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Alert

ARTICLE 19 urges government to amend draft law on press freedom

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 20 July 2004 ARTICLE 19 press release:

ARTICLE 19 has produced a Briefing Note of the most recent draft Proclamation to Provide for the Freedom of the Press, recently released by the Ethiopian government. Although the draft Proclamation - the third in just over a year - contains an improved access to information regime, there are still some serious problems with the law, including: restrictions on who may practice journalism, government-controlled licensing and registration systems, and harsh sanctions for violations of the law, including up to five years imprisonment.

Other problems identified by Article 19 include: excessively broad exceptions to the right to access information held by public authorities; the granting of a right to reply remedy that undermines the principle of editorial independence; the establishment of a government-controlled Press Council with powers to prepare and enforce a Code of Ethics; powers vested in the courts to engage in prior-censorship; and powers vested in the prosecutor to suspend media outlets.

ARTICLE 19 urges the Ethiopian government to amend the draft Proclamation to address these concerns and to bring it into line with the highest international standards in this area.

Link to full briefing note: www.article19.org/docimages/1817.doc