SECTOR 1 1.4 The Government makes every effort to honour regional and international instruments on freedom of expression and freedom of the media. Botswana has signed or ratified several international and regional instruments such as t the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the African Charter on Human and People’s Right, Declaration of Principles of Freedom of Expression in Africa and the SADC Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport, but it is yet to sign others such as the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, the ACHPR Protocol on the Rights of Women and the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development. “They will agree to these declarations but when it comes to implementation they are not serious”. “The key word here is honour and this includes domestication. This can be difficult as sometimes we don’t know whether they have signed these declarations.” “Media freedom has not been a priority of the Botswana government, so I would be surprised if they have ratified any of these declarations/protocols”. “I think we have to ascertain whether or not government believes in the free press”. “I remember there was an issue with coming up with regulations regarding coverage of elections in Botswana. The regulations were agreed upon and then just before the 2004 elections, government pulled out. However, there is something at a regional level which provides for coverage and to some extent I don’t think we are really following that.” Botswana has signed and ratified several key regional and international instruments and protocols but “there is no discussion or awareness in the country about these things. So maybe the government is not honouring or domesticating these policies.” AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Botswana 2014 17