His Excellency President Robert Mugabe
Office of the President
Causeway, Harare
Zimbabwe

Fax: +263 4 728 799 / 708 820 / 734 644

Vienna, 28 June 2001

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives, is deeply troubled by the refusal of the Zimbabwean government to renew the accreditation of a foreign journalist.

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. The minister of state for information and publicity, Professor 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 express reason was given for the decision; instead, Professor 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 Professor 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, Professor 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 24 hours to leave the country. 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; 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 onto 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 the opinion of IPI, the decision not to renew Blair’s temporary work permit should be seen within the context of the government’s express 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. 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.

As IPI has mentioned previously, the free flow of information is an essential element of any modern democracy. 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. A failure to do so is detrimental to any government that claims to be genuinely interested in guaranteeing basic human rights. Furthermore, it is harmful to those it seeks to govern.

Therefore, IPI kindly invites Your Excellency to intervene in the case of Blair and ensure that his temporary work permit is renewed, thus allowing him to practice his profession as a journalist. IPI would also ask Your Excellency to remove the restrictive measures that impede the work of foreign journalists. By doing so, you will be ensuring that foreign journalists are no longer prevented from entering Zimbabwe and upholding the United Nation Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 19, which states, “everyone has the right to seek, receive and impart information”.

I thank you for your attention.

Best regards,

Johann P. Fritz
Director