Press Freedom Solution: Exile The Dictators

Michael Hedges April 22, 2019 - Follow on Twitter

When confronted with yet another example of injustice, press and media freedom advocates typically issue sternly worded condemnations. Dictators and similarly-minded autocrats pay no attention. Criticism is irritating: stop the press and other “enemies.” But an interesting thing happens when they are sent into exile.

A huge takeaway from the 2019 RSF (Reporters sans Frontieres) Press Freedom Index is Ethiopia’s “spectacular soaring” in the rankings. From 150th last year to 110th is, indeed, impressive. The ranking against 180 countries remains challenging. Ethiopia also ranked 150th in 2017 in league with Russia and Belarus. The 110th ranking this year lies between Angola and Bulgaria.

RSF cites media reforms by new prime minister Abiy Ahmed, who arrived in 2018. “For the first time in more than ten years there is no journalist in prison at the end of the year 2018,” said the report. ‘‘New media outlets have been created, journalists have returned from self-imposed exile and the criminalization of defamation has been declared unconstitutional.”

Headline readers know Ethiopia, at least the name, from the tragic airplane crash in March. All persons aboard the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 perished just six minutes after take-off. The cause was faulty stall sensors rather than widely-reported pilot error. The aircraft type remains grounded worldwide out of safety concerns. The UNESCO 2019 World Press Freedom Day conference will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia May 2nd and 3rd. Ethiopian Airlines is the official air carrier.

Ethiopia is an ancient and largely hidden landlocked country on the Horn of Africa. Archeologists say it is the true cradle of civilization, evidence dating from three million years ago. It is large and populous, roughly 110 million people. It has coffee; the world’s 5th largest producer. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) rates Ethiopia’s economy the fastest growing in sub-Sharan Africa, which may understate fundamental economic concerns. Abiy Ahmed became prime minister when his predecessor Haile Mmariam Dessalegn stepped down.

Some observers believe the newly empowered media is giving voice to long simmering ethnic tensions. “People were not free to openly express themselves for many years, now they are and it’s this cathartic release of anger and frustration,” said Human Rights Watch senior researcher for Ethiopia Felix Horne, quoted by the Washington Post (April 21). “And in many cases that release is happening in a complete security void, there’s no limits in what people are able to say, so that’s a big problem.”

“In Ethiopia, the changes are spectacular,” said RSF African director Arnaud Froger to Radio France International (April 18). “The situation is very diverse, especially in Africa. You can hardly compare Senegal and South Africa with a rather good environment for media workers to the information black hole that characterizes Eritrea, or Djibouti, for example.”

In the 2019 RSF Press Freedom Index ranking, fifteen countries moved 15 or more spots. Six are located in sub-Sharan Africa; half up and half down. In the North Africa-Middle East region, Tunisia rose 25 places year on year to 72nd. Three are in the Asia-Pacific region, three in the Americas and two in Europe-Central Asia. Rankings of just four countries rose or fell by 15 or more spots last year.

The rise of Gambia in the RSF Press Freedom Index over the last three years is, arguably, more impressive - 143rd n 2017, 122nd in 2018 and 92nd 2019. RSF cited “the promising evolution seen after dictator Yahya Jammeh’s departure.” He named himself president after a 1994 military coup. During more than 20 years of repression, all media were clearly under his thumb.

“The relationship of the media and the public was characterized by paranoia and mistrust,” said Gambia Press Union secretary general Saikou Jammeh, quoted by AP (December 31 2018). Mr. Jammeh, the former president, was defeated in 2016 elections by Adama Barrow, refused to cede at first then fled to Equatorial Guinea. An Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) investigation estimates former president Jammeh “looted” US$975 million.

The mistrust between reporters and government continues. A proposed accreditation screening involving security services interviewing reporters was dropped before it was implemented. “It means that reason has prevailed,” said Newspaper Publishers' Association (NEPA) chairperson Samuel Sarr, quoted by allafrica.com (April 2).

Other African nations have gone the other direction. The RSF 2019 Press Freedom Index ranking for Central African Republic (CAR) dropped 33 places, to 142nd from 112th one year on. In 2013 CAR ranked 65th. The murders last July of three Russian investigative reporters looking into Russian mercenaries operating in the CAR and subsequent government obfuscation drew the attention of media freedom watchers. Disinformation is rife in the CAR, which has been in constant conflict since 2012. There is little government leadership, just a series of warlords.

Tanzania dropped to 118th in the rankings from 93rd one year on, 25 spots lower. The country ranked 34th in the 2012 RSF index. “This can be attributed to the unprecedented media suppression of media freedom that includes banning and fining media houses,” said Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) executive secretary Kajubi Mukajanga to The Citizen (April 20). The draconian 2016 Media Services Act, pushed by president John Magufuli, requires all media houses and journalists to pay a US$900 registration fee to operate online services, “a steep price for many Tanzanians,” said Radio France International (April 18). Then, too, Tanzanian immigration authorities briefly detained in November two Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) representatives for violating terms of their visas.

Statistical distributions being what they are, most variation comes from the center. The extremes, good or bad, tend to change least. At the top of the RSF 2019 Press Freedom Index rankings for sub-Sharan Arica, Namibia rose to 23rd from 26th year on year while Ghana dropped to 27th from 23rd. Globally, the top 10 - Norway, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, New Zealand, Jamaica, Belgium and Costa Rica - has remained, with small variations, unchanged for several years. At the other end, the bottom 10 - including Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea - is also virtually unchanged.

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