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‘Death list’ concerns UN

WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.

Original Post Date: 2001-08-29 Time: 05:40:36  Posted By: Jan

25/08/2001

United Nations (UN) officials yesterday expressed grave concern over alleged
death threats against five Zimbabwean journalists who have denounced
violations of press freedom in their country. In a special message to the
government in Harare, two special UN reporters asked the authorities to
answer allegations that police and the intelligence service had drawn up a
death list.

The officials “expressed their extreme concern about reports of death threats
against five Zimbabwean journalists who have publicly denounced the repeated
violations of press freedom in their country,” a UN communiqu(233)é said.

They quoted allegations that the five “appear on a hit list compiled by the
Law and Order section of the Zimbabwe police and the Central Intelligence
Organisation”.

In a special message to the Harare government, Asma Jahangir of Pakistan, a
UN reporter on arbitrary execution, and Abid Hussain of India, a reporter on
right to freedom of opinion and expression, asked the authorities to “provide
information on these serious allegations, in particular on the steps taken to
ensure effective protection of the right to life and physical integrity of
the five journalists.”

“They also appeal to the government to take all necessary measures to ensure
that the right to freedom of opinion and expression is fully protected,” the
statement added.

The journalists are Basildon Peta of the Financial Gazette, also Harare
correspondent of the London Independent and the Johannesburg Star, Geoff
Nyarota, editor of the Zimbabwe Daily News, Iden
Wetherell, editor of the Zimbabwe Independent, Mark Chavunduka and Cornelius
Nduna, respectively editor and staff member of the Standard newspaper.

Peta claims he is on a death list
Basildon Peta said in a front-page report in the London Independent Wednesday
he was on a death list drawn up by supporters of President Robert Mugabe.

On Wednesday, Mark Chavunduka, editor of The Standard, an independent weekly,
was arrested for defamation over an article alleging that President Robert
Mugabe was haunted by the ghost of a liberation war military commander. The
journalist was released the same day, six other journalists had been accorded
the same treatment earlier in the week.

International Press Institute protests
The Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) has protested,
describing the action as abuse of power intended to intimidate ahead of
presidential elections in Zimbabwe next April. International media watchdog
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF – Reporters Without Borders) has also deplored
the measures and expressed concern at an alleged hit list.

Robert Menard, the RSF secretary-general, said, “Journalists from the
independent press are constantly harassed while they (are) only doing their
job of publishing information.”

Alleged ‘hit list’ published
The Standard also published what it claimed was a hit list of journalists the
government wanted to eliminate or harm before the presidential elections.

Zimbabwe has also been slammed for introducing restrictive measures against
foreign correspondents.

The government is also set to enact a new law which will insist on “integrity
and professionalism” and rid “unprofessionalism in journalism” practised by
the independent press.

Jonathan Moyo, the Information Minister, has accused the Independent press of
“inventing stories”. – AFP