Cameroon: Where press freedom is anything but free!.

Yesterday was Press Freedom Day, instituted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993, as a reminder of the crucial role journalists play in democracies. The day is also intended to highlight the value of upholding the right to knowledge and freedom of expression. 

It "emphasises the necessity of safeguarding journalists and making sure they can publish stories without fear of retaliation".

Unfortunately, the situation of press freedom in Cameroon is illustrated by shouting world headlines like "Media workers in Cameroon face rising, violent repression”; “Cameroon media operating in climate of fear and self-censorship”; “Cameroon loses three places in 2020 World Press" etc.

When President Paul Biya promulgated the so-called Liberty Laws in 1990, that of communication was among. Although it facilitated the creation of a plethora of media organs, press freedom in Cameroon has not evolved over the years.

Instead, the country's freedom index has been witnessing a free fall. This year was one of the most fatal, with the barbaric torture and murder of Yaounde-based Radio presenter, Martinez Zogo.

There was global outrage when his mutilated dead body was, after five days of being kidnapped, was found on the outskirts of Yaounde. Zogo had been an outspoken critic of institutionalised corruption.

Even before the dust could settle on Zogo’s abduction and subsequent killing, a second radio presenter, Jean-Jacques Ola Bébé, was found dead near his home in Yaounde, with signs of bullet wounds. Bébé was a close associate of Zogo and had been at the forefront of the calls for justice for his murdered colleague.

More shocking, however, is that one of the suspects, Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, a business and media mogul, with strong government connections, was roped in as an "accomplice to torture" and incarcerated in the Kondengui prison in Yaounde. Last week, the Yaounde High Court denied him bail on grounds that given his financial means, he could influence witnesses.

The two murders, within the twinkle of an eye, give Cameroon the grim distinction of being the country with the highest number of media worker deaths in the world this year.

United Nations Human Rights Spokesperson, Seif Magango, said: “We are deeply concerned about the safety of journalists in Cameroon,” as no less than three other Cameroonian journalists reported in January alone that they had received credible threats from unknown persons.

Reporters Without Borders classifies Cameroon as having "one of the most dangerous media landscapes on the African continent, marked by hostility and precariousness", while the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, has noted that Cameroon is "amongst the worst jailers of journalists in Africa”.

"Media workers are routinely attacked, threatened, censored and imprisoned on anti-state, criminal defamation, false news, and/or retaliatory charges", as documented by the CPJ. Several journalists have been forced to go on exile.

CPJ has also found out that Cameroon currently jails journalists for the longest periods of time, including "using lengthy pre-trial and arbitrary detention, where journalists have been held incommunicado, and convictions by military courts, amongst other serious violations of fair trial and due process rights". 

With over 650 registered newspapers, some 200 community and commercial radio stations, and about 100 television channels for a population of 26 million people, government spin doctors often use those numbers to measure press freedom, which should be at the core of democracy.

But the various independent indicators have proven the government apologists wrong. One of the most repressive instruments against a free press in Cameroon is embedded in the Liberty Law. It makes libel a criminal offence, which, in all and civilised democracies, is a civil misdemeanour.

To add pepper to injury, there is also the National Communication Council, empowered with the obnoxious power to suspend an entire media house for the offence of one reporter!

The Council's verdict does not also prevent the complainant from dragging the erring reporter to a court of justice where he stands the risk of being punished twice for the same offence-a double tragedy indeed!

At The Guardian Post where we strive to work by the highest standards of the profession, we do not say journalists are infallible or postulate the Gospel truth. Like all humans, they are subject to err, but should face the due process of law.

Being the voice of the voiceless and the watchdog to ensure that public officials are held to account, the media plays a preponderant role in government.

As US Democratic Party politician, Senator Christopher Dodd, once said, "when the public's right to know is threatened, and when the rights of free speech and free press are at risk, all of the other liberties we hold dear are endangered".

From the evaluation by human rights and media groups, press freedom in Cameroon is anything but free, which means all other rights are also threatened. World Press Freedom Day, celebrated yesterday in Cameroon and globally, offered an opportunity to chart the way towards real freedom for an unfettered press and save media environment.

But freedom, as it is said, is never given on a platter of gold. Journalists have to fight for their freedom through lobbying the legislative arm to abrogate the criminal libel legislation and amend the anti-terrorism law. 

Yesterday’s Press Freedom Day just reminded journalists about that responsibility which should reinforce the power of the press as the fourth estate of the realm, deriving its authority from morale force.