The career of journalism is often referred to as the fourth estate of the realm. Journalists are engaged in the selfless and thankless job of disseminating information across board. But what they get in return is contempt from the society. In some cases, they lose their lives while on duty. According to the Media Watchdog, at least 262 journalists have been jailed for doing their job around the world, and 66 of these, are in Africa – as of December 1, this year.
The 2017 Prison Census report of the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, CPJ, as of December 1, says that sub-Saharan African countries had arrested at least 39 journalists, while North African countries had arrested 27.
The North African power house, Egypt, remained at number 1 in Africa, with at least 20 journalists in its prisons, while Eritrea with 16 imprisoned journalists came second.
A surprise inclusion on the list of countries that had become notorious in imprisoning journalists was Uganda, at Number 3 after it arrested at least 8 reporters in November.
In an interview with newsmen, Angela Quintal, the CPJ Africa Program Coordinator, pointed out that such a development in Africa was against the tenets of democracy and the Press Freedom Declaration of the African Union. “We have many government laws that seek to close down democratic spaces. There are many cyber laws that African countries are introducing to clamp down on journalists. Those laws most often are broad and are against the principles of democracy as well as the African Union declaration,” said Quintal.
Quintal said that many African leaders perceived the media as “something to fear” and therefore, they are against press freedoms. She said that this was an issue of concern, not only for media practitioners, but for everyone who was often targeted by various African governments.
According to the CPJ Coordinator, “Journalists have the power of holding governments accountable. This is one of the reasons why too many governments are against journalists. Ethiopia, for example, is the home of the African Union headquarters, but it has no qualms about violating the rights of journalists. There are many other countries which are doing exactly the same, and others keep quiet rather than speaking up.”
The CPJ report indicated that the political standoff in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, under President Joseph Kabila had also quickly escalated the arrest of journalists, with at least five journalists believed to be in custody there.
Meanwhile, although it had released at least 11 journalists the previous year, Ethiopia remained among the worst jailers, with five reporters still imprisoned in the country. At least, four journalists are languishing in Moroccan jails, while Algeria has two reporters behind bars.
Cameroon, Mauritania, Equatorial Guinea, Congo Brazzaville, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia all had at least one reporter each inside their prisons.
The report said that media freedom around the world had fallen to the lowest level for at least in the last decade, with journalists being threatened by government censorship, organised crime and commercial pressures caused by the growth of the internet.
