the fostering of a free and independent press as a key requirement in the assessment of good governance in the countries of the continent, and Identify as the greatest scourge of press freedom on the continent the continued implementation of “insult laws,” which outlaw criticism of politicians and those in authority, and criminal defamation legislation, both of which are used indiscriminately in the vast majority of African states that maintain them and which have as their prime motive the ``locking up of information’’, Declare that African states must recognise the indivisibility of press freedom and their responsibility to respect their commitments to African and international protocols upholding the freedom, independence and safety of the press, and To further that aim by, as a matter of urgency, abolishing ``insult’’ and criminal defamation laws which in the five months of this year have caused the harassment, arrest and/or imprisonment of 229 editors, reporters, broadcasters and online journalists in 27 African countries (as outlined in the annexure to this declaration), Call on African governments as a matter of urgency to review and abolish all other laws that restrict press freedom, Call on African governments that have jailed journalists for their professional activities to free them immediately and to allow the return to their countries of journalists who have been forced into exile, Condemn all forms of repression of African media that allows for banning of newspapers and the use of other devices such as levying import duties on newsprint and printing materials and withholding advertising, Call on African states to promote the highest standards of press freedom in furtherance of the principles proclaimed in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other protocols and to provide constitutional guarantees of freedom of the press, Call on the African Union immediately to include in the criteria for “good governance” in the African Peer Review Mechanism the vital requirement that a country promotes free and independent media, Call on international institutions to promote progress in press freedom in Africa in the next decade, through such steps as assisting newspapers in the areas of legal defence, skills development and access to capital and equipment, Welcome moves towards a global fund for African media development and recommends that such an initiative gives priority attention to media legal reform and in particular the campaign to rid the continent of “insult” and criminal defamation laws, Commit WAN and WEF to expand their existing activities in regard to press freedom and development in Africa in the coming decade. WAN and WEF make this declaration from Table Mountain at the southern tip of Africa as an earnest appeal to all Africans to recognise that the political and economic So This Is Democracy? 2008 -308- Media Institute of Southern Africa