, we appeal to the government of Somalia and all relevant stakeholders to put in place safety of journalists mechanisms to ensure that journalists are safe in carrying out their duties. Impunity for crimes against journalists cannot continue to prevail over justice in Somalia.

We wish Khalifa a speedy recovery.

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