On the one hand there was a feeling of injustice of the reporting in the media. While the world looked onto Charlie Hebdo, the Boko Haram massacre in northern Nigeria remained almost unnoticed. On the other hand the topic of freedom of expression moved to the foreground through the attendance of some world leaders in the solidarity march in Paris, as they still use censorship as an instrument to secure their power.
The other terror attack
“I am Charlie, but I am Baga too.” With this slogan bloggers and other platform users tried to create an awareness for the massacre in Nigeria. From the 3 – 7 January the country suffered the yet deadliest attacks under the Boko Haram with approximately 2000 people killed as well as countless injured and mistreated victims. Official numbers of the government however only confirm 150 dead. The emotions of the Nigerians range from sorrow to anger about the handling of the massacres. Even in Nigeria alone there was more reported on Charlie Hebdo than on the Boko Haram. Furthermore Nigeria’s president Goodluck Jonathan found words of solidarity and condemnation for the events in Paris, yet none for the attacks in his own country. The undivided attention of the international press on Charlie Hebdo is understandable as the terrorist attack hit the heart of the Western world - the freedom of the press. The reaction of the president and the local press, however, is by no means comprehensible. Due to the upcoming elections president Jonathan tries to make the affairs in his country seem “secure” and “stable” through silence and ignorance. Yet exactly the opposite would be necessary: to create an awareness for the problem and the cruelty – and that worldwide.
Since 2009 the Boko Haram has killed more than 10.000 people and is responsible for the abduction of 276 school girls in April 2014. This set off the world wide campaign “Bring back our girls”. Now however we only hear “Je suis Charlie” – attacks in Nigeria became too common for the press. Furthermore gathering information and reporting on remote places, like Baga, is far more difficult and involves greater effort, than reporting on a city in Europe. Despite the attacks, Paris is not a crisis zone – Baga is. And that limits many news agencies strongly. It is therefore not surprising that the events around Charlie Hebdo have raised the frustration in the Nigerians of being forgotten, not only by the West but more importantly by their own government. “I was angry in my heart. But my anger was toward my government because my government and my rulers have to value their own people. If you don't value your own people first, why would you expect someone else to value them?” asks Nigerian pastor Ibanga in an interview with GlobalVoices.
Freedom of the press – a threatened value
As a result to the discussion around Charlie Hebdo, the topic “Freedom of expression in Africa” came up. Although freedom of expression is enshrined in most of the African constitutions, reality often looks very different. Many leaders limit the press specifically to secure their power. Kenyan blogger Daniel Ominde describes the situation as follows: “The government claims to support freedoms of expression as enshrined in Article 33 of our constitution, but the same government goes behind this very important freedom to pass laws that prevent citizens from accessing or imparting information and ideas. These laws that are passed by the government or interpreted by the courts to suit the government's interests have been used against those fighting corruption and excesses of those in government and their friends.”
Thus, many were incensed by Mali’s president Keita taking part in the solidarity march in Paris. Hypocrisy was the reproach – and looking at the charges against journalists in his country rightly so. For example did the Malian government pressure the editor of the news portal “MaliActu” to take back a critical article about the Malian army. Otherwise they would censor the whole portal, they threatened. Furthermore a French journalist was expelled from Gao after publishing an article in “L’express” on human rights abuses by the military in Gao. She did not even have the time to take her personal belongings. The arrest of the editor of the Malian newspaper “Le Republicain” in March 2013offers another example. Yet, after international protests he was released 27 days later. Especially after the military putsch in March 2012 and the Muslims taking over power in the northern part of the country, there were countless attacks on journalists. Furthermore five radio stations were closed forcefully. To be fair though, one has to point out that during that time Keita was not president yet.
However not only in Mali, but also in many other African countries the right of freedom of press is violated in several aspects. Countries like Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan all fall into the last quarter of the freedom of press index 2014 by “Reporters without borders”. In Ethiopia, for example, currently there are close to 20 Journalists imprisoned and dozens have fled the country fearing persecution. Eritrea is the world’s largest journalist prison with 28 journalists in jail at the moment. These examples clearly show that a journalist's job in Africa often involves risks and fear. Many countries are miles away from “real” freedom of the press. “The attacks on Charlie Hebdo is just a reminder of what kind of environment we operate in as journalists or bloggers. (…) As bloggers we are afraid,” says Daniel Ominde. “The dark days are here!” Because also in countries like Kenya and South Africa where “real” freedom of press reigns, it is cleverly undermined through accusations like defamation.
Next to all the negative headlines, however, there is luckily also a clear tendency towards anchoring freedom of expression in Africa: For example the Pan-African-Parliament adopted the Midrand Declaration on Press freedom in Africa in May 2013. With annual examination and evaluation of the press freedom in the different countries as well as award-givings the ideals of the freedom of expression shall be reinforced across the whole continent. Small victories like the Konaté case at the end of 2014 add to this. Konaté, editor of the weekly L’Ouragon in Burkina Faso, was sentenced to 12 months prison and a fine of 6000€ because of defamation accusations. As this sentence stands in no relation to what can be expected, Konaté contested it – and won. The African Human Rights court has set a clear sign for the freedom of press with this decision.
Mixed feelings in Africa
In conclusion one can say that the people in Africa have very mixed feelings and different positions when judging the events around Charlie Hebdo. While the terror attacks have been condemned clearly and openly, blasphemy is a very sensitive topic and therefore Charlie Hebdo is also approached very critically. In most countries shock and consternation dominated in the beginning. Muslim groups distanced themselves from the events around Charlie Hebdo. However, with the publishing of the new edition of Charlie Hebdo, that depicts Mohammed on its front cover, this consternation changed into anger. After president Macky Sall of Senegal condemned the attacks sharply in the beginning, a few days later he prohibited to publish the front cover in the local press. Also in other Muslim oriented countries the people have felt offended by the depiction of their prophet. This led to peaceful protests in Somalia, Mauretania, Mali, Senegal and Sudan. In Niger people even went as far as attacking churches, French bars and hotels as well as the French Culture Institute. Five people died during these protests.
Still, in southern Africa the consternation over the attacks in Paris dominates as in these mostly Christian based countries the blasphemy conflict did not erupt.
“Charlie Hebdo” from an African perspective has underlined especially one aspect: objective reprehensible terrorist attacks still lead to different opinions depending on your cultural background and in which way you have been affected: In contrast to the dominating consternation in the West, there was also a lot of displeasure in Africa. On the one hand this was caused by the depicted blasphemy in Charlie Hebdo. On the other hand it was because the massacre of the Boko Haram had moved so far to the background. Unity, however, exists in one aspect: religious conflicts and terrorist actions belong to the biggest challenges of the security policy on both continents.
Katharina Weber, intern at the Media Programme Sub-Sahara Africa
