English PDF - East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders ...

62Journalists on the Frontline of Human Rights Defence5. Failures to enact laws to protect media freedom, or to reform laws subjectingjournalists to risks of imprisonment or heavy fines for practicing their professionRESOLVE TO:• Express support for women journalists facing gender discrimination and encouragereporting on women’s rights issues• Demand that Governments and authorities in the sub region release all detainedjournalists and end unlawful acts against freedom of press by law enforcementbodies.• Request reform of all laws, which curtail freedom of opinion, information and themedia.• Appeal to the Eritrean Government to accept a delegation of journalists from thesub-region to visit detained journalists “disappeared” for five years.• Call upon the UN Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the African UnionRapporteur on Freedom of Expression to conduct a fact-finding mission inEthiopia and Eritrea and propose concrete actions against Governments thatdecline to cooperate or decline to implement the international and regionalinstruments on freedom of expression which they have ratified, including theAfrican Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.• Urge the international community and donors to support journalists and theirassociations and unions in the sub-region, and to strongly advocate for their mediarights and freedoms, and their civil rights and liberties.• Strengthen their commitment to working together as journalists and with the Eastand Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network to protect journalists in thesub-region• Appeal to the UN, African Union (AU), League of Arab States (LAS) and Inter-Governmental Authority on Development to actively protect freedom ofexpression and of the pressAdopted by Acclamation, Entebbe, Uganda 29 November 2006.