PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | 5 December 2014 Media and human rights organisations are delighted with today’s decision of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in the case of Konaté v Burkina Faso to rule that imprisonment for defamation violates the right to freedom of expression,and that criminal defamation laws...
Cape Town, South Africa, December 5, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the decision by the Pretoria High Court in South Africa to uphold journalist Cecil Motsepe’s appeal against a conviction of criminal defamation, but disapproves of the court’s ruling that the crime of defamation for journalists falls in line with South Africa’s...
Nairobi, November 24, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists today calls on authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo to stop meddling with radio station broadcasts in the country. The Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende has called for the shutdown of several radio stations in recent weeks, and a few have gone off the...
Media professionals in Benin have recently joined the DoX campaign after a successful mission to the country. The mission team included representatives from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, WAN-IFRA, the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ and the Federation of African Journalists/West African Journalists Association FAJ-WAJA. Supported by local partners, the...
Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right that is provided for in various human rights protocols and national constitutions. In the case of Zambia, this right is provided for under Article 20(1) and states “Excerpt with his own consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression,...
A Report on the Media Law Reform in Africa Conference in Cape Town by Christian Echle and Katharina Lang. In many African countries, freedom of expression and editorial independence of the media, are often only guaranteed on paper. In many cases media laws from the colonial era continue to be or are altered...
