Kenya: New Media Law Curbs Free Speech

Kenya: New Media Law Curbs Free Speech

(New York, May 11, 2002) - Human Rights Watch today condemned Kenya's
parliament
for passing a new law aimed at government control of newspapers. The new law
imposes exorbitant publishing fees that could handicap newspapers
economically
and silence new voices. Human Rights Watch urged President Daniel arap Moi
not
to sign the law into effect.

The new law appears to be designed to mute public criticism in the run-up to
national elections to be held by the end of this year. President Moi is
stepping
down after two decades in office, and the
country's constitution is under review.

"This measure could muzzle the press in a critical election year,"said Peter
Takirambudde, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Africa division.
"Freedom of expression has never been more important in Kenya."

Current Kenyan law already constricts publishers by requiring them to
register
with the government, pay a libel insurance bond, and submit copies of every
publication to a government registrar. The new law passed by Parliament is
an
amendment to the Books and Newspapers Act and raises that bond amount one
hundredfold, from US$128 to US$12,800. The law also penalizes vendors and
distributors who don't establish whether publishers of every publication
they
sell have registered and paid up. Penalties for a first offense include
fines up
to $12,800, three years in jail, or both.

"In effect, these fees could curb the right to freedom of expression," said
Takirambudde. "And that right is enshrined in international law and Kenya's
own
constitution."

The measure is an attempt to eradicate a proliferating "gutter press,"
according
to the government. But critics claim politicians are trying to cushion
themselves from embarrassing revelations before the election. Journalists
and
media owners, who insist they can clean up the industry on their own, have
drafted a code of ethics and are forming a regulatory council.

The latest media law follows a recent series of defamation and libel cases
against newspapers and bookstores, in which high government officials,
including
President Moi, have won record damages.

For more information, please contact:
In Boston, Binaifer Nowrojee: +1-617-493-2990
In New York, Peter Takirambudde: +1-212-216-1834
In London, Steve Crawshaw: +44-20-7713-1995
In Brussels, Jean-Paul Marthoz: +322-732-2009

--
Jeff Scott
Africa Division
Human Rights Watch
Phone: +1-212-216-1834
Fax: +1-212-736-1300
http://www.hrw.org/africa/index.php
en français, http://www.hrw.org/french/africa/

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of
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