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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2006
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For more information:
Lindsey Wray
202.496.1992
lwray@iwmf.org
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IWMF Expresses Alarm Over Raid of the Standard Group
For Immediate Release
March 3, 2006
IWMF Expresses Alarm Over Raid, Shutdown of the Standard Group in Nairobi
WASHINGTON, DC – The International Women’s Media Foundation is deeply concerned about a police raid on the Standard Group, a media house based in Nairobi, Kenya. The raid was conducted by an elite squad established to fight hardcore criminals.
“The raid on the Standard Group sends an ominous message to all supporters of a free press worldwide,” wrote IWMF’s co-chairs, Eleanor Clift of Newsweek and Larry Olmstead of Knight Ridder, in a letter to Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki.
The IWMF has worked with the Standard Group for nearly a year as part of its Maisha Yetu project, which aims to enhance the quality and consistency of media coverage about HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa.
Launched in 1990, the IWMF’s mission is to strengthen the role of women in the news media worldwide. The IWMF network includes more than 1,500 women and men in the media in more than 130 countries worldwide.
Complete text of the IWMF letter follows. For more information, visit www.iwmf.org.
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March 3, 2006
The Honorable Mwai Kibaki
President
Harambee House
Harambee Avenue
P.O. Box 30510
Nairobi, Kenya
Dear President Kibaki,
We are writing on behalf of the International Women’s Media Foundation because we are alarmed that the government of Kenya employed police force to attempt to resolve a dispute with the Standard Group, a media house. We ask you to use the weight of your office to ensure that a free press is safeguarded in Kenya.
We are concerned and surprised that police from the Kanga Squad, a unit developed particularly to fight hardcore criminals, was used against the Standard Group on March 2 to shut down its operations, burning copies of the newspaper and closing its television station, Kenya Television Network (KTN). According to reports, three journalists from the media house were seized prior to the raid and held in police custody for two days.
The IWMF has worked with the Standard Group for almost a year as part of the Maisha Yetu project to enhance the quality and consistency of media coverage about HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Kenya. The Nairobi-based Nation Group is also a partner in this project, which seeks to increase the capacity of the media in Kenya to accurately cover health issues. A free press is the cornerstone of this – and all – the work that the IWMF undertakes around the globe.
The raid on the Standard Group sends an ominous message to all supporters of a free press worldwide. We respectfully urge you, Mr. President, to preserve free speech while you resolve any disputes you might have with the Standard Group in a peaceful manner, using the courts and legal structures of your country.
As an international network supporting a free press, we respectfully request that you use your office to preserve a free and independent press in your country.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Larry Olmstead, co-chair
Eleanor Clift, co-chair
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