ers are victims of repression-they are murdered, arrested, detained and censored,
and are restricted by economic and political pressures such as restrictions on newsprint, licensing systems which restrict the
opportunity to publish, visa restrictions
which prevent the free movement of
journalists, restrictions on the exchange
of news and information, and limitations
on the circulation of newspapers within
countries and across national borders. In
some countries, oneparty States control
the totality of information.
7.

8.

9.

Today, at least 17 journalists, editors or
publishers are in African prisons, and 48
African journalists were killed in the exercise of their profession between 1969
and 1990.
The General Assembly of the United Nations should include in the agenda of its
next session an item on the declaration of
censorship as a grave violation of human
rights falling within the purview of the
Commission on Human Rights.
African States should be encouraged to
provide constitutional guarantees of freedom of the press and freedom of association.

10. To encourage and consolidate the positive changes taking place in Africa, and to
counter the negative ones, the international community-specifically, international
organizations (governmental as well as
nongovernmental), development agencies
and professional associations-should as a
matter of priority direct funding support
towards the development and establishment of nongovernmental newspapers,
magazines and periodicals that reflect
the society as a whole and the different
points of view within the communities
they serve.

consequence, the public media should be
funded only where authorities guarantee
a constitutional and effective freedom of
information and expression and the independence of the press.
12. To assist in the preservation of the freedoms enumerated above, the establishment of truly independent, representative
associations, syndicates or trade unions of
journalists, and associations of editors and
publishers, is a matter of priority in all the
countries of Africa where such bodies do
not now exist.
13. The national media and labour relations
laws of African countries should be drafted in such a way as to ensure that such
representative associations can exist and
fulfil their important tasks in defence of
press freedom.
14. As a sign of good faith, African Governments that have jailed journalists for their
professional activities should free them
immediately. Journalists who have had to
leave their countries should be free to return to resume their professional activities.
15. Cooperation between publishers within
Africa, and between publishers of the
North and South (for example through the
principle of twinning), should be encouraged and supported.
16. As a matter of urgency, the United Nations and UNESCO, and particularly the
International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), should
initiate detailed research, in cooperation
with governmental (especially UNDP)
and nongovernmental donor agencies,
relevant nongovernmental organizations
and professional associations, into the following specific areas:
a.

11. All funding should aim to encourage
pluralism as well as independence. As a

100

So This is Democracy? 2014

identification of economic barriers to
the establishment of news media outlets, including restrictive import du-

Select target paragraph3