The 26-page report, "Sleight of Hand: Repression of the Media and the Illusion of Reform in Zimbabwe," says that the Zimbabwe Africa National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), the former sole ruling party, still holds the balance of power in the coalition government forged with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the former opposition movement, in February 2009. ZANU-PF promotes political propaganda and restricts independent reporting through repressive laws that remain unchanged, and it retains its control of security forces and key resources, Human Rights Watch said.
"The Global Political Agreement promised reforms that would guarantee transparency and promote free, fair, and credible elections," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "But these have turned out to be empty promises. The power-sharing government is taking no serious steps toward reform."
The new government has not reformed media-related laws, as promised, and blocks free expression through senior officials aligned to ZANU-PF and partisan state security agents. In the past year, not one independent television or radio station has received a license to operate.
As a result, journalists are effectively unable to report on significant political and economic developments, depriving Zimbabweans of independent sources of information. State-controlled print and electronic media only dispense ZANU-PF-approved messages.
Under the new government, at least 15 journalists have been harassed, arbitrarily arrested, or assaulted by Zimbabwe's state security forces. For instance, Anderson Manyere, a freelance photojournalist, has been arbitrarily detained three times since early 2010. On January 18, police arrested and detained him for two hours for filming a protest march in Harare by Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA). He was released without charge. On another occasion, ZANU-PF youths unlawfully detained Manyere for filming their protest against international sanctions on the ZANU-PF leadership; the youths handed Manyere over to state security agents, who forced him to delete all footage in his camera before they released him.
Human Rights Watch also documented the case of Stanley Kwenda, a journalist who was forced to flee the country on January 16 following alleged death threats from a senior police officer. Kwenda had reported in The Zimbabwean newspaper that the officer had barred Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC from visiting police stations across the country.
Kwenda said:
The police officer hurled insults and threats at me over the phone, saying, ‘Kwenda, you are to die, you will not last the weekend.' He said I would be dead before my fellow congregants at my church had said their prayers the following Sunday. I was so afraid that I was left trembling. I realized I had no protection in Zimbabwe and my only option was to flee the country.
President Robert Mugabe of ZANU-PF has begun to speak publicly about new elections in 2011. Without structural and institutional reforms, Zimbabweans risk a repeat of the horrific, state-sponsored violence of 2008, when more than 160 people were killed after ZANU-PF mobilized to prevent an MDC victory.
The new government has made a few superficial reforms, but these have resulted in little meaningful improvement for those who wish to express independent political views or to criticize official policy, Human Rights Watch said. At least five major pieces of legislation remain on the books that are used to target and silence journalists.
For instance, the Broadcasting Services Act allows for private broadcasting and provides for the issuance of licenses, but the application procedures are so complex and stringent that no licenses have been issued other than to the government-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).
The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act prohibits the full-time employment of unaccredited journalists by news agencies and the mass media. The Public Order and Security Act criminalizes "publishing or communicating statements prejudicial to the State" and prohibits "undermining authority of, or insulting the President." The phrase has been interpreted broadly to prosecute critics of the president, his government, and his policies.
Human Rights Watch urged President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and his team tasked with facilitating Zimbabwe's political process to call on parties to the Global Political Agreement, particularly ZANU-PF, to carry out the promised reforms, including constitutional, electoral, and security improvements, within a specific time frame. The transitional government should guarantee, protect, and promote fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, in accordance with its domestic and international legal obligations, Human Rights Watch said.
"The power-sharing government needs to do just that - share power," Gagnon said. "Any assessment of the power-sharing government that does not address its record on human rights reforms is at best shoddy, and at worst complicit, in the government's failed promises."
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See also Sydney Irresistible and for personal comment, Mike Hitchen Unleashed
Putting principles before profits
See also Sydney Irresistible and for personal comment, Mike Hitchen Unleashed
Putting principles before profits
