Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom
Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom
Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom
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African media should inspire<br />
understanding, not incite hatred<br />
By Henry Maina<br />
Henry Maina is <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Director, ARTICLE<br />
19 Eastern Africa. He previously<br />
worked as <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Deputy Director of<br />
Legal Resources Foundati<strong>on</strong> (Kenya).<br />
Africa states, like o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r states globally,<br />
are allowed - and in some<br />
respects obliged - to prohibit dangerous<br />
speech that has a high probability<br />
to stir violence, discriminati<strong>on</strong><br />
or hatred.<br />
Incitement to genocide is equally<br />
forbidden and is an internati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
crime akin to war crimes and crimes<br />
against humanity. Ir<strong>on</strong>ically, though,<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> African Charter has no provisi<strong>on</strong>s<br />
<strong>on</strong> incitement similar to those<br />
in Article 20 of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Internati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
C<strong>on</strong>venti<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> Civil and Political<br />
Rights (ICCPR). Never<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>less, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re<br />
is an internati<strong>on</strong>al c<strong>on</strong>sensus <strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se issues.<br />
What remains open to debate,<br />
however, is how states identify<br />
hate speech – and what measures<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y take to deal with it. These<br />
matters are sometimes a source of<br />
c<strong>on</strong>flict due to undue limitati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong><br />
<strong>freedom</strong> of ex<strong>press</strong>i<strong>on</strong> and media<br />
<strong>freedom</strong>. This is because it remains<br />
a daunting task to precisely define<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> crime of incitement to genocide,<br />
hatred, violence or discriminati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Internati<strong>on</strong>al human rights scholars<br />
Secti<strong>on</strong> 1: Freedom<br />
and commentators have provided<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> three-part test as a standard<br />
by which to assess whe<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r or not<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tent restricti<strong>on</strong> by any state is<br />
permissible. According to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> test:<br />
• <strong>freedom</strong> of ex<strong>press</strong>i<strong>on</strong><br />
limitati<strong>on</strong>s must be provided<br />
by law, in sufficiently clear<br />
terms as to make it foreseeable<br />
whe<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r or not a statement<br />
may be deemed offensive or<br />
permissible,<br />
• any such restricti<strong>on</strong>s must be<br />
directed at <strong>on</strong>e of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> following<br />
goals: ensuring respect of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
rights or reputati<strong>on</strong>s of o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rs,<br />
or protecting nati<strong>on</strong>al security,<br />
public order, public health or<br />
public morals,<br />
• legitimate limits must be<br />
strictly necessary for <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
achievement of that goal,<br />
including that no suitable<br />
alternative measure exists<br />
which would be less harmful to<br />
<strong>freedom</strong> of ex<strong>press</strong>i<strong>on</strong>.<br />
The three tests make sense in legal<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ory but remain challenging in<br />
regard to how <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y may be applied<br />
in practice.<br />
“How have states<br />
identified incitement<br />
to genocide, violence,<br />
discriminati<strong>on</strong> and<br />
hatred in Africa so<br />
far?”<br />
The legal definiti<strong>on</strong> of incitement<br />
was not elaborated by <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
Nuremberg tribunal in 1946 of Julias<br />
Streicher, a newspaper editor, and<br />
Has Fritzche, a radio broadcasting<br />
Media in Africa - 2011 | 65