A recent report reveals that at least 67 journalists are currently imprisoned across Africa, underscoring the continent’s ongoing challenges in safeguarding press freedom.
As of December 1, 2024, the global count of jailed journalists stands at 361, with Africa contributing a significant portion to this number. This marks the second-highest figure ever recorded by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Muthoki Mumo, the CPJ Africa program coordinator, emphasized that the report highlights a troubling global trend. Authoritarian governments are increasingly weaponizing laws, including national security, anti-terrorism, and cybercrime regulations, to target journalists.
While this issue extends beyond Africa, the continent has witnessed a troubling rise in prosecutions of journalists under these laws. Mumo pointed to countries like Burundi, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, where legislation designed to protect public safety is being used to criminalize journalistic work, further stifling freedom of expression.
In Nigeria, “You have four journalists behind bars being prosecuted under cybercrime legislation in connection to their reporting on corruption,” said Mumo.
And in Ethiopia, six journalists are behind bars. “Five of them are facing prosecution under anti-terrorism laws. They could potentially face very harsh penalties if they are convicted,” added Mumo.
The media advocacy group highlights another troubling trend: the use of vague and sweeping laws to target journalists. In Burundi, Sandra Muhoza, a reporter for the online outlet La Nova Burundi, was convicted under national security laws after posting a message on WhatsApp. This case, according to Muthoki Mumo, is a prime example of the criminalization of journalism.
Muhoza was found guilty of attempting to “undermine the integrity of the national territory” — a broad legal provision related to national security. Mumo described it as a clear case of how such laws are being weaponized against journalists in the region.
Despite efforts to seek comment, inquiries sent by VOA to Burundi’s government spokesperson, Jerome Niyonzima, as well as to communication ministers in Ethiopia and Eritrea, went unanswered. The U.S. embassy in Nigeria also has yet to respond.
As for Africa’s top jailers, Egypt remains the worst offender, with 17 journalists currently behind bars.
“In Egypt, we’ve seen anti-state laws being turned against the media,” Mumo said.
Eritrea, notorious for its prolonged imprisonment of journalists, ranks just behind Egypt, with 16 reporters currently incarcerated — some of whom have been detained since 2001. The country is home to the longest-detained journalists globally, many of whom have never faced a trial, further highlighting the severe repression of press freedom in the region.
“That’s a very dubious honour on the part of Eritrea that the journalists who have been behind jail the longest in the world are actually Eritreans,” Mumo said.
Jodie Ginsberg, the head of CPJ, said it is important to keep advocating for those imprisoned in Eritrea. The country “falls off the radar internationally,” she said, “Because of how little press freedom and media freedom there is to report on what’s happening inside.”
“It’s very easy sometimes to forget some of those longer cases. They go out of the public eye,” Ginsberg said, adding that it is important to talk about “places where journalists have been in jail for a very, very long time and still need to be fought for.”
Ethiopia, where journalists often face prolonged detention without trial, stands alongside Cameroon, Rwanda, and Tunisia as major offenders of press freedom. In these nations, journalists are frequently imprisoned under vague “anti-state” laws or charged with spreading “false news,” often leading to their prosecution and detention, as noted by Muthoki Mumo from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
The CPJ report also sheds light on press freedom challenges in Angola, where editor Carlos Raimundo Alberto, arrested on September 29, 2023, remains in custody. Despite qualifying for parole in November 2024, he has yet to fulfill a court order to publicly apologize to a government official.
In Senegal, journalist René Capain Bassene is serving a life sentence for a crime that witnesses insist he could not have committed, further underscoring the troubling state of media freedom. CPJ also faces obstacles in obtaining information from certain regions, making it difficult to fully assess the extent of press repression.
But, she said, “It could also be about intimidation; family members and others who are aware of arrest may not always want to speak out about them.”
Despite facing significant challenges, Muthoki Mumo emphasized that the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) remains committed to keeping the names of detained journalists in the public eye. The media advocacy group continues to urge governments to uphold journalists’ rights and ensure that their work is not criminalized.
While the prison census provides a snapshot of the situation as of a specific date, Mumo acknowledged that the report cannot fully capture the often-changing and volatile conditions journalists face, underlining the ongoing struggle for press freedom.
The report offers a small window into the larger picture of press freedom, Mumo said, “because there are journalists who go in and out of prison during other times of the year. They’re not reflected in this number.”
