Côte d’Ivoire: ongoing hostility towards foreign media deplored

IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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ALERT AND UPDATE - CÔTE D'IVOIRE

4 December 2003

RSF joins inquiry into French journalist's murder and deplores ongoing
hostility towards foreign media

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

**New cases and update to IFEX alert of 22 October 2003; for further
information on the hostile climate against foreign media, see alerts of 12
February, 28 and 17 January 2003, 29 October and 26 September 2002 and
others**

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has announced that it has officially joined the
investigation into the 21 October 2003 murder in Côte d'Ivoire of Radio
France International (RFI) journalist Jean Hélène. The organisation also
deplored the climate of hatred and tension fuelled by media on both sides in
the country's civil war and noted that it endangers the lives of local and
foreign journalists.

An RSF team comprised of Secretary-General Robert Ménard, lawyer Guillaume
Prigent and legal expert Laurence Deguitre visited Abidjan from 26 to 28
November and discussed the Hélène murder probe, along with key issues such
as journalists' safety and the free flow and diversity of news, with a range
of political figures.

President Laurent Gbagbo, who has never explicitly condemned calls for
vengeance made by pro-government media, declined to meet the team, which
noted during their discussions that the February killing of a reporter for
the government news agency Agence ivoirienne de presse (AIP) in the western
part of the country has still not been investigated (see IFEX alerts of 20
March and 12 February 2003).

The organisation was granted the status of civil party in the Hélène
investigation on 27 November. RSF was subsequently allowed to examine the
case file, which has been sent to Ange Kessi Kouamé, the government's
prosecutor, for comment. Examining magistrate Kokobo Blé will then decide
whether to order the public trial of the accused, Sgt. Théodore Séry Dago.
His military court trial will likely take place before 15 December, and will
be headed by a civilian judge. Five other soldiers are to be tried for
abuses at the same time.

The RSF team welcomed the progress made in the investigation. Ballistic and
forensic tests have been carried out and the crime was reconstituted on 18
November in the presence of French Prosecutor Yves Bot and examining
magistrate Patrick Ramael, though it was marred by demonstrations by
supporters of the accused.

Prosecutor Kouamé told the team that he wanted to see human rights respected
and the guilty people punished. He invited RSF and other rights groups to
lodge complaints about abuses committed by soldiers.

Examples of local media incitement to hatred since the rebel uprising of
September 2002 have included a 10 October 2002 article in "Notre Voie"
entitled, "Constant disinformation by Western media", accusing the foreign
press of "stirring up unrest" in the country for the benefit of "certain
interests" well known to Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist Ouattara
Mohamed Junior, Hélène, French TV5 reporter Denise Epoté-Durand and other
foreign media.

"The modern-day slave-traders and vultures are dirty and corrupt people
trying to destroy Africa", the article went on to say. The paper accused the
foreign media of supporting "terrorists", "trying to blacken the name" of
President Gbagbo's government and destabilising the country.

Since Hélène's murder, such incendiary writings have increased. The
opposition press blamed the killing on the pro-government media, which in
turn has denounced political exploitation of the murder.

"Le Temps" ran an article on 23 October entitled, "Injustice produces
violence", which described "a systematic and hateful campaign of
denigration" and said locally-based foreign journalists had held a "crisis
meeting" and decided to blame "hate media" and "pro-government elements" of
being indirectly responsible for Hélène's murder.

"The fanatical ideologists in the small band of foreign journalists in
Abidjan are already shamelessly and unscrupulously dancing on the grave of
their colleague in a crazy and cynical way that threatens everyone", "Le
Temps" said, while describing Hélène's death as a "sad little event".

"Notre Voie" published an article on 25 October entitled, "Vultures, ravens
and hyenas at the journalist's body", which called on people to "stop being
emotional and to remain dignified despite the unfortunate accidental death
of a journalist they say was very good but who always turned up in countries
where rebels were trying to take over".

In a 27 October article entitled, "The death of Jean Hélène, another false
alibi", "Notre Voie" said the case was "just a foul and odious pretence" and
that some suspected Hélène of being "more than just a journalist".

Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, who told the RSF team he wanted to "calm the
country down," admitted the media was "aggravating political tensions" and
said political leaders should call on their media supporters to behave more
professionally. He regretted the absence of Communications Minister
Guillaume Soro and said the regulatory National Press Commission (Commission
nationale de Presse, CNP) and the media's own supervisory body, the Press
Freedom and Standards Monitoring Centre (Observatoire de la liberté de la
presse, de l'éthique et de la déontologie, OLPED), should be strengthened.
He said journalists might be able to make use of a special police brigade
being set up to protect prominent people.

The free flow and diversity of news is not guaranteed in Côte d'Ivoire.
Pro-government "young patriot" groups have destroyed copies of five daily
newspapers ("24 Heures", "Le Jour", "Le Front", "Le Libéral" and "Le
Patriote") and one twice-weekly paper ("Le Repère") in the streets of the
capital since 15 October. Newspapers backing the government are not
available in the rebel-held northern part of the country and the state-run
television station RTI cannot broadcast in the region.

Internal Security Minister Martin Bléou told the RSF team that police had
been ordered to find and punish those who had destroyed the newspapers. He
said he would provide protection for media personnel who requested it.

Local Government Minister Issa Diakité, representing Communications Minister
Soro (who has fled Abidjan, saying he fears for his life), confessed that he
did not know how to solve the problem of inflammatory media and the
obstacles to the free flow of news. He said the non-distribution of
newspapers in the north was because government troops seized them at
roadblocks in Yamoussokro.

He said the government had postponed press law reforms, including abolition
of prison terms for press offences and beefing up regulatory bodies. Justice
Minister Henriette Dagri Diabaté said they would be introduced once the
situation was calmer. She admitted it was unacceptable that "Le Patriote",
which supports her Rassemblement des Républicains Party, had run a headline
on 7 November saying, "Militias formed, mass graves: Gbagbo, the black
Hitler", but said the paper was simply reacting to the content of pro-Gbagbo
newspapers. She called it a "balance of terror."

The RSF team told journalists and the head of the OLPED self-monitoring
body, Alfred Dan Moussa, that even though the quality of certain papers was
very good, it was concerned about the media's serious professional lapses.
The team said both sides were putting out disinformation and shared
responsibility for the atmosphere of hostility towards foreign (and
especially French) journalists since last year's rebellion.

The team also met locally-based foreign journalists, some of whom recognised
they had made errors in their reporting. They said they no longer felt safe
in the country, and the AFP journalists said they did not go out in the
streets alone.

Most foreign media, including RFI, plan to leave Abidjan by the end of the
year for neighbouring countries, for various reasons. The BBC will transfer
staff to nearby Senegal and Ghana. AFP plans to stay on for the moment.

For further information, contact Jean-François Julliard at RSF, 5, 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 and update is the sole
responsibility of RSF. In citing this material for broadcast or publication,
please credit RSF.
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