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	China Law aims to "shut up Media" by Mary-Anne Toy The Age China   Beijing. July 5, 2006   A controversial Chinese draft law that would allow local officials to fine media outlets up to the equivalent of $A17,000 every time they publish unauthorised reports on public emergencies would also apply to foreign media.   The law could also inhibit the much freer Hong Kong press, which often exposes unreported events such as public disasters, mass protests and riots and infectious disease outbreaks.   A senior official of the National People"s Congress, Wang Yongqing, denied that the proposed law was censorship, saying it was necessary to prevent false reports and irresponsible journalism.   He said it would only apply if a media report caused "grave social consequences".   "If a report is true, then it will not cause any of the so-called grave consequences and the media outlet should not be punished," said Mr Wang, a vice-director of the State Council Legislative Affairs Office.   He then went on to encourage journalists to expose local officials who delayed information about an emergency or provided inaccurate information.   "If they impose a fine on you, an administrative penalty is not final; you can sue them in court (to appeal against the fine)," he said. However, he failed to explain how the accuracy of a report was to be determined given local officials propensity to cover up or play down public emergencies.   Mr Wang also failed to explain clearly how it would be determined if a report was true if it differed from the official account — particularly given the record of local governments.   The ousted editor of the investigative Bingdian (Freezing Point) a weekly supplement in China Youth Daily, Li Datong, said: "From past experience, we all know that the first government response to a public emergency is to lie."   Mr Li, who was sacked after publishing an essay critical of official history textbooks for being one-sided, cited the Songhua River late last year as a glaring example. Local officials initially claimed they were repairing water pipes when they cut off water supplies to Harbin, a city of almost 5 million people, after a massive chemical spill into the Songhua River in north-easternChina.   Journalism professor Zhan Jiang, of the China Youth University for Political Sciences, said the draft law was aimed at intimidating the media, despite official denials, as there was no clause in it to protect journalists who exposed the truth.   Professor Zhan told the South China Morning Post in comments that were unlikely to be published on the mainland, that the law "has an enormous chilling effect and it is basically shutting up the media outlets".   The law has been in the pipeline since China"s initial cover up of the SARS epidemic in 2003.   The draft law that is now under review, and is expected to be adopted this year, has been criticised by journalists and others.   Mr Wang cited unauthorised reports on earthquake alarms and large animal disease outbreaks as areas of concern. Infectious disease outbreaks are particularly sensitive with international concern about how prepared China is for an outbreak of bird flu and how willing it is to share information.   Hong Kong media enjoy much greater press freedom than the mainland and are frequently able to publish reports on public disasters, health issues, protests and riots that are banned on the mainland.
	African Union launches People"s Court by IRIN News African Union   3 July 2006   The African Union on Monday launched the continent’s first court that gives states and people equal rights to challenge governments suspected of human rights violations or other infractions.   Taking the podium and raising their right hands, 11 African legal experts pledged to "preserve, protect and defend" the African Charter of Human and People"s Rights.   The swearing-in ceremony took place at the end of a two-day summit of the AU, which was set up to debate continent-wide issues.   The African Court on Human and People’s Rights, established on paper in 1998, will be based in the Tanzanian capital Arusha. It can apply and rule on any international treaty or law ratified by the state in question, including treaties that do not themselves refer violators to a court. States, AU organs, individuals and non-governmental organisations can all ask for rulings.   "This court will strengthen jurisprudence and contribute to the promotion and protection of human rights in the continent," AU Commissioner for Political Affairs Julia Joiner told IRIN.   "It means you have another level where states and people can seek recourse before the African Commission [on Human and People’s Rights] and prosecutions can be made, not just judgments and resolutions," she said.   Impunity has taken center stage recently in Africa. On Sunday, the AU requested that Senegal try former Chadian President Hissene Habre, who has been living in exile in Senegal since 1990. Habre has been charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture. He has avoided trial so far because of legal wrangling over jurisdiction.   In June, former Liberian President Charles Taylor was extradited from Sierra Leone to The Hague to answer to war crimes charges. The UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone retains jurisdiction. Officials in Liberia and Sierra Leone feared Taylor could destabilize the region if he were tried locally.   Africans in other countries who are keen to take the stand will have to wait until a second court, the African Court of Justice, is set up, said Joiner. That court then has to be merged with the People"s Court before cases, such as those involving former rulers, will be heard.   Although the People’s Court is nascent, Monday’s ceremony provided a glimmer of hope at a summit marked by the defeat of a proposed charter on democracy and governance, which was debated and eventually refused by African heads of state.   The charter was supposed to make it easier for power to change hands through the ballot box.   Negotiations broke down when some African leaders refused to agree to a clause banning standing presidents from extending their term limits by changing their countries" constitutions.
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