reiterating Guinea’s adherence to the values of the African Charter, the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and the ECOWAS Treaty and related protocols. Panelists attributed the late implementation of certain regional instruments to the breakdown in the country’s relations with ECOWAS towards the end of President Lansana Conte’s regime (1985-2008). This is why Guinea did not participate in the drafting of some ECOWAS documents on press and media freedom, such as the one “on the appointment of the directors of public media houses.” 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: 1.8 (2008 = n/a; 2006 = n/a) 1.5 Print publications are not required to obtain permission to publish from state authorities. Article 6 of Law 002 states that “a newspaper can be created without prior authorisation and without the payment of a surety deposit”. All it takes is an ‘administrative declaration’ giving the name of the newspaper and the names and addresses of the publisher and the printer, addressed to the Attorney General. The Office will issue a receipt and send a copy each to the National Communication Council (Conseil National de la Communication, CNC), the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Information. The citizen or person making the declaration is free to publish the newspaper immediately after the declaration. Law 002 also requires that the publisher, the editor-in-chief and chief columnist all be journalists. 80 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GUINEA 2011