Dear Reader,
In country
after country, the African press is crippled by a panoply of repressive
measures, from the jailing and persecution of journalists to the
widespread scourge of 'insult laws' and criminal defamation. As the
start of an intensive campaign to improve this appalling situation, the
World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and the World Editors Forum (WEF)
adopted the Declaration of Table Mountain on 3 June 2007 in Cape Town,
South Africa, during their annual meetings.
The Declaration is
an earnest appeal to all Africans, particularly those in power, to
recognise that the political and economic progress they seek flourishes
in a climate where the press is free and independent of governmental,
political or economic control.
Through this Declaration, WAN
and WEF have stated their conviction that Africa urgently needs a
strong, free and independent press to act as a watchdog over public
institutions, a crucial role that the press is hindered from and
punished for playing by the widespread resort to 'insult laws' and
criminal defamation, in particular.
We have called on Heads of
State to review and abolish libel and defamation laws, where in force,
and to promote and implement the highest standards of press freedom. We
also urge the African Union (AU) to include in the criteria for "good
governance" in the African Peer Review Mechanism under the New
Partnership for Africa's Development programme the vital requirement
that a country promotes free and independent media. To that end, the
Declaration was presented to the Chairperson of the African Union
Commission with the request that it be distributed to all members so
that it can be endorsed by the African Union at its next summit meeting
of heads of state.
WAN has also addressed the Declaration to
the Secretary-General of the United Nations with the request that it be
presented to the UN General Assembly and to the UNESCO Director-General
in the light of the forthcoming General Conference of UNESCO.
Major
African and international non-governmental organizations that, day
after day, defend and promote freedom of expression and freedom of the
press have now endorsed the Declaration and expressed their readiness
to contribute to this campaign. Together, with determination, we will
now aggressively press our case in the hope for a better future for
African media freedom.
Timothy Balding
Chief Executive Officer
World Association of Newspapers
