Calling for nothing short of the repeal of the draconian Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and other laws that
restrict media freedom, the groups blasted the government last week
for adopting a piecemeal approach to addressing media concerns.
The groups spoke as President Robert Mugabe announced that the Media
Practitioners Bill, which has been on the cards for more than a year
following recommendations of the All Media Stakeholders Conference
held in Kariba in May 2009, would be among the 23 Bills constituting
the legislative agenda of the next parliamentary session.
According to Mugabe, the Media Practitioners Bill seeks to repeal the
part of the Access to Information and the Protection of Privacy Act
(AIPPA), which deals with the registration of journalists and privacy
issues.
He made this remark during the opening of the 3rd Session of the 7th
Parliament of Zimbabwe in Harare last Tuesday.
The Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
said Mugabes address betrayed the authorities desire to maintain
controls and restrictions on media activity, which have been widely
condemned as inimical to media freedom,.
MISA-Zimbabwe reiterates that only the repeal of AIPPA and other laws
that erode media freedom and their replacement with those compatible
with the best practice in media regulation enshrined in regional and
international instruments on freedom of expression will amount to
genuine media reforms necessary for the democratic development of
Zimbabwe, the media watchdog said.
AIPPA requires journalists and media houses to register with the
government and also criminalises the publication of “falsehoods”.
It has been used to harass the independent media, with scores of
journalists arrested for operating without government accreditation
and at least four private newspapers shut down since 2003.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said the intention to
repeal parts of AIPPA was testimony that the government stubbornly
intends to maintain restrictions and regulation of the media
profession.
ZLHR reiterates its call for self-regulation of the media, and
insists that the current civil remedies available to individuals and
institutions are more than sufficient to ensure proper ethics and
conduct on the part of the media, the group said.
It also blasted the government for showing no intention to remove
provisions of AIPPA that criminalize defamation as well as the removal
existing insult laws.
Post published in: News