[hr-media] A black day for free expression in Abidjan

***Learn more about this topic in HREA's study guide on freedom of
expression: http://www.hrea.org/learn/guides/freedom-of-expression.html


Press release RSF
5 November 2004

Reporters Without Borders said it was "outraged and sickened" by a
crackdown yesterday on the opposition press in Ivory Coast that is
coinciding with a sharp deterioration in the political and military
climate and attacks by pro-government forces on former rebels.

"Yesterday was a black day for free expression in Ivory coast and it was
the result of a concerted operation aimed a silencing dissident voices in
Abidjan," the organisation said.

"The authorities must understand that politically-motivated raids, carried
out by loyalist militia and sanctioned by the armed forces, are not only
illegal but also unacceptable for a government that calls itself
democratic," Reporters Without Borders continued. "As we have said over
and again, President Laurent Gbagbo must not allow armed civilians to
install a reign of terror in Abidjan."

Reporters Without Borders urged international organisations and countries
that still have influence in Ivory Coast to do everything possible to get
the authorities to stop the current crackdown, which comes against a
backdrop of political violence in which the media are viewed as military
targets.

"We are confident that the United Nations, which is a guarantor of the
Accra accords, will intercede forcefully as the gagging of the opposition
press is always a harbinger of more violence," the press freedom
organisation said.

In yesterday's violence, the offices of the dailies 24 Heures and Le
Patriote (a newspaper that supports Alassane Ouattara's party, the RDR),
were ransacked and torched in the afternoon by groups of pro-government
"Young Patriots." All of the equipment at the Nouveau Réveil (a daily that
supports former president Henri Konan Bédié's party, the PDCI-RDA) was
wrecked by about 200 civilians armed with iron bars and clubs and wearing
the T-shirts of the hardline wing of President Gbagbo's party, the FPI.

A military source told the Agence France-Presse bureau in Abidjan in the
evening that distribution of daily newspapers that support the opposition
and former rebels had been banned in pro-government areas. "These
protective measures against the pro- rebel newspapers have been taken to
accompany the movements on the ground," the source said.

The newspapers affected were Le Patriote, Le Libéral, Le Front, Le Nouveau
Réveil, Jour Plus and 24 Heures, which are all accused of "defending the
rebellion." The ban was imposed as air raids were carried out by the
Ivorian armed forces against former rebel positions in the central city of
Bouaké and in the north.

Local re-transmission of Radio France Internationale (RFI), the BBC World
Service and Africa N°1 on FM frequencies has been cut since the night of 3
November when a commando sabotaged their joint relay installations.

Reporters Without Borders had already voiced concern on 27 October about a
growing campaign of censorship, intimidation and violence against
opposition newspapers in Ivory Coast following reports of raids by Ivorian
youth groups on street vendors in Abidjan.