GRIFFIN SHEA, STAFF REPORTER, Harare | Wednesday
THE Zimbabwe government has failed, for the second time in a week, to introduce in parliament a controversial bill that would clamp down on press freedom.
Parliament had been expected to debate the bill on Tuesday, but when the house opened, Zanu-PF lawmakers immediately adjourned it until Wednesday without explanation.
Sources at parliament said the delay came after a committee produced a report that said the original bill was a serious setback to the constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression.
Mugabe eased, ever so slightly, proposed curbs to press freedom in the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill, amid fears that foreign journalists and observers would be barred from crucial March presidential elections.
The press bill originally proposed by Mugabe’s government banned all foreign journalists from Zimbabwe and imposed stiff penalties for criticizing the president.
The revised bill would allow “permanent residents” to work as journalists.
Foreigners could be accredited to cover “a specific event over a limited period of time,” if they obey other still-restrictive clauses in the bill, according to a draft.
The new version also removed a clause that criminalized criticism of Mugabe though a tough security law approved earlier this month already outlawed statements “causing hatred, contempt or ridicule” of the president.
Journalists and news organizations would still have to seek accreditation every one or two years from a panel hand-picked by the information minister.
Foreigners would be unable to work full-time in Zimbabwe. No news organization would be able to seek foreign funding, a clause that could hinder operations at the Daily News, Zimbabwe’s only private daily newspaper.
The bill also limits the ability of journalists to report, for example by making it an offence to report on cabinet proceedings.
Violations of the law would still be punished by stiff fines and up to two years in prison.
The unexpected revisions to the law came after a caucus meeting of MPs from the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF), as well as a separate politburo meeting of the party’s top brass earlier on Tuesday.
Business Day quoted party members as saying that the bill was ‘Draconian’ and ‘fundamentally flawed’. Despite some loosening, the revised bill retained many restrictions denounced by press rights groups in Zimbabwe and abroad.
“This does not amount to any real change,” said Rashweat Mukundu, a research and information officer at the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa).
He called the changes nothing more than “legal jargon” and “a trick to camouflage the same draconian clauses they’re proposing in the bill.”
Journalists from a cross-section of Zimbabwean media on Monday petitioned parliament against the bill, vowing to challenge the law in court if it passes.
The proposed press curbs were among the issues that drew sanctions threats from the European Union, which has insisted that Mugabe’s government accept international observers and news media before and during the March 9-10 polls.
Mugabe also faces sanctions from Britain and the United States, as well as possible suspension from the Commonwealth, over his ongoing efforts to crack down on dissent and his failure to end two years of political violence.
The United States on Tuesday welcomed changes to the press law but warned Mugabe that “smart sanctions” were still an option.
“We think it’s another tragic example of President Mugabe’s increasingly authoritarian rule, his government’s apparent determination to repress freedom of speech and dissent,” said State Department representative Richard Boucher.
“We’re still talking to other countries. We’re still considering what we can do, and we’re still watching very closely developments in Zimbabwe.”
Mugabe has tightened the screws on opposition to his 22-year rule, as he faces the toughest-ever challenge to his presidency from Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the two-year-old Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The MDC says more than 90 of its supporters have died in political violence blamed on pro-government militants.
Hundreds of thousands of people have suffered beatings and other forms of torture, including rape, according to the MDC and rights groups. – AFP