The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) recorded a total of 139 freedom of expression (FOE) violations were recorded in 23 African countries from April to Spetember 2019. Somalia recorded the highest number of violations (28), while Nigeria followed with 25 violations. Sudan and Guinea recorded 13 violations each while Ghana followed with 12 violations. Mauritania and Zimbabwe followed with six violations each. Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Liberia and DRC recorded four violations each while Benin and Niger recorded three violations each. Two incidents each were recorded in Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, The Gambia and Uganda while the remaining seven countries recorded a violation each.
The violations included arbitrary arrests and detentions, physical assaults, censorship, crackdown on protests, shutdown of media houses and digital rights violations. Out of the 139 violations recorded during the monitoring period, state security agents were responsible for 93 violations.
State officials also accounted for 19 violations while political party affiliates perpetrated five violations. Courts and regulatory bodies were also implicated in three and four violations respectively. A majority of these violations were left unpunished.
Kindly click here to access the full report.FOE SITUATION IN AFRICA REPORT – April – September 2019. Â