At the summit co-organised by UNESCO and the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa on 6 and 7 November to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on authorities in Sahel countries to sign a regional declaration on the right to information.
Journalists are forcibly conscripted into the military in Burkina Faso, kidnapped by armed groups in Mali, killed in Chad, and arbitrarily arrested in Niger. Newsrooms in countries across Africa's Sahel region are being ransacked and looted, and many media outlets — especially foreign ones — are now banned.
Faced with these serious security challenges, journalists in the Sahel are paying a heavy price for their work, and the people's right to information is being dismantled. RSF — whose staff was present in Addis Ababa on 6 and 7 November — recently launched an appeal to protect local journalism alongside over 500 community radio stations in the Sahel, and invites the region's authorities to promise to protect the right to information and the safety of journalists by signing a declaration comprised of 10 commitments.
"Forced conscription into the army, kidnappings, intimidation and acts of violence against journalists, the media's failing economic model, freedom-destroying measures taken in the name of national security, the absence of a policy to combat disinformation and the abusive suspension of media outlets — these are all threats to the right to information in the Sahel., The means used to weaken independent journalism in the Sahel — be they physical, technological or legal — have led to the region's gradual evolution into an information desert. From Addis Ababa, where RSF is present to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, we're calling on the states of the Sahel region to sign the Declaration on the Right to Information."
Sadibou Marong
Head of RSF's Sub-Saharan Africa Desk
RSF presented and launched its declaration for Sahel countries on 7 November as part of a panel discussion, organised at the summit in Addis Ababa. The panel was comprised of Sadibou Marong, Head of RSF's Sub-Saharan Africa Desk, Jeanne Lagarde, RSF's regional advocacy officer, and David Dembélé, an exiled investigative journalist from Mali who described the conditions reporters face in his Sahelian home country.
During the event, RSF also will also meet with delegations from several countries in and around the Sahel to present the declaration and obtain their signatures.
The declaration's 10 commitments are based on principles of protection that enable journalists to carry out their public interest role by allowing them to work freely. Among other measures, the signatory countries agree to do their utmost to:
1. Recognise and guarantee the right to information as defined by the International Declaration on Information and Democracy: "the freedom to seek, receive and access reliable information".
2. Allow journalists access dangerous areas, such as war zones, and providing for their safety when they do so;
3. Ensure that the dissemination of news and information serving the public interest, including information concerning military or security operations, is not interrupted.
4. End impunity for verbal and physical attacks against journalists, and ensure that the perpetrators of such attacks are criminally prosecuted.
5. Guarantee continuous access to the internet, especially during periods of intense social mobilisation such as elections or public demonstrations.
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6. Align laws and regulations concerning electronic communications with the highest international standards protecting journalists' freedom to report and the public's right to information.
7. Adopt laws on access to state-held information in accordance with current international standards.
8. Promote quality news reporting and reliable media outlets by recognising the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI) as an industry standard.
9. Support the establishment of a Sahel media support agency whose mandate is to help protect the region's press freedom and the right to information, as well as local media independence and sustainability.
10. Cooperate in good faith with relevant independent international and regional bodies, especially the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, and aim to implement their recommendations.
