FictionThatMatters.org

The Committee to Protect Journalists is one of the foremost human rights organizations in the world, rallying to protect journalists under threat. The CPJ uses a combination of publicity and direct advocacy to achieve its mission. It also keeps a running toll of killed journalists. The numbers can be sobering: 68 journalists have been killed in 2009, and nearly 800 since 1992, when the CPJ began keeping track.

Journalism and creativity can intertwine in beautiful, touching ways. Ryszard Kapuscinski and, more recently, Emmanuel Guibert in his work The Photographer have blended the muck-raking search for truth — or perhaps search for a story — in timeless works.

Mohamed Keita is the researcher of the Africa division of the Committee to Protect Journalists. The Mali-born activist took time out of his super busy schedule to answer questions about his work.

In a few words, tell us about the work of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

CPJ is a New York-based independent advocacy organization documenting and speaking out against attacks against news gatherers worldwide since 1981. CPJ’s Honorary Chairman is the late Walter Cronkite and board members include Gwen Ifill, Dan Rather and Christiane Amanpour, among others. In addition to reporting and lobbying for press freedom across the globe, CPJ assists persecuted journalists with relocation and funds for legal assistance and medical care. Each year, CPJ honors courageous journalists with CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award.

What is your background and how did you come to be involved in the CPJ?

Prior to joining CPJ, I volunteered with an international NGO involved in monitoring and advancing the internal reform of the United Nations. I compiled reports on the progress of the discussions between member states on various issues, including the enlargement of the Security Council, the Human Rights Council, and a definition of terrorism. I also helped coordinate workshops in West Africa to raise awareness about the Responsibility to Protect vulnerable civilian populations in the event of a genocide or humanitarian crisis. I came to the domain of international affairs and human rights with a professional background in editorial publishing and law, and a lifelong desire to contribute my writing and language skills to the advance of social justice.

What are some of the human rights issues that are unique to the Africa division of CPJ?

Well, CPJ exclusively focuses on the rights of people to freely access diverse sources of information, a right that is guaranteed under the constitutions of all the countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the African Charter on Peoples’ and Human Rights. Naturally, CPJ is defending the rights of those collecting and disseminating information in the public interest to do their work without fear of reprisals. Ultimately, the abuses we uncover are governments’ violations of fundamental constitutional (and human) rights which protect members of the media, like any other citizen, from arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, exile, denial of equitable justice, or discrimination based on political opinion.

Are there regional differences that affect journalists?

The Horn of Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia) is the region with the largest exodus of journalists, most of them fleeing war and government persecution, according to our research. Eritrea’s secret prisons hold the most journalists behind bars—all held without charge or trial for years at a time–and this country only trails China, Iran and Cuba among the leading jailers of journalists worldwide. Somalia is the deadliest country for journalists in Africa. In West Africa, Gambia is the worst place to be a journalist. Zimbabwe is still the worst place in southern Africa. Uganda in East Africa. DRC and Rwanda in the Great Lakes. Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Gabon are the most repressive places in Central Africa.

Corruption has become a loaded term — wielded by people who take bribes and those that don’t. To what extent is reporting about corruption helpful in Africa? To what extent does it obfuscate other issues?

Corruption is a symptom of larger socio-economic problems affecting the continent and the press is not immune to it. Low or inexistent salaries for journalists in places like Cameroon and the DRC, and the monetary influence of public figures in places like Gabon, Kenya or Angola often lead to unethical practices in the media. Stories about corruption may even die stillborn in the newsroom because of self-censorship to safeguard commercial interests. That said, when investigative journalists are able to expose corruption, they are more often than not the immediate targets of threats, harassment.

Worse, officials in places like Senegal, Niger, Ethiopia and Ivory Coast, are able to squash corruption allegations with criminal defamation prosecutions and imprisonment of their accusers. Allegations of corruption reported by the media should be taken seriously, perhaps as possible leads to graft investigations, not as the basis of prosecution and imprisonment of the authors of the stories!

In Africa, it is easy to focus on the negative, when there are always many great things happening. Are there any positive efforts by journalists that should be celebrated?

There are many unsung heroes. Journalists like Jolly Kamuntu, Chouchou Namegabe, and Julienne Baseke in war-devastated Eastern DRC who take enormous risks to report and document the plight of children and victims of sexual violence. The inventiveness of 21-year-old Gabriel Kondesi who built and operated a homemade broadcast station in Malawi. There’s Ory Okolloh, who started a web site monitoring the Kenyan parliament and then co-founded Ushahidi, a crisis-reporting platform collecting eyewitness testimonies of unfolding violence. There is Beatrice Mtetwa, a top human rights lawyer in Zimbabwe, who has successfully defended journalists there in the face of intimidation and beatings. All the journalists remaining in war-torn Somalia, people like the 2009 CPJ award-winner Mustafa Haji Abdinur who continues to report in the midst of the bloody carnage of Mogadishu.

Are there any creative artists who inspire you?

Musicians like Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, N.W.A. and Alpha Blondy who infused their music with a message of social justice. Pioneering photojournalists like Robert Capa, Mohamed Amin and Seydou Keita. Visual artists like René Magritte, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, Arthur Szyk. Architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and writers like Amadou Hampaté Ba.

What do you think is the most powerful medium to fight human rights abuses in Africa?

Earlier, I referenced an innovative new media tool called Ushahidi (meaning ‘testimony’ in Swahili). It was first deployed by a team of leading brains in Nairobi to collect firsthand reports of unfolding violence after Kenya’s disputed elections. While the “traditional” media’s coverage was limited by government censorship or colored by ethnic or partisan reporting, Ushahidi allowed the world to literally visualize the violence by allowing anyone with a mobile phone to send reports about what was happening on their doorstep. Accordingly, the answer to your question is evolving with the changing media landscape and I am excited by the possibilities.

What can people do to support journalists? The CPJ?

You can adopt the case of a journalist in prison. Small acts of solidarity can lift the spirits of journalists languishing in faraway (sending reading material, household items we take for granted but are prohibitively expensive or hard to come by in some countries). You or a group of friends can sponsor the family of an imprisoned journalist. Families of prisoners often suffer hardships because of the loss of their breadwinner.

You can also donate to support the work of CPJ. Since 2001, we have given direct emergency assistance to more than 250 journalists from nearly 50 countries. The Horn of Africa is the region on the continent where we deal with the most requests for assistance, including medicine after violent attacks, emergency evacuation to escape threats, legal assistance to avoid prison. You can earmark your donation for journalist assistance funds.

Any other thoughts that you’d like to share?

The African Union for instance has information about rights abuses and an institutional framework to deal with them, but cannot meaningfully do anything because of lack of political will and resources. I don’t think anyone has figured it out yet, although I was intrigued by Nick Kristof’s take on the topic. (Link included by Mr. Keita.)

–Deji Olukotun