H.E. Charles Taylor
President of the Republic of Liberia
Monrovia
Liberia
Vienna, 21 August 2000
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives, strongly condemns the arrest of four foreign TV journalists in Liberia.
According to IPI’s information, Britons David Barrie and Timothy Lambon, South African Gugulakhe Radebe and Sierra Leonean Somoura Sorious were arrested in their hotel rooms in Monrovia on 18 August. In a statement released on 19 August, Justice Minister Eddington Varmah said the four were arrested for carrying out “acts against the security of the state.” In addition, he claimed that their “clandestine activity” was aimed at “providing assistance to foreign powers,” but did not provide details of the charges. We understand that they are to appear before a court on Monday, 21 August.
The journalists, all with Insight News Television, had been in Liberia for three weeks shooting a documentary series for the London-based Channel 4. A spokesperson for Channel 4 said the four had been engaged in legitimate journalistic activities and that the crew had obtained written permission to film from the Ministry of Information.
The arrests are especially worrying taken against the backdrop of the history of government action against the media in Liberia. As IPI pointed out in a 17 July letter to Your Excellency, several persons suspected of being critical of the government have in the past disappeared. In addition, security officials have reportedly been using arrests and interrogations as a way to silence critical voices. Following the 1997 elections, The New Democrat newspaper, whose offices were burned down in 1996, was refused a permit to re-start publication. In July 2000, the government effectively stopped production of the paper again by barring all advertising in its pages.
IPI regards the arrests of the four TV journalists as a violation of everyone’s right to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” as guaranteed by Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. May I also respectfully remind Your Excellency that Liberia is a signatory of the African Charter on Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of expression. Therefore, IPI urges you to ensure the immediate release of the journalists. IPI also urges Your Excellency to do everything in your power to ensure that journalists working in Liberia are allowed to report freely and without fear of intimidation and harassment.
We thank you for your attention
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director
