10 October 2005
press release
IT is with disappointment and disgust that the Namibian Editors' Forum takes note that a print media product of Namibia has conveyed naked racist hate speech. We refer to the blatantly anti-Semitic advertisement which appeared in the bilingual weekly PLUS (German and English) of 23 September 2005. The advertisement is a scandalous attack on the integrity, cultural and religious affiliation as well as the human dignity of a man who no longer can defend himself: Simon Wiesenthal who died on 20 September 2005 at the age of 96 in Vienna, Austria.
He was one of the few survivors of Nazi death camps of World War II and who had made it his mission to pursue Nazi criminals for the remainder of his life for the sake of innumerable victims.
While it is shocking that there are elements in Namibian society that stoop so low and thereby endanger racial harmony, it is the task of the print and electronic media to act as responsible gatekeepers.
The Namibian media operate in the context of the Namibian Constitution. We are bound both by the fundamental right to freedom of speech (Article 1, 1, a) and the right to culture, language and religion (Article 19) and more specifically by the Racial Discrimination Prohibition Act 9 (No. 26 of 1991).
In the absence of a generally adopted ethical code for the media the various media houses nevertheless are bound by the Constitution and by common law as well as their in-house media codes or daily practice.
Therefore, it is impossible for any respectable media institution to provide a platform for, to promote or condone racism and rate speech. However, it remains the task of the media to expose, criticize and condemn acts of racism and incitement.
Therefore, the Namibian Editors' Forum condemns the despicable contents of such advertisement
The Namibian Editors' Forum
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