The pending Mass Media and Freedom of Information Proclamation, passed by the Ethiopian House of Peoples’ Representatives on July 1, does not fully incorporate public input, including that of local journalists and legal experts. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says the bill is flawed and has urged Ethiopian President Girma Woldegiorgis to reject it and send it back to lawmakers for revision.
The bill was intended to reform the existing 1992 press law in line with international standards on press freedom, according to local journalists. In April, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told Newsweek the government hoped the new press law would be “on par with the best in the world.”
In principle, the bill upholds constitutional protections against censorship, prohibits pretrial detention of journalists, and recognises the rights of journalists to form professional associations. However, CPJ expressed concern that a number of its provisions allow the government to restrict the independent media, while leaving intact existing repressive statutes that fall well short of international standards.
In particular, the bill allows prosecutors to summarily impound any print publication deemed a threat to public order or national security. The bill also increases fines for defamation to 100,000 birrs (approximately US$10,000). Defamation and libel remain criminal offences under Ethiopia’s penal code punishable by heavy prison sentences, according to CPJ research.
While the bill recognises the government’s obligation to provide information of public interest, its mechanisms render the provision toothless. The bill grants information officials in government agencies the exclusive discretion to withhold information deemed sensitive while providing the public and the press no avenue for judicial review, according to legal experts.
The measure does not alter or address repressive elements in the existing press law that grant the government’s Ministry of Information absolute authority over media regulation, according to CPJ research. They include provisions empowering the ministry to “register and issue certificates of competence” to the press, to monitor the activities of the media, and to control the publicly owned Ethiopian News Agency. CPJ said it believed that the ministry’s official function as “the main source of government information” with a duty to “promote government policies and image building” compromises its mandate to “facilitate conditions for the expansion of the country’s media both in variety and members.”
