Ditshwanelo on World Press Freedom Day
The Botswana Centre for Human Rights joins the world in commemorating World Press Freedom Day, which is commemorated annually on May 3.
The theme for this year is, ‘Shaping a future of rights: Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights’.
This day is observed to raise awareness on the importance of freedom of the press and hold governments accountable to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression, which is enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
This day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993, following a recommendation adopted at the 26th session of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) General Conference in 1991.
It ‘serves as an occasion to inform citizens of violations of press freedom - a reminder that in dozens of countries around the world, publications are censored, fined, suspended and closed down, while journalists, editors and publishers are harassed, attacked, detained and even murdered’.
It is a day to encourage and develop initiatives in favour of press freedom, and to assess the state of press freedom worldwide. UNESCO commemorated the day by organising an anniversary event at UN headquarters in New York, marking the 30 years since the UN General Assembly’s decision proclaiming an international day for press freedom.
This will also be an opportunity to award the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, which recognises and honours the contributions of journalists.
There is no specific legislation protecting freedom of or access to information in Botswana. Instead there are several laws, which limit this freedom. These include The National Security Act 1986, 2005, Communications Regulatory Authority Act 2012, Media Practitioners Act, 2008 (repealed), Cybercrime and Computer Related Crimes Act 2018. The Media Practitioners’ Association Bill of 2022, which repealed the Media Practitioners Act of 2008, was passed by Parliament in 2022 but is yet to be assented.
The bill is almost identical to the repealed Act.
This lack of specific freedom of information legislation, poses a challenge to the right to seek information and the right to publish information. In some cases, the situation has led to some journalists and media practitioners being charged and arrested for conducting their work.
During Botswana’s 4th UPR Cycle before the UN Human Rights Council on May 3, 2023, Germany, Italy, Kenya, New Zealand, Sierra Leone, Spain, Switzerland, Timor Liste, Turkey and the United Kingdom made several recommendations to Botswana concerning freedom of the media, freedom of expression, freedom of association and assembly as well as the need for the protection of journalists to enable them to operate in a safe environment.
The Minister of Justice Machana Shamukuni informed the UN Human Rights Council that the Media Practitioners’ Association Bill, Bill No.8 of 2022 was passed by Parliament in August 2022 and is due to be assented to by the President of Botswana.
The Bill does not address the right to freedom of information. DITSHWANELO, therefore, calls for the re-tabling and adoption of the Freedom of Information Bill of 2010 by our elected representatives in Parliament. It was a Private Member’s Bill drafted by Member of Parliament for Maun West Dumelang