Mr Chaiman,Distinguished members of the Zanzibar Press Club and invitees Ladies and gentlemen,
It is an honour and a priviledge to be invited by the the Zanzibar Press Club and to give a speech on Democracy and Media Freedom. I must admit that I was a bit hesitant to accept your kind invitation. What is there for me to tell seasoned journalists and media people in Zanzibar on Democracy and Media Freedom? As I am very fond of Zanzibar and take every excuse to visit this place, I was quick to accept the invitation well aware of the fact that I also accepted a difficult task.
Let me start by saying a few words about my background to give you an idea of where I come from.
I am an economist and political scientist by training. I have worked for the City Council in Stockholm, the FAO of the UN, Swedish Sida, International IDEA and the Swedish Foreign Ministry. I have served in Afghanistan, in Guinea Bissau, Laos and Sri Lanka. I have served as the Swedish Ambassador to Tanzania for about three years. In short I am an aid-person turned diplomat. I am not a journalist nor a Democracy or Media Expert.
I thought of talking about the following:- Democracy – How I see it- Media Freedom in constitution and international declarations- Freedom of Access to Information - Swedish support to the Media Sector in Tanzania- How a Swedish Civil Servant should relate to media. - Final comments (if any)
A few words about the D-word. Democracy is a concept that has different meaning to different people. In my world I see democracy mainly as a way of managing and structuring conflicting interests in a society in a peaceful manner. There are some basic principles that are universal for example those of Human Rights that apply or should apply everywhere as ountries have signed and adopted international conventions and declarations in protection of Human Rights. When it comes to democracy there is no international conventions or declaration that regulate it. The shape of Democracy is something that differs from one country to another based on traditions and specific conditions on the ground. It is obvious to most people that democracy cannot be imported and applied without being adjusted to the specific environment and conditions in a country. It is not one-size-fits-all. Furthermore, there maybe instant coffee but instant democracy does not exist. Democracy is not a stage that can be reached once and for all – it is eveloving and should be publicly discussed and refined in order to meet the needs of people in a society. Finally, domocracy has to be home-grown in order to be sustainable.
So that about democracy – what about Media Freedom?
Media Freedom is one of the pillars of Democracy. This is a widely accepted idea. Democracy is not just about multi-partyism and elections. Democracy must be supported by a civic culture of openness and toleration. An informed and educated people is most likely to be capable of maintaining and respecting democratic norms.
In most countries in Africa list media or informational freedom among the basic rights in their constitutions. Some constitutions include specifically freedom of the media.
Sweden was the first country in the world to have a Freedom of Information Act. The Swedish Parliament adopted a Freedom of the Press Act in 1766 as part of the Constitution.
In addition to this there are a number of international conventions that deal with media and informational freedom.
In 1946 the UN General Assemby adopted Resolution 59 stating:
“Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and the touch stone of all freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated”
I would here also like to quote the UN Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. It came after the second world war, when the world realized that peace could only exist if Human Rights were guaranteed. Article 19 of that Declaration reads:
”Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardles of frontiers”
The UN International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) in its article 19 goes into more detail:
”Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice”
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted in 1981 and in force since 1986 lists informational freedom as one of the basic rights of all citizens. Article 9 says:
“Every individual shall have the right to receive information” and “ Every individual shall have the right to express and disseminate his opinion withion the law.”
More recently the African Union’s Commission on Human & Peoples Rights reaffirmed this in 2002 in the “Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression”:
“Freedom of expression and information, including the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas, either orally, in writing or in print, in the forma of art, or through any other form of communication, including across frontiers, is a fundamental and in alienable human right and an indispensible component of democracy”
and
“Everyone shall have an equal opportunity to exercise the right to freedom of expressions and to access information without discrimination.”
The SADC countries have signed a protocol on Culture, Information and Sport” where the Member States commit themselves to the
“promotion, establishment and growth of independent media, as well as free flow of information”
“Member States agree to create a political and economic environment conducive to the growt of apluralistic media”
The protocol
“… enjoins member states to take necessary measures to ensure the freedom and independence of the media”
And media independence is defined as:
“editorial independence, whereby editorial Policy and decisions are made by the media without interference”.
In other words there is a wide concensus on the fact that media are meant to be free, in this is widely reflected in constitutional principles and international declarations.
I stated earlier that Media Freedom is seen as one of the pillars of Democracy. But democracy is also about accountability and good governance. People, who have given the government its confidence by the power of its votes, should also be able to assess the performance of the government. In order to do this access to information about the state of the economy, social systems and other matters of public concern I essential. In the global age of information the issue of Government Transparency has been higlighted further. Many countries have adopted Freedom of Information Acts that facilitates access to government records. Why has the attention to access to information increased recently:
1. The wave of democratization has pointed at the constitutional right to access information.2. Scandals in form of corruption, crisis etz make people react agains injustices. Right to access information is often seen as a way of fighting corruption.3. Modernization and the Information Society has led to more people, civil society group and business have increased the demand for information4. International pressure both from multilateral organizations and individual or groups of contries – donors – have insisted on fighting corruption by adopting Freedom of Information Laws
I feel a bit like preaching to the already converted. I assume this is what everyone dealing with media and jornalism is well conversed in.