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Momodou
Denmark
11827 Posts |
 Posted - 03 Mar 2008 : 17:59:51
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Media Practitioners Fight For Decriminalisation Of Media Laws
A regional seminar on “The decriminalisation of media laws”, held in Ouagadougou from February 27th – 29th, Burkina Faso with objectives to reinforce the comprehension of the de-criminalisation of the press offence laws in West Africa, has set up a lobbying strategy at the regional level and is to prepare a common lobbying document.
Deliberations and plenary sessions focused on decriminalisation of the press offence laws in relation to the social responsibility of the journalist and arguments for and against the de-criminalisation of the press offence laws. In West Africa, only Togo and Ghana have de-penalised the press offence laws. Presentations on their experiences and the processes to decriminalisation were made.
Participants noted that the de-criminalisation of press offences within a society that should build itself as a democratic State, will contribute to and reaffirm, not only the right to the freedom of the press which opens the way to the freedom of expression and opinion, but also the right to criticize the decisions of the institutional powers established to open the path to plural debate.
It was also argued that the arrests and imprisonment for violations of the press offence laws, though sometimes legal, are sanctions that restrict 1) the basic right to information and the free expression of the opinions and thoughts; and 2) the installation of democracy.
A declaration known as the Ouagadougou Declaration was issued by the participants at the end of seminar.
Considering that the freedom of the press remains essential to the establishment of good governance and economic, political, social and cultural sustainable development; of prosperity and peace in the sub-region, and to the fight against corruption, famine, poverty, violent conflict, disease and lack of education, the participants reaffirmed their responsibility as women and men of media to conduct an “energetic campaign in the long run against the violations and the restrictions on freedom of the press”.
The Ouagadougou Declaration calls on The Member States of ECOWAS and Mauritania to recognise the indivisible character of freedom of the press and respect the commitments they have signed within the framework of the international, regional and sub regional conventions reaffirming freedom, the independence and the safety of press and, “to urgently support this objective by the abrogation of the laws on defamation and public insult.”
Among other issues, it further calls on the governments and the Parliaments of the Member States of ECOWAS and Mauritania to urgently examine and abolish all the other laws that limit freedom of the press; to immediately release journalists imprisoned in the exercise of their professional duties and authorise the journalists in exile to return to their home country; to condemn all forms of repression of the media in the ECOWAS region and Mauritania that make it possible to prohibit newspapers, and the use of other sanctions like the taxation laws on the importation of newsprint and printing equipment and the suppression of advertising interdiction in private newspapers; and to create a fund for the development of the media and give priority to legal reform of the media and, in particular, to the campaign for the removal in the West African region of the laws on defamation and public insult.
The Declaration also reminded ECOWAS Member States and Mauritania to conform to the principles stated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other protocols, and to offer constitutional guarantees to freedom of the press.
This Declaration will be presented to the President of the Commission of ECOWAS with the request that it be distributed to all the Member States of ECOWAS to be approved during its next meeting at the summit of the Heads of State.
Source:Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issues
Issue No. 26/2008, 3 - 4 March, 2008
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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