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Insult Laws: Insulting to Press Freedom

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Insult Laws: Insulting to Press Freedom INSULT LAWS: INSULTING TO PRESS FREEDOM A Guide to Evolution of Insult Laws in 2010 by Patti McCracken introduction by Raymond Louw a publication of World Press Freedom Committee and Freedom House funded by Ringier AG Funding of this publication, by Ringier AG, Zurich, Switzerland Country maps by permission of The Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C. Press freedom ratings by Freedom House Editor of the publication: Ronald Koven Other WPFC publications on this subject include: “Insult Laws: An Insult to Press Freedom, Study of More Than 90 Countries and Territories” by Ruth Walden, 286 pages, 2000 “Hiding From the People, How ‘insult’ laws restrict public scrutiny of public officials, What can be done about it,” 18 pages, 2000 “It’s a Crime: How Insult Laws Stifle Press Freedom, 2006 Status Report edited by Marilyn Greene, 306 pages, 2007 “The Right to Offend, Shock or Disturb, A Guide to Evolution of Insult Laws in 2007-2008,” by Carolyn R. Wendell, 156 pages, 2009 “Insult Laws: In Contempt of Justice, A Guide to Evolution of Insult Laws in 2009,” by Uta Melzer, 220 pages, 2010 Those publications and copies of this book may be obtained by contacting: Freedom House 1301 Connecticut Ave. NW, 6th floor Washington, D.C. 20036, USA or World Press Freedom Committee 133, avenue de Suffren 75007 Paris, France Published by the World Press Freedom Committee and Freedom House © 2012 Table of Contents Biographical Notes 1 Introduction: Furthering a Family Affair, by Raymond Louw 2 European Union/South East Europe 6 France 7 Hungary 11 Ireland 16 Italy 19 Serbia 21 Slovakia 24 Spain 25 Turkey 28 United Kingdom 32 Former Soviet Union 33 Azerbaijan 34 Belarus 36 Kazakhstan 39 Russia 43 Uzbekistan 48 Sub-Saharan Africa 50 Botswana 51 Burundi 54 Cameroon 56 Democratic Republic of Congo 58 Ethiopia 61 Gambia 65 Ivory Coast 67 Mauritania 72 Niger 75 Rwanda 76 Senegal 79 Sierra Leone 83 Zimbabwe 86 Latin America/Caribbean 89 Argentina 90 Brazil 92 Colombia 94 Cuba 96 Ecuador 98 Mexico 100 Peru 102 Uruguay 104 Venezuela 106 Asia-Pacific 108 Afghanistan 109 Cambodia 111 China 115 Fiji 117 India 119 Indonesia 122 Malaysia 127 Pakistan 130 Singapore 132 Thailand 134 Vietnam 138 Middle East/North Africa 142 Algeria 143 Bahrain 146 Egypt 150 Iran 153 Iraq 156 Kuwait 160 Lebanon 162 Morocco 165 Sudan 173 Tunisia 174 United Arab Emirates 177 Yemen 179 1 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES Patti McCracken is an independent American journalist, based in Austria. She was an assistant editor at The Chicago Tribune and twice a Knight International Press Fellow. Her articles appear in various publications, notably Smithsonian Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor and the Wall Street Journal. She has more than 15 years experience as a journalism trainer throughout the former Soviet bloc, the Balkans, Southeast Asia and North Africa. She is an assistant professor at Webster University’s Vienna campus. Raymond Louw was editor of the anti-Apartheid newspaper the Rand Daily Mail in South Africa for 11 years and until 2011 editor/publisher of the weekly newsletter Southern Africa Report. He has campaigned for press freedom most of his professional life. His work against insult law and criminal defamation was part of a longstanding World Press Freedom Committee campaign. The International Press Institute named him a Press Freedom Hero in 2011. He chairs the South African Press Council and is active in the South Africa National Editors Forum. 2 INTRODUCTION FURTHERING A FAMILY AFFAIR by Raymond Louw There has been some progress in Africa toward abolition of insult laws and criminal defamation. But there is stillfar to go. The latest step forward was when Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou became the first head of state to endorse the Declaration of Table Mountain, a text originated by press NGOs calling for repeal of such laws and to put press freedom higher on the agenda in Africa. President Issoufou signed the Declaration in a ceremony in his capital of Niamey organized by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN- IFRA), the World Editors Forum, the African Editors Forum, and Niger’s Maison de la Presse, with more than 1,000 participants, including ambassadors and government officials from more than 25 countries. The Declaration of Table Mountain was adopted in Cape Town, South Africa in 2007. Numerous press freedom and civil society groups -- and South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize lareate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, -- have endorsed its call for repeal of laws that give false legal cover for the vast majority of African nations that continue to jail journalists and close media houses on charges of defamation or for "insulting" authorities or their policies. Other African leaders need to follow President Issoufou's example. Some are pledged to do so. African groups endorsing the Declaration of Table Mountain include the African Editors Forum, Freedom of Expression Institute, Media Institute of Southern Africa, Media Foundation for West Africa, Observatoire-OLPEC, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, Institute for the Advancement of Journalism, South African National Editors Forum, Journaliste En Danger, National Union of Somali Journalists and African Media Initiative. In addition to the World Press Freedom Committee and Freedom House, they have been joined in this by such international groups as International PEN, Reporters Without Borders, Article 19, Index on Censorship, International Press Institute, Committee to Protect Journalists, Media Rights Agenda, International Publishers Association and the Media Legal Defense Initiative. 3 The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA adopted the Declaration of Table Mountain at a conference in Cape Town back in June 2007. The aims of that text are easily stated -- abolition by African nations of insult and criminal defamation laws and other restrictions on the operations of the media – but not so easily brought about. Alison Meston, Press Freedom Director of WAN-IFRA, who leads her group’s campaign on the issue, says: “In country after country, the African press is crippled by a panoply of repressive measures, from jailing and persecution of journalists to the widespread scourge of 'insult laws' and criminal defamation. Through this Declaration, WAN-IFRA has stated its conviction that Africa urgently needs a strong, free and independent press as a watchdog over public institutions.” She notes: “One of the most widely used -- and frequently abused -- elements of justice is criminal defamation, deployed by governments from Algiers to Pretoria, Dakar to Mogadishu, when it comes to suppressing information and silencing critical journalism. Across the continent such laws criminalize journalists, close publications and stifle information otherwise considered crucial to safeguard the public interest. Research into the number of cases based on criminal defamation before the 2007 Declaration, conducted for the World Press Freedom Committee -- an international coalition of press freedom organizations in which WAN-IFRA is active -- revealed an alarming frequency that severely hampers the ability of the press to cover issues of public concern. “Reporters covering corruption of public officials, police or military conduct, government policy decisions, public spending, even the health of kings or presidents, continue to be systematically hauled to court for defamation. Journalists, editors and publishers across the continent who resist the enormous pressure to self-censor and choose to tackle the so-called ‘red lines’ head on in their newspapers risk charges of endangering national security, destabilizing the country and -- in extreme cases -- treason. They are frequently jailed for exposing the truth and even in cases where financial compensation is deemed appropriate, pay recompense to plaintiffs. Exorbitant fines often far outweigh actual damage. Assets are seized, publications closed and often the accused risk prison when 4 unable to pay. Criminalizing defamation deters investigative journalism and reduces the ability of the press to fill its watchdog role.” The link between an active and independent press, free from government interference and intimidation, is a key step on the road to economic, political and social development. There are many steps along the road involving local, regional and international organizations partnering both on the ground and in the continent’s corridors of power. A major goal in coming months is to amend the African Peer Review Mechanism, a mutually agreed self-monitoring instrument of African Union countries to review governance, so that it includes press freedom amongst its assessment criteria. The Declaration of Table Mountain campaign fits directly with this aim and has been gathering steady momentum on every level. After intense lobbying with policymakers, the African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights has adopted a resolution on defamation that provides a real possibility of meaningful change. In September 2010, the campaign was given a boost when Africa’s leading press freedom advocates -- editors, journalists and activists -- met in Nairobi, Kenya, to support it and form a campaign steering committee to place it in the forefront of press freedom in Africa. Its members include Omar Belhouchet, Director of the Algerian daily Al Watan: Cheriff Sy, Director of the publication Bendré in Burkina Faso and Deputy Chair of the African Editors Forum; Albert Twizeyimana, a journalist with Radio Rwanda and founder of Journalistes Libres (JOLI); and Gitobu Imanyara, a human rights lawyer, member of the Kenyan Parliament and founder of the Nairobi Law Monthly. So far, Ghana is the only African country to have fully repealed insult and criminal defamation laws, though a handful of others have partially decriminalized them. The campaign is gathering steam. Amongst the outspoken opponents of criminal defamation in Africa are Pansy Tlakula, the African Union’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression. 5 Highlights of activities for the Table Mountain Declaration in 2010-11 included: • The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights passed a resolution to repeal criminal defamation.
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