Summary of the Complaint
- The Secretariat of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Secretariat), received a complaint on 28 June 2004 from Open Society Justice Initiative (the Complainant) on behalf of Pius Njawe Noumeni (the Victim), journalist and head of Groupe Le Messager.¹
- The Complaint is submitted against the Republic of Cameroon (the Respondent State), State Party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter or the Charter).²
- The Complainant submits that the Victim is: a prominent activist for media freedom; he established Le Messager Newspaper which is outspoken and independent; he has been arrested thirty times since 1990, forced into exile and imprisoned three times for weeks or months; and Le Messager and its satirical sister, Le Messager Popoli have been banned and seized, and their staff have been arrested and prosecuted, on numerous occasions.
- The Complainant submits that the Respondent State had a state monopoly on radio and television broadcasting until 1990, when it enacted Law No. 90/052 on Freedom of Social Communication of 19 December 1990 (Law 1990) which had the stated aim of liberalising broadcasting. The Complainant submits that the Government finally issued the implementing Decree for Law 1990 on 3 April 2000, by adopting Decree No. 2000/158 Establishing the Conditions and Modalities for the Creation and Operation of Private Audiovisual Communication Enterprises (Decree 2000). The Complainant adds that radio stations had begun to appear in Yaounde under conditions of a regulatory vacuum, despite threats by authorities that no one could operate until the government issued a decree to implement Law 1990.
- The Complainant avers that, during the regulatory vacuum, in November 1999 Le Messager, started operating a radio station in Douala, Radio Sawa, on the 20th anniversary of Le Messager. Radio Sawa operated from November 1999 to April 2000.
¹ Following the sudden death of the Victim on 12 July 2010, the Complainant submitted a signed statement by Ms Amanda Njawe, the Victim’s oldest child and next of kin, requesting the continuation of the full consideration of the Communication and the totality of the claims submitted therein.
² The Republic of Cameroon ratified the African Charter on 20 June 1989.
- 6. The Complainant submits that when the State finally issued Decree 2000, Groupe Le Messager suspended broadcasting in order to obtain better equipment. The Complainant avers that on 29 October 2002, after raising sufficient funds to purchase the equipment, Le Messager submitted a formal application for a radio licence with the Minister of Communication.
- 7. The Complainant states that pending review of the application, Le Messager started purchasing equipment and building studios for the radio. On 31 January 2003, it informed the Minister of Communication of its decision to change the name of the radio station to Freedom FM, and also requested that it be allocated a different frequency, as its former frequency was attributed to another radio station.