By George Mhango:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has identified Angola, Cameroon, Eritrea, Egypt, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tunisia as among the leading jailers of journalists globally in 2024.
According to a census published this week, Eritrea remains the leading jailer in sub- Saharan Africa, with 16 journalists incarcerated between 2000 and 2005 still included in the 2024 survey.
The census shows that 67 journalists were jailed in Africa last year, most facing charges such as anti- State offences, criminal defamation and spreading false news.
“In 2023 about 68 were jailed as compared to 57 of them in 2022. Journalists detained in Rwanda and Senegal speak of mistreatment behind bars, including beatings,” the CPJ census reads.
Many of those listed in CPJ’s 2024 census have been sentenced to long prison terms, with 10 receiving life sentences and one sentenced to death.
A total of 54 are serving more than 10 years, 55 between five and 10 years and 62 between one and five years.
The census says that some of the journalists in Eritrea have been imprisoned for the longest periods globally, with no charges ever disclosed against them.
“Over the years, Eritrean officials have offered vague and inconsistent explanations for the journalists’ arrests— accusing them of involvement in anti-state conspiracies in connection with foreign intelligence, skirting military service and violating press regulations. Officials, at times, even denied that the journalists existed,” CPJ’s census notes.
The CPJ census also states that Egypt has used enforced disappearances to intimidate and silence journalists before detaining them.
It is reported that Egypt violated its criminal procedure law by extending the incarceration of Egyptian-British blogger Alaa Abdelfattah by two years, despite his release being due in September.
“In Angola, Carlos Alberto was still in jail on December 1 despite becoming eligible for parole the previous month after his three-year sentence for criminal defamation was reduced to 27 months under a 2022 amnesty law,” the census says.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has found that Lai, Zamora, Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak, Rwandan journalist Théoneste Nsengimana and Palestinian journalists Mohammad Badr and Ameer Abu Iram are among those held in violation of international law.
In Senegal, a CPJ investigation found that René Capain Bassène was sentenced to life imprisonment for a crime he could not have committed.
Tunisia has used its new cybercrime law to imprison a record number of journalists, according to the CPJ census.
More than 60 percent of the journalists in CPJ’s 2024 census—228 in total—are imprisoned under anti-State laws used to silence independent voices.
Charges or convictions for terrorism or “extremism” make up a significant portion of these cases in countries such as Myanmar, Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Venezuela, Turkey, India and Bahrain.
These charges are often levied against ethnic minority reporters whose work focuses on their communities.
Authorities regularly cite journalists’ contacts with militant groups—as part of their reporting—as evidence of membership in those groups.
Other common charges include incitement, defamation and spreading false news. Tunisia, for example, uses its new cybercrime law to imprison journalists.
In Ethiopia, five of the six journalists held by authorities are facing terrorism charges related to the ongoing conflict in Amhara, with the maximum penalty being death.
Cameroon and Rwanda each held five journalists, mostly on anti-State or false news charges and Senegal held one.
Nigeria is using its cybercrimes law to prosecute four imprisoned journalists for reporting on alleged corruption.
Despite reforms to the country’s Cybercrimes Act in February 2024, it continues to be used to summon, intimidate and detain journalists.
Burundi held one journalist, Sandra Muhoza, on the day of CPJ’s census.
Her conviction on charges of undermining national integrity reflects the growing use of anti- State charges against journalists in East Africa.
CPJ calls for an end to the practice of detention without charge to prevent the arbitrary and retaliatory incarceration of journalists.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which most of the world’s leading jailers are signatories, states that no one should be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.
Detention is considered arbitrary when a victim is not given a legal reason for their arrest or brought before a judge within a reasonable time.
CPJ also encourages international actors, beyond those focused on press freedom, to consider the impact that the crackdown on journalists has on economic development, global security and electoral integrity, among other areas.
Additionally, CPJ advocates for the repeal and reform of cybercrime laws targeting journalists, arguing that such laws often use the guise of ‘fighting cybercrime’ to criminalise and imprison journalists.
The United Nations Convention against Cybercrime was officially adopted in December 2024 and will enter into force once ratified by 40 member states.
As CPJ and other groups have warned, the convention, first proposed by Russia, contains broad provisions that could subject journalists and other vulnerable groups to unwarranted investigations, prosecution, surveillance and repression for exercising their fundamental rights while using digital technology.
Malawi, meanwhile, uses its Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act to charge some journalists, reflecting a global trend of using cybercrime laws to target journalists.
On April 8, the police’s Cyber Crimes Division in Blantyre detained journalist MacMillan Mhone over “cyber spamming”, “publication of news likely to cause public alarm” and “extortion” under Malawi’s Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act.
The International Press Institute has called on Malawi’s authorities to stop weaponising the law to undermine fundamental freedoms.
