25 January 2000
IFEX MEMBERS TARGETED IN NIGERIA AND EGYPT
Freedom of expression came under fire this week in Nigeria and Egypt as IFEX members in these countries were targeted by police and government officials, reports ARTICLE 19, the Egyptian Organizaton for Human Rights (EOHR), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), and the West African Journalists Association (WAJA).
NIGERIA: POLICE RAID INTERNATIONAL PRESS CENTRE, ARREST JOURNALISTS
On 19 January, 50 armed police invaded the International Press Centre (IPC) in Nigeria, threatened those present and detained four journalists, reports ARTICLE 19, IFJ, and WAJA. According to IPC, only 20 minutes after a press conference ended, "more than 50 policemen who were driven into the premises in about 20 vehicles stormed the International Press Centre and promptly arrested everybody they met in the hall.... [and] threatened to shoot at sight." Among those arrested were journalists Messers-Wale Adeoye and Tunde Aremu of "Punch", Nicholas Nwafor of "The News/Tempo", and Lekan Otufodunrin from Journalist for Christ. According to WAJA, the Centre's staff member Tinuke Aderemi was also arrested. Other staff were threatened, questioned and office files and materials were searched and ransacked by police, reports WAJA. Soon afterwards, those arrested were released without charge, states ARTICLE 19.
ARTICLE 19 reports that "it is believed that the raid was intended to apprehend alleged terrorists, whom the police obviously thought were present at a press conference in the IPC's hall." The group that had its event at IPC had a similar name to "a political organisation which has been declared illegal by the government." The assault constitutes an attack on independent journalists and press freedom groups who use the centre, says IFJ. All of the groups attest that this act "is reminiscent of the repressive era of General Sanni Abacha" and WAJA says the assault serves to "undermine the ongoing democratic process in Nigeria.... We consider the invasion on the press centre an assault on press freedom in the new Nigeria." ARTICLE 19 urges the government to enact "fundamental legal and practical reforms" to protect groups such as this from attack and that it "accelerate the reform process."
IPC is part of the Media-For Democracy Project, a joint project of ARTICLE 19, IFJ, WAJA and three Nigerian non-governmental organizations, Media Rights Agenda (MRA), the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC), and Journalists for Democratic Rights (JODER). According to WAJA, the IPC is also "a non-governmental organization established to assist journalists in capacity building through a programme of computer/Internet training and computerized library services."
EGYPT: CIVIL SOCIETY ATTACKED AS NEWSPAPERS ARE SHUT DOWN
The Governor of Cairo's decree to close newspapers constitutes "a new attack against civil society, and a direct violation of the freedom of opinion and expression," says the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR). Only days ago, EOHR learned through police notification that on 20 September 1999, the Governor of Cairo had decreed that 14 newspapers and newsletters be shut down. EOHR?s newsletter, "Hukouk Al-Insan" ("Human Rights"), in publication since 1986, is among the papers being closed. The decree is allegedly "based on instructions from the former Council of Governors, that was headed by former Prime Minister Dr. Kamal Al-Ganzouri, back in August 1999," says EOHR. The decree also labelled some of the newspapers according to political affiliation, such as "Nasserist, Wafdist, and Communist."
The mandate of "Hukouk Al-Insan" is "to notify the EOHR members of the activities of the organization, raise their awareness of human rights issues, and get them in touch with the latest human rights developments locally, regionally, and internationally." The closures demonstrate the continued use of legal and administrative measures to censor civil society, says EOHR. EOHR urges the government to implement "the provisions of the Egyptian constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as regards the right to establish associations and freedom of opinion and expression." The Group for Democratic Development (GDD) of Egypt states that this closure is part of a larger government campaign against organisations "working in the field of human rights and democratic development." The goal of the campaign is to pressure and intimidate the groups to stop opposing government actions. GDD states that it "is extremely worried for fear that EOHR may be subject to an administrative closure at any time."
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