SECTOR 1 1.4. The government makes every effort to honour regional and international instruments on freedom of expression and freedom of the media South Africa has made efforts to incorporate regional and international instruments on freedom of expression and freedom of the media, to which it is a signatory, into its own laws. The main exception to this is in relation to criminal defamation which could see journalists, among others, criminally punished for defamation. The instruments include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976); the African (Banjul) Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1981); the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport (2000); the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa (2002); and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (2007). In 2016, South Africa was one of 15 states that controversially voted against a United Nations resolution for the Promotion, Protection and Enjoyment of Human Rights on the Internet, compared to 70 countries that supported this. This was seen as South Africa demonstrating its diplomatic sympathy for some of the more repressive countries such as Russia, China and Saudi Arabia. Panellists voiced concern about South Africa in effect voting against its own forwardthinking constitution. In response, a panellist noted, ‘While South Africa does not always seem to support its own constitution in voting in some of these instruments of freedom of expression in regional or international platform[s], it has also not enacted laws against it, for example, laws that would result in shutting down the internet.’ South Africa’s intention to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) was seen as ‘speaking to a culture of impunity’. South Africa fell out with the ICC after a visit to the country by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2015 to attend an African Union summit. President Omar Al-Bashir is considered an international fugitive of justice by the ICC and is obliged to be arrested by signatories to the Rome Statute, including South Africa. However, the government appears to have pulled back from its proposed ICC withdrawal. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 14 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER SOUTH AFRICA 2018 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓✓✓✓ ✓ ✓✓ 4.2 (2013: 2.8; 2010: 2.9; 2008: n/a; 2006: n/a) ✓