The call was made this week at a meeting of Zimbabwe Civic organisations at a local hotel. The meeting brought together 15 civic groups to review what needs to be done in order to create the space for free and fair elections.
The civic organisations agreed that Mugabe should repeal all the repressive laws and lift all restrictions on the media.
Amos Makoni from Zimrights said the civic organisations, human rights groups and local and international NGOs had a wealth of experience drawn from former troubled spots like Rwanda and Sierra Leone.
Makoni said that although Zimbabwe was not in the commonwealth, its people had always remained part of it and human rights groups wanted to re-engage with civic society.
“There is no competition going on between SADC, AU and now the commonwealth to see who can engage Zimbabwe better,” said Makoni.
Tim Hamilton from International Peace Projects (IPP) said: “As international organisations our idea is to help innocent Zimbabweans. We want to use every tool in the tool bag to ensure that there is rule of law in Zimbabwe.”
Martin Gray a media consultant from South Africa who also attended the meeting said: “The pre-2000 environment in Zimbabwe in which the media was not regulated and citizens were allowed to set up their newspapers without hindrance is what Zimbabwe desperately needs now.”
Gray called for the repeal of the repressive media and security laws, which had been used to stifle NGOs and human rights groups in the past.
What do you think?
How important is it that media laws be repealed before elections are held?
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Post published in: News
Zimbabwe, under President Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF, seems to be armed to the tooth through the use of the infamous protection of privacy (AIPPA) and Public Order & Security (POSA) against the media. The use of repressive ant-media freedom laws clearly shows that there is no media freedom and late alone freedom of expression in Zimbabwe. In all fairness a free media is critical to the well being of a vibrant society and democracy. Writing about what is considered to be state secrets or even dissenting views is a taboo in Zimbabwe and this can end one in jail if not worse than this. Media reforms, which can bring about private radio, television and daily newspapers to operate under this current Government of National Unity, are most welcome and undoubtedly could be one of the indications that Zimbabwe is heading for a free and fair elections. Without these in place democracy is next to zero. In a democratic society, media should be public oriented and has to reflect the will of the mass without fear or favour as opposed to the will of politicians who come and go. Zimbabweans can only benefit from a pluralistic and diverse media environment from which informed decisions can be derived. It is well known worldwide that in Zimbabwe, the government barred foreign media from covering the March 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections and detained several journalists. I therefore urge that the media in Zimbabwe be free, non partisan, mass orientated and serve the national interest hence this should create a platform for a free and fair forth coming elections.