· ALERT Date: November 2005 Persons/Institutions: Media and citizens of Mozambique Violation: Legislation (positive) MISA Mozambique announced in November that it had completed a draft bill on freedom of information, ready to be considered by the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic. MISA Mozambique had spent three years drafting and redrafting this document which, according to Salomao Moyana, chairperson of the MISA-Mozambique Governing Council, will establish the necessary procedures so that the right of the public to information, enshrined in the Mozambican constitution, becomes a reality Moyana said the bill will ensure access to the data held by the public administration, or by private bodies that provide public services. The bill lists a large number of items which all bodies of the public administration must make public - including their internal norms, regulation and instructions, their budgets and reports on budget implementation, all licenses or permits that they issue, the details of all contracts they sign, and the results of any audits. If the bill becomes law, citizens will be able to consult all official documents free of charge, and take copies of them. Requests for such access may only be refused if the matter concerned affects national security, if it seriously damages the fight against crime or the administration of justice, if it reveals government policy prematurely, thereby compromising its success, if publication would seriously damage the legitimate commercial interests of third parties, or if it would violate the private life of others. The bill contains public interest clauses that could override claims of national security or commercial secrecy – for example where public health, violation of human rights or environmental risks are involved. Requests for information must receive a response within ten days at the most. Any refusal to grant access must be explained, and may be appealed against to higher bodies, and eventually to the Administrative Tribunal. · ALERT Date: November 22, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Diario de Noticias Violation: Threatened On November 22 2005, Mozambique’s Supreme Court warned that it “reserves the right to use appropriate legal mechanisms” against one of Maputo’s daily newssheets which it accuses of fabricating a story concerning the court against former Education Minister Alcido Nguenha. The newssheet in question, “Diario de Noticias, published on November 3, under the byline of its reporter Laurindos Macuacua, a story that the case against Nguenha, accused of diverting Ministry of Education scholarships to members of his own family, was now before the Supreme Court. A letter from the general secretary of the Supreme Court, Jose Maria de Sousa, described the article as “a vile and deceitful invention” and sustains the right to use legal actions because the newspaper has repeatedly published false stories that attack the good name and reputation of the Supreme Court. · ALERT(update) Date: November 12, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Carlos Cardoso Violation: Killed The retrial of the man convicted of leading the death squad that murdered Mozambique’s top investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso, has been set to begin on December 1. Anibal dos So This Is Democracy? 2005 -83- Media Institute of Southern Africa