Press Freedom Day celebrated in region noted for press curbs

While press curbs and censorship still occur across West Africa, UNESCO this year has chosen to celebrate World Press Freedom day on Wednesday in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. "We wanted to compliment Senegal for its achievements in respecting press freedom and democracy," Morgens Schmidt, an official of the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation, told IRIN. But even in Senegal the government of President Abdoulaye Wade has shown increasing if rare irritation with journalists in recent years. In October 2003, Sophie Malibeaux, the correspondent for Radio France Internationale (RFI), left Senegal under threat of expulsion after allegedly threatening public security by interviewing a hard-line rebel leader from the southern Casamance region, which has been hit by almost two decades of secessionist struggle. Last year local editor Madiambal Diagne spent two weeks behind bars for publishing articles about alleged fraud in the customs service and alleged government interference in the judiciary. He walked free saying he hoped his spell in prison would bring about changes to media laws in Senegal, whose reputation as a haven of democracy in West Africa was dented by the episode. In neighbouring Gambia, where President Yahya Jammeh makes no secret of his loathing for journalists - he once said they should be given “a long rope to hang themselves” - the situation is far worse for the press. In December 2004 one of the country’s most reputable reporters, Deyda Hydara, who worked for the French News Agency (AFP) was shot dead at point blank range. According to investigations carried out by the French-based press watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), his murder bears all the hallmarks of being carried out by professionals. No arrests have been made. RSF spoke to numerous journalists and witnesses that were convinced of the state's involvement in Hydara's death. "Across many countries, murder is a relatively cheap, safe and easy way to censor the press," said Rodney Pinder Director of International News Safety Institute (INSI) in a statement issued to mark World Press Freedom Day. In the West African trouble spot of Cote d'Ivoire too, French-Canadian journalist Guy-Andre Kieffer disappeared in April 2004. Kieffer wrote about the cocoa industry, Cote d'Ivoire's main export. Investigations by French judge Patrick Ramael in October 2004, linked Kieffer's disappearance to the brother-in-law of President Laurent Gbagbo's wife, Simone. Kieffer is widely suspected of being dead, though his body has never been found and no arrests have been made. Also in Cote d’Ivoire, RFI correspondent Jean Helene was shot in the head and killed by a police officer in October 2003. The Ivorian government has always maintained that the officer, who has been sentenced to 17 years in jail, was not acting on orders. Transmissions by international radio stations are regularly cut in Cote d'Ivoire. The UK-based BBC, RFI Africa Numero 1 and the Voice of America (VOA), were all taken off air during the government's cease-fire breaking attack against rebel positions in November 2004. They were also silenced during the violent protests in March 2004 and at the start of rebellion in September 2002. Hate campaigns on radio, television and in the Abidjan daily newspapers, particularly in the government controlled south, have fuelled long-standing ethnic divisions. In French-speaking Togo currently, RFI transmission remain blocked after a widely disputed poll which has declared Faure Gnassingbe, son of iron-fisted dictator Gnassingbe Eyadema, as the new president. But UNESCO said that it is working to increase the strength of the independent press. "It is very important for UNESCO to encourage all countries to respect press freedoms. We are in constant dialogue with [countries across the region] and work across the region to increase the capacity of the independent press," Schmidt said. "A media that has high standards can play a vital role in building good governance," he said. The three-day conference will end late on Wednesday with the award of the 2005 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize which will go to Chinese journalist Cheng Yizhong, for his work as editor of the Bangkok English-language paper The Nation.