2 April, 2008

RAP21

Press Freedom Heads the Agenda for the Media Foundation for West Africa

In a conversation with RAP 21 Kwame Karikari, Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) highlighted the key steps his organization is undertaking to assure safer and freer grounds for the media in the West African region.  At the forefront, Karikari said, “is addressing press freedom violations.” 

In his home country of Ghana, Karikari relayed that most press freedom violations do not stem from political and legal constraints.  “Threats to the media come from individuals that feel mistreated by the media and then they might attack a journalist. Normal competition from the market is another way the media in Ghana can be constrained,” Karikari explained.

In neighboring countries, however, constraints on the media do often arise from government set parameters as well as from the lingering legislation such as defamation and insult laws, dating back to colonialism.  To address this, the MFWA steadfastly works with the media in countries, heavily those in conflict, where the legal framework denies freedom of expression.  In efforts to reset the parameters Karikari stressed the vital role the MFWA plays in pushing for legislative reform and serving as legal defense in the courts.

A step toward legislative reform has occurred in Sierra Leone in the beginning of March 2008 where the MFWA, along with The Open Society Justice Initiative, assisted the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) in launching a direct challenge against criminal libel laws and false news.  A lawsuit was filed with the hopes of overturning the exorbitant punishments that can be up to seven years in prison for violating the repressive and antiquated laws.  Karikari relayed to RAP 21 that it could be possible to see a major win in the fight against such legislation, though the courts are very conservative. 

Concurrently, the MFWA serves as a supporting organization for those targeted by draconian laws or press freedom assailants.  Karikari stressed that part of this also involves being active in countries of conflict.  Protection for targeted journalists is also important.  “We try and give them protection and support against attacks.  We also try and create a safe haven for journalists being persecuted,” said Karikari.

Presently, the MFWA is fighting for justice and resolve in the case of Gambian journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh.  The MFWA calls for his immediate release, though his location has remained undisclosed and some fear he has even died. 

“It is a case of human rights, a first in all of Africa.  It is also a case of torture,” Karikari said.  In July 2006, according to several witnesses, Manneh was arrested by two plain-clothed officers of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) on the premises of the Daily Observer.  Manneh’s mysterious arrest and disappearance shortly followed allegations that he provided a foreign journalist with “damaging” information that was used in an article critical of the government prior to an African Union summit in Banjul.

In June 2007, the lawsuit filed by MFWA against the Gambian government, which is being carried out at the sub-regional court for ECOWAS, has proved to be an arduous and elongated process.  On 11 March 2008, three military personnel and two police officers failed to appear at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice.  Two days later Yahya Dampha, a Gambian journalist in exile in Senegal and witness of Manneh’s disappearance, narrowly escaped a kidnapping attempt by suspected agents of the NIA.   Karikari informed RAP 21 that a lawyer in Senegal has been contacted to take on the case with the Senegalese government.  They will lodge a government complaint, make a formal report to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights as well as provide protection to Dampha.

Even in the face of continuing letdowns in Manneh’s case, the MFWA’s role cannot be underestimated; the case marks the “first time a non-governmental organization has taken a government to a regional court…this is a landmark,” said Karikari.

The MFWA also plays a prominent role in assisting the media in countries that have impending elections.   Their goal is to leverage media capacity to promote democracy. Over the past two years the MFWA has also been involved with the development of the West and Central African Human Rights Institute.

To increase the clout of all MFWA led activities the organization also hosts the Network of African Freedom of Expression Organizations to collaborate and maximize efforts in the defense of freedom of expression (NAFEO).  Since October 2006, the twenty organizations involved reaching all regions of Africa have fought in solidarity for media pluralism and justice. 

Karikari concluded to RAP 21 that the most important contribution of the organization is working and collaborating with others across Africa in the struggle to see justice prevail—that is the aim of every partnership and litigation undertaken by the MFWA.   

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