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World Press Freedom Day statement
Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ)
May 03, 2007

As other democratic communities commemorate World Press Freedom Day on May 3 by reflecting on the progressive steps they have taken to entrench media freedom and freedom of expression, Zimbabwe marks this day in the wake of relentless attacks on the media and the citizens’ right to free speech.

The widely condemned Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA), continue to be used with impunity to muzzle the media and harass journalists.

The intimidation, harassment and unlawful arrests, detentions and torture of journalists going about their professional duties continue unabated. Photojournalists Tsvangirai Mukwazhi and Tendai Musiyazviriyo, a freelance TV producer were on 11 March 2007 detained for two nights together with opposition leaders after police cordoned off Zimbabwe Grounds, venue of a planned national day of prayer organised by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign.

Mukwazhi was severely assaulted while in police custody. Gift Phiri, chief reporter of The Zimbabwean met with a similar fate when he was arrested at Sunningdale Shopping Centre in Harare on 1 April 2007 under AIPPA on allegations of practicing journalism without accreditation. On 31 January 2007 Bill Saidi, the editor of The Standard received a brown envelope containing a bullet and a threatening message warning him to "watch out".

The perpetrators of these unlawful actions remain unaccounted for and continue to freely roam the country posing serious threats to journalists who are lawfully going about their duties to gather and disseminate information.

It is MAZ’s firm belief that full citizens’ participation in the governance and socio-economic and political affairs of the country is not possible where newspapers are closed at the slightest of excuses; where the public’s fundamental right to freedom of expression and information is criminalised and where journalists and other media workers are harassed, arrested, detained and tortured with impunity.

As we mark this day, hundreds of journalists and media workers have been thrown into the streets following the closure of The Daily News, Daily News on Sunday, The Weekly Times and The Tribune under AIPPA.

The list of unemployed journalists whose future remains uncertain under the prevailing repressive media environment continues to grow with the closure of The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Mirror, which faced viability problems following the hostile takeover of the Zimbabwe Mirror Newspaper Group by the Central Intelligence Organisation from its founding publisher Ibbo Mandaza.

Indications are that the situation is not likely to improve anytime soon ahead of the 2008 elections when viewed against the recent pronouncements by the government and most notably by the State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa and Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, the Minister of Information and Publicity.

Minister Mutasa is on record saying he wishes the widely condemned AIPPA and POSA remains on the country’s statutes forever. On the other hand, Dr Ndlovu has threatened to close "anti-government" non-governmental organisations which the government accuses of masterminding a regime change agenda.

MAZ, however, remains unshaken in its resolve to rescue the journalism profession from AIPPA and POSA and promote media accountability.

It is in this vein that the alliance is pushing for the establishment of an independent Media Council of Zimbabwe in compliance with the 1991 Windhoek Declaration and Banjul Declaration on the Principles of Freedom of Expression in Africa which the government is signatory to.

We therefore call upon the government to honor and respect its pledges to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and repeal AIPPA, POSA and BSA to facilitate the establishment of more alternative sources of information. We also implore the government to urgently transform the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation into a truly independent public broadcaster as envisioned under the African Charter on Broadcasting and SADC Guidelines on the Conduct of Democratic Elections to secure a free environment more so ahead of the 2008 elections.

Inserted by:

Zimbabwe Union of Journalists
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
MISA-Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe National Editors Forum

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