On the eve of his visit to Vienna, Austria, the International Press Institute (IPI) calls on the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, to reconsider the need for a new press law and to ensure that any new legislation meets the requirements of the Constitution and international standards on press freedom and freedom of expression.
For nearly three years, the Ethiopian government has been involved in drafting a new press law and, while there have been some improvements, as well as further promises to review the substance of the draft law, IPI remains worried that the final press law will contain sections that seriously inhibit a free and open media environment in Ethiopia.
IPI is particularly concerned about the existence of terms of imprisonment for breaches of the proposed law that would have a chilling effect on the media and lead to journalists being punished for practicing their profession. Other worrying provisions include powers enabling the government to impound newspapers, an unduly burdensome ‘right of reply’ policy and certain definitions that appear to be a denial of free expression and the right to have an inclusive media profession.
Speaking of the draft law, Director of IPI, Johann P. Fritz, said, “There is no doubt that the present Ethiopian government is slowly edging its way towards accepting the right of the media to practice their profession independently, but more needs to be done if the country is to join the family of nations who accept that a free media is crucial to an open and democratic society.”
“IPI was recently in Ethiopia to discuss the press law and while we received some assurances that such matters as confidentiality of sources and the definitions section would be reviewed, we still felt that the desire to guard against an expansive and intrusive independent media was uppermost in the government’s mind,” said Fritz.
“As a fundamental first step, the Ethiopian government should remove all of the prison terms from the law. The imprisonment of journalists’ flies in the face of accepted practices, deeply damages the reputation of Ethiopia and undermines the choice of the country as the seat for the African Union which has set out its own principles on press freedom in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”
Regarding media ownership, Fritz commented, “A vibrant media is also extremely important and provisions which hinder the ability of the media to grow and compete, especially in an environment where their main competitors are state funded media, should also be removed.”