The Board of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), meeting on 2 June 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand during the 65th World Newspaper Congress and 20th World Editors Forum, congratulates the Pan-African Parliament on recognising the Declaration of Table Mountain and its call to repeal criminal defamation and insult laws.
However, the Board raises special concerns for some African states where freedom of the press is compromised by restrictive legislation. The Board continues to hold grave concerns for countries such as:
- Ethiopia and its increasing use of anti-terrorism legislation to incarcerate journalists;
- Burundi and its recent passing of a law which reduces the protection of journalists’ sources, bans media from reporting on issues deemed too sensitive, and increases fines against media houses;
- South Africa, where the Secrecy Bill carries jail sentences of up to 25 years for journalists who disclose classified information, even if it is in the public interest;
- Eritrea and its on going incarceration of journalists, including 2011 Golden Pen of Freedom laureate Dawit Isaak;
- Egypt, where increasing physical attacks on journalists and the use of insult laws are stifling the ability of journalists to report the news.
The Board encourages African states, and in particular those listed above, to heed the call by the Pan-African Parliament to adopt the Declaration of Table Mountain by repealing insult laws and criminal defamation and setting a free press higher on the agenda. Furthermore, the Board of WAN-IFRA calls for the release of all media professionals currently jailed because of their work.
