Federation Africaine des Journalistes: Soutien a l'independance et a l'unite du SNJT

Final Declaration of African Journalists Rights Workshop

We, the leaders of the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), meeting in Djibouti from 23- 25 June 2009, at a workshop on African Journalists Rights Workshop hosted by the Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) and supported by the American Centre for International Labor Support (Solidarity Centre), and conscious of the harsh realities facing our journalist members in the Continent, and having considered and exhaustively discussed the deplorable, inhumane, unsafe and insecure working conditions of journalists in African countries characterized by inadequate salaries, lack of social and working security, discrimination and sexual harassment of women journalists, and continued abuse of their rights to decent lives;

Declare:

Our strong resolve and commitment towards the need to develop national, sub-regional and regional collective bargaining frameworks;

Our strongest condemnation to numerous labour laws violations by media owners and impunity across the Continent, which include;

• The very poor, inhumane and insecure conditions which journalists are being exposed to by some media organizations;

• The flagrant abuse, disrespect and disregard to international conventions by employers who refuse to provide their workers with a living wage and those who fail to ensure equal pay for equal work for both women and men in the media;

• The increased and continued abuse and casualisation of journalists’ labour, and the sustained efforts by some media conglomerates to encourage bad labour practices including denying their employees the right to organise themselves into a union and the right to association;

• The failure or deliberate disregard by employers to adhere to the requirements of occupational health and safety for all workers in the media across the Continent;

In lieu of these violations, call upon the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) to file complaints with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) forthwith;

Conscious of the inequities encouraged by authorities that have hijacked public broadcasters to propagate their agenda, call upon all African Governments, which have not turned their state broadcasting services into public broadcasters to do so as a sign of commitment to press freedom, democracy and justice; this should also include a comprehensive media law reform agenda;

In determination to achieve gender equity in the media in the Continent, commit to the urgent setting up of a Pan-African Gender Organ and increased participation of women in union activities and union leadership; this should include immediate Gender Audit of all FAJ members;

Condemn the increased impunity with which journalists are being killed in Africa by enemies of free press;

To undertake a comprehensive advocacy and campaign programme and to monitor working conditions violations in the Continent;

Somalia

• Very disturbed by the continued killing with impunity of journalists, kidnapping, arrests, threats, disappearances and intimidation of journalists and other media workers in Somalia;
• Call upon the African Union, the United Nations and relevant international organizations to move with speed and restore order in Somalia and to ensure the safety and security of journalist colleagues in Somalia;

Gambia

• Condemn in the strongest terms the unwarranted attacks, arrest and detention of media personnel in the Gambia, and the continued harassment and persecution of journalists by President Yahya Jammeh regime that has distinguished itself as an enemy of free press;
• While expressing solidarity with our Gambian colleagues, demand for the dropping of all charges against the media personnel as a sign of goodwill and a positive pointer to strengthening press freedom in the Republic of Gambia;

Cameroon

• Deplore the incessant and scandalous violations of labour Code in Cameroon of media industry, which led this year, among others, to the dismissal of a Unionist who was an employee representative at a daily Newspaper, and the subsequent refusal by private media houses to allow their journalists to organize elections to choose their representatives this year. It is our conviction that these violations of journalists working rights in general will influence negatively in their productivity and in addressing the right of the public to information ;

Tunisia

• Aware and pre-occupied by the crisis going on within the National Union of Journalists of Tunisia (SNJT);
• Especially express our concern about the involvement and interference by outside forces in the affairs and activities of the Union; that such a crisis must remain that of journalists, and all journalists’ community all over the world must stand up in solidarity with our Tunisian brothers and sisters to defend and to preserve the independence of the Union and the respect of the Union’s constitution;
• Hope that the next congress of Tunisian Union of journalists will be conducted in a democratic manner, transparency and freedom for choice in order to solve the crisis and build unity.
• Convinced that SNJT has great potential and important responsibilities in Tunisia, in Africa and throughout the world and can only achieve this imperative role by preserving its unity and independence.

Zimbabwe

• Concerned at the recent arrest and detention of editors and journalists from the independent media, especially that of Zimbabwean independent editor and news editor and the editor and journalist of the Chronicle newspaper, and the detention of the editor of the labour based newspaper The Worker, as another unacceptable abuse of the labour and human rights of the journalists, and call on the Zimbabwean government to immediately stop actions of impunity against journalists;

Eritrea

• Call for a sustained and determined advocacy campaign, and to push the Eritrean authorities and to directly engage the Africa Union, the UN agencies and other relevant international organizations in order to secure the release of some 15 journalists believed to be languishing in a secret prison within Eritrea and to push for better working conditions for journalists and media freedom in Eritrea.

Done in Djibouti

25 June 2009