mauritania: Issue of weekly newspaper suspended without explanation

ALERT - MAURITANIA

21 October 2003

Issue of weekly newspaper suspended without explanation

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has urged the Mauritanian authorities to lift a suspension
order against the weekly "Le Calame". The Ministry of the Interior, Posts
and Telecommunications, which regulates the press, suspended issue 414 of
the weekly on 19 October 2003, citing Article 11 of the Press Law, which
allows for censorship without explanation.

Article 11 of the 1991 Press Law gives the ministry the right, by decree,
"to ban the circulation, distribution or sale of newspapers [. . .] that
undermine the principles of Islam or the credibility of the state, harm the
general interest or disturb public order and security". RSF called for the
repeal of Article 11.

A member of the weekly's editorial staff, as quoted by the Pana news agency,
said the suspension is believed to be linked to an article entitled, "The
big silence at the centre of the debate".

In the same issue of the paper, a former "Le Calame" journalist, who now
lives in exile in France, analysed the political situation in the country on
the eve of presidential elections. The article advocated the urgent need for
a genuine democratic alternative to President Maaouiya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya's
political monopoly.

The authorities frequently invoke Article 11, which is a real threat to
press freedom in Mauritania. Citing the article, the authorities seized
copies of the Arabic-language newspaper "Essahifa" on 23 September (see IFEX
alert of 29 September 2003). On 29 July, they also banned distribution of
the independent paper "Le Rénovateur" on the same pretext (see alert of 31
July 2003).

For further information, contact Virginie Locussol at RSF, rue Geoffroy
Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51,
e-mail: [email protected], Internet: http://www.rsf.org

The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of RSF.
In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit RSF.
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