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Rights Groups Call for Release of Reporters in Africa Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

Salem Solomon

   As the coronavirus spreads to all corners of the African continent,
   advocacy groups are calling for the release of a particularly
   vulnerable group: jailed journalists.

   In an open letter to 10 African heads of state, the Committee to
   Protect Journalists, or CPJ, and 80 other press freedom and human
   rights groups called for the media professionals to be freed.

   "They are in jails that are overcrowded, where there are underlying
   health conditions where malaria and TB is a problem," said Angela
   Quintal, CPJ's Africa program coordinator. "So really, their lives are
   at risk here and many of them actually haven't even been convicted and
   have been sitting in detention for years without trial."

   In a [1]survey conducted at the end of 2019, CPJ found that at least 73
   journalists were in prisons in Africa including 26 in Egypt, 16 in
   Eritrea and seven in Cameroon. Some of the Eritrean journalists have
   been imprisoned since 2001.

   "When it comes to journalists who are being held there, not because
   they have committed a crime but are being held because of their
   journalism, it is necessary to ensure that these journalists are not
   stuck with what we call a death sentence," Quintal said. "Their freedom
   is really a matter of life and death."

References

   1. https://cpj.org/2020/04/cpj-urges-african-heads-of-state-to-release-jailed.php

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