Zimbabwe: Tribune closure condemned

**We apologise for any cross-posting - The following is being forwarded exactly
as received**

To: IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)
From: International Press Institute (IPI), [email protected]

The following is an IPI Watch List Protest to the Zimbabwean Government:

His Excellency President Robert Mugabe
Office of the President
Causeway, Harare
Zimbabwe

Fax: (+ 263 4) 728 799 / 708 820 / 734 644

Vienna, 14 June 2004

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, leading
journalists and media executives in over 120 countries, condemns the recent
decision by the authorities in Zimbabwe to suspend the operating licence of The
Tribune newspaper.

According to IPI's research, on 10 June, the government-appointed Media and
Information Commission (MIC) suspended The Tribune's operations for twelve
months for allegedly breaching the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act (AIPPA). In particular, the MIC accused The Tribune of failing to
inform the body of "changes in the titles, frequency and ownership of a
licensed media house" under section 67 of AIPPA and of attempting to mislead the
commission.

Details of the newspaper's suspension were announced in a press statement issued
by the chairperson of the MIC, Tafataona Mahoso. The press release accused The
Tribune of altering its title, imprint and ownership without informing the MIC
and of employing an unaccredited journalist, Bekithemba Mhlanga. Previously, The
Tribune's publisher, Kindness Paradza, had published two newspapers called The
Business Tribune and The Weekend Tribune. The newspapers were subsequently
merged to create The Tribune.

Responding to the contents of the MIC press release Paradza, a member of
parliament who was recently expelled from the ruling Zanu-PF party and a recent
critic of the country's media laws, said, "This is the worst assault on press
freedom in modern Zimbabwe. He also refuted the claims about Mhlanga saying the
journalist had never been employed by the newspaper and had only made his
contributions through the "Letters to the Editor" section.

The decision to suspend The Tribune follows the earlier closure this year of The
Daily News and its sister newspaper, The Daily News on Sunday, also for an
alleged failure to follow Zimbabwe's stringent accreditation procedures.
Numerous journalists have also been arrested under the new media law introduced
shortly after President Robert Mugabe's victory in the 2002 presidential
elections.

With regard to The Tribune's closure, IPI believes it represents yet another
attempt to silence media critical of the government, particularly in light of
the forthcoming parliamentary elections that are now only some eight months
away. Indeed, the decision to silence the media follows a similar pattern to the
way critical media and foreign journalists were harassed, intimidated, arrested
and prosecuted prior to previous elections.

As such, IPI believes that the MIC's actions are nothing less than a dubious act
of censorship that is both condoned and encouraged by Your Excellency. While the
registration of media organisations and journalists for purely technical
purposes has been deemed acceptable by international courts, IPI and many other
organisations have often campaigned against such procedures because they are
easily abused and exploited by governments whose sole desire is not the support
of the media but its suppression.

Bearing this in mind, IPI calls on Your Excellency to amend the AIPPA so that it
meets international standards on freedom of the press or, if necessary, to
rescind the legislation. Rules on registration should be for technical purposes
only and should never be used as a means of barring media organisations or
reporters from practising their profession. Any such use is a clear breach of
the rights of everyone to "seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media" by virtue of Article 19 of the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.

We thank you for your attention.

Kind regards,

Johann P. Fritz
Director

Note: Zimbabwe was placed on the IPI Watch List on 20 October 2001. In a press
release dated 13 September 2003, after the IPI Executive Board had voted to keep
the country on the list IPI said, "in Zimbabwe the enforced closure of the Daily
News is yet another example of the extraordinary
measures taken by the government to silence the independent media." A board
meeting on 15 May 2004 decided to keep Zimbabwe on the IPI Watch List.

For further information on Zimbabwe, please contact the IPI Secretariat on: Tel:
+431-512 90 11. For information on the IPI Watch List or for IPI's most recent
report on Zimbabwe, please visit the World Press Freedom Review 2004 at IPI's
website: www.freemedia.at

____________________________

International Press Institute (IPI)
Spiegelgasse 2/29
A-1010 Vienna
Austria
Tel: + 431-512 90 11
Fax: + 431-512 90 14
E-mail: [email protected]
http://www.freemedia.at

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dedicated to the furtherance and safeguarding of press freedom, the protection
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information, and the improvement of the
practices of journalism.