BALLOT News X Issue No. 2 September 2007 MISA-ZIMBABWE COMMUNIQUE ON SADC INITIATIVES AND MEDIA LAW REFORMS By MISA - Zimbabwe MISA - Zimbabwe acknowledges the Southern African Development Community (SADC) efforts to end the Zimbabwe crisis and welcomes the talks between the opposition MDC and ruling Zanu PF being mediated by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. According to media reports the main issues on the agenda include the need for a new Constitution, electoral law reforms and the amendment of repressive laws such as the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and Broadcasting Services Act (BSA). reflected by the diverse civic society groups in the country. MISA-Zimbabwe submits that those involved in the talks should consult widely in order to capture the views of the general populace whose voices should be represented through civil society organisations in order to input into the mediation process as well as render legitimacy to the initiatives through an all inclusive consultative process. According to press reports MISA-Zimbabwe Is made to understand that laws such as AIPPA which has contributed to the curtailment of free voices, opinions and views through the closure of four privately owned workers, publishers and editors have been harassed, intimidated or arrested under AIPPA since its enactment in 2002 effectively contributing to the shrinkage of Zimbabwe's democratic space. AIPPA should, therefore feature prominently during the talks between the opposition MDC and ruling Zanu PF as its well-documented history and trail of destruction and onslaught on the civil liberties of Zimbabweans speaks for itself. AIPPA's very existence as complemented by other restrictive media laws such as BSA, POSA, Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act, Constitutional Amendment (No 17) Act and the Interception of Communications Bill recently passed by Parliament and the Senate, compromise the right to media freedom and freedom of expression which is critical to democratic practice more so towards the creation of an environment conducive to free and fair elections. With the 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections only a few months away, the question of equitable and equal access to the public m e d i a a s envisioned under t h e S A D C Principles and Guidelines on the Conduct of Democratic Election will It is in that vein that MISA Zimbabwe is of the strong view that the mediation MISA-Zimbabwe inevitably be of process should involve all stakeholders insists that AIPPA intense interest and should therefore be tabled as a separate item newspapers, has been sidelined as a debate. It is in that vein that MISA Zimbabwe on the agenda given the role it has played in peripheral issue which will only be addressed is of the strong view that the mediation through discussions on the need for limiting access to information and restricting process should involve all stakeholders. This constitutional reforms and the need for an the free flow of alternative views, ideas and will ensure that the process is all embracing explicit provision that guarantees Press opinions on issues of good governance and and representative of the concerns of the generality of the citizens of Zimbabwe as Freedom. Scores of journalists, media 21 Continued on page 22 X