Vienna — In a 28 June 2001 letter to President Robert Mugabe, IPI expressed its deep concern over the Zimbabwean government's refusal to renew a foreign journalist's accreditation.
According to information provided to IPI, the Zimbabwean government has refused to extend the temporary work permit of the Harare correspondent for the "Daily Telegraph", David Blair. Minister of State for Information and Publicity Jonathan Moyo informed Blair of this decision at a meeting on 26 June. Without the extension of the temporary work permit, the journalist will be forced to leave Zimbabwe on 17 July. No expressed reason was given for the decision; instead, Moyo merely informed Blair, at the meeting, that it was, "purely an administrative matter."
Responding to the decision, on 26 June, Alec Russel, foreign editor of the "Daily Telegraph", wrote to Moyo asking him to reconsider. In the letter Russel pointed out, "Blair's reporting of the situation in Zimbabwe has been regarded as admirably objective and he has constantly sought to give the government's point of view." However, Moyo rejected the letter, describing it as both "arrogant" and "threatening."
The decision to refuse an extension to Blair's temporary work permit comes at a time when the government has introduced new rules on the accreditation of journalists. On the basis of the new rules, foreign journalists seeking entry into the country must apply from their countries of origin, at least one month in advance of their intended arrival. As a result, the new rule will prevent foreign journalists from reporting on breaking news in the country.
Over the last six months a number of journalists have been deported from Zimbabwe. In February, Joseph Winter, a BBC correspondent and Mercedes Sayagues, of the "Mail and Guardian" newspaper in South Africa, were given twenty-four hours to leave the country (see IFEX alerts of 26, 21, 19, 16 and 15 February 2001). A court later extended their right to stay and Winter and Sayagues left on 22 and 19 February, respectively. Aside from correspondents being deported, a number of BBC documentary teams have also encountered difficulties.
On 17 June, producer Simon Finch, journalist John Sweeney and cameraman James Miller arrived in Harare to make a documentary on the solar eclipse for the BBC (see IFEX alert of 21 June 2001). However, the ministry of information and publicity refused to grant them reporting rights on the basis they had not fulfilled the accreditation requirements. Subsequently, they had their passports confiscated by immigration officials but were allowed to remain in their hotel. On 19 June, they were escorted to the Harare airport. At the airport, the pilot of the airplane was told to hold on to their passports until the airplane had touched down in Johannesburg airport. A number of days earlier, Sean Langhan, a producer for the BBC community programmes department, was also forced to leave the country.
In IPI's opinion, the decision not to renew Blair's temporary work permit should be seen within the context of the government's expressed views on foreign journalists.
Between 7 and 11 May, IPI, along with three other press freedom organisations, visited Zimbabwe and met with government officials, journalists and other interested parties to examine the state of press freedom in Zimbabwe (see IFEX alert of 5 June 2001). On 8 May, the delegation met with George Charamba, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information and Publicity. Speaking on the subject of foreign journalists, Charamba said, "The foreign journalists have been lifting stories from local journalists and this creates a bad image. Zim has come of age. The jobs of foreign journalists should be given to Zim journalists. The Zim government is saying that you can use local journalists."
Concerning these statements, IPI believes that the emphasis placed on supporting the local media is merely a subterfuge in order to ensure greater control over the flow of information in the country. Although IPI believes that the work of the local media should be supported; in this instance, the removal of foreign journalists, and the insistence that local journalist should carry out their work, would enable the government to exert a stronger influence over events reported in the media. Within Zimbabwe, there are a number of direct and indirect pressures on the local media, which, for all intents and purposes, do not affect the foreign media. In discussing the replacement of foreign correspondents with local members of the media, the government of Zimbabwe is hoping to prevent embarrassing or inconvenient stories from reaching the outside world.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Send appeals to the president: - recalling that the free flow of information is an essential element of any modern democracy and journalists, including foreign journalists, must be allowed to practice their profession free of interference, and governments should provide the encouragement and the environment to achieve this end -further noting that a failure to do so is detrimental to any government that claims to be genuinely interested in guaranteeing basic human rights and is harmful to those it seeks to govern - inviting him to intervene in Blair's case and ensure that his temporary work permit is renewed, thus allowing him to practice his profession as a journalist - asking him to remove the restrictive measures that impede the work of foreign journalists - calling on him to ensure that foreign journalists are no longer prevented from entering Zimbabwe - requesting that he uphold Article 19 of the United Nation Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, "everyone has the right to seek, receive and impart information"
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APPEALS TO:
His Excellency President Robert Mugabe Office of the President Causeway, Harare Zimbabwe Fax: +263 4 728 799/708 820/734 644
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
For further information, contact IPI at Spiegelgasse 2, A-1010 Vienna, Austria, tel: +43 1 512 90 11, fax: +43 1 512 90 14, e-mail: Michael Kudlak at mkudlak@freemedia.at, Barbara Trionfi at info@freemedia.at, or David Dadge at ddadge@freemedia.at, Internet site: www.freemedia.at
The information contained in this action alert is the sole responsibility of IPI. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit IPI.
