Mozambican leader pledges free press, free expression for country

By freedomforum.org staff

06.29.01

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Pascoal Manuel Mocumbi

ARLINGTON, Va. — Mozambique's prime minister said his country supported a free press and free expression and would work to erase news-media problems in the young democracy.

Pascoal Manuel Mocumbi, Mozambican prime minister since 1994, assured his audience at a Freedom Forum International Division program yesterday that his government was firmly committed to a free press. He noted, for example, that there was no ministry of information in his country and that he was "not willing at all" to start one.

We want media to develop "without any interference by the government," Mocumbi said, contending that anyone who wants to can start a "media" project.

When he was told of complaints that state media doesn't give fair treatment in coverage of the opposition, Mocumbi said that was "distressing to hear."

However, a representative of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists argued that Mozambique was "one of the good ones (African countries) but is on the brink of becoming one of the bad ones" regarding news media freedom.

In an exchange during the question-and-answer period, it was noted that Mozambique still had criminal-libel laws in effect, and that one law specifically says truth is not a defense in cases of defamation of the president of the country.

When Mocumbi replied that those laws were not being used, the questioner said that, like the Sword of Damocles, the mere existence of a threat was a deterrent and could lead to press self-censorship. The prime minister said that view would be taken into account in decisions regarding the development a free press in Mozambique.

He also stated that his government was "promoting a culture of respecting human rights" and prosecuting those who violate the concept.

Regarding the murder last November of the journalist Carlos Cardoso, the prime minister said he had been a friend of the investigative journalist, that he "admired his commitment to his country" and that his death silenced "a very strong voice."

Mocumbi said the trial of the accused killers was continuing and that it would be "inappropriate" for him to comment on it because doing so might be looked upon as "interference."

However, he said that the murder "galvanized unity among our journalists," and that there is "stronger solidarity among journalists."

He contended that "a weakness in the capacity of the media" prevents news outlets from making full use of the freedom available to them, although he added that it was difficult for a weak economy to support a free press.

Joao Tome, a Mozambican broadcaster at the U.S.-funded Voice of America, who shared the platform with Mocumbi, said that "our perception at VOA is as the prime minister says it is, with no limitation on press freedom."

In a letter to the Freedom Forum after this article was posted, a former U.S. ambassador to Mozambique, Dennis Jett, disputed Mocumbi's remarks as "a masterful collection of hollow promises and half truths."

"In general, the government and the Frelimo party that has run it since independence see the press as just another tool in Frelimo's efforts to maintain a stranglehold on power," Jett wrote. "Mocumbi's assertion that there is no Ministry of Information in his country [is] deliberately and completely misleading," he charged, in that there was a ministry by that name but "the government simply moved the Information Ministry's functions, staff and budget to an office directly reporting to the Prime Minister's office where it remains until today."

"The reality of the status of press freedom in Mozambique, that rarely appears in reports or is ignored by UNESCO and others, is that there is (not) now and never has been any real freedom for journalists. This is especially true when it comes to reporting things that Frelimo's ruling elite might find embarrassing," wrote Jett, now dean of the International Center at the University of Florida, Gainesville.

Related

Mozambican fat cats arrested in journalist's murder
Three top businessmen charged with ordering killing of Carlos Cardoso because of his news reports on their questionable dealings.  03.15.01

CPJ finds atmosphere of fear among Mozambican journalists
Press-freedom watchdog group finds lasting effects of journalist Carlos Cardoso’s murder last year.  07.25.01