UNESCO in partnership with the African Court of Human and Peoples Rights conducted a 5-day Training of Trainers (ToT), organized between the 29 November to 3 December 2021, for African Judicial Training Institutes in Nairobi, Kenya, for 28 judges and magistrates from 13 different countries (Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe). The training focused on regional and international standards on freedom of expression and safety of journalists, with particular attention to African jurisprudence including key decisions from the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the ECOWAS Court of Justice, and the East African Court of Justice on these issues.
At the opening ceremony of the training, the Director of Public Prosecutions in the government of Kenya, Mr. Noordin Mohamed Haji hailed the timeliness of the training of trainers, arguing that protecting the safety of journalists and fighting impunity required preventions mechanisms and actions to address some of the root causes of violence against journalists. He commended the role that the criminal justice sector had played to enhance the safeguarding of freedom of expression and safety of journalists, citing several cases in African jurisprudence, particularly the cases of Nobert Zongo v. Burkina Faso, the Issa Konaté v. Burkina Faso, and Jacqueline Okuta vs Attorney General of Kenya which decriminalized defamation, which highlight some of the progresses Africa had made on safeguarding freedom of expression and safety of journalists. Mr. Haji also declared that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions of Kenya has adopted best practices such as the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) and UNESCO Guidelines for Prosecutors on Cases of Crimes Against Journalists which reinforces the three Ps (Prevention, Protection and Prosecution) in handling cases against journalists.
In his remarks, the UNESCO Regional Director for Eastern Africa, Prof. Hubert Gijzen called for the strengthening of national, regional and international partnerships in promoting freedom of expression and safety of journalists, arguing that it has been through partnerships that 28 resolutions and decisions on safety of journalists had been adopted by UN bodies, including UNESCO, and other international organizations between 2016-2021.
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of regional and subregional partnerships in promoting freedom of expression and safety of journalists. Partnerships not only optimize resources; they also leverage the diversity of abilities, competences, best practices, and comparative advantages that various partners bring on board.
The training gathered a number of high-level participants, including Justice Gérard Niyungeko, Former President of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Yufnalis Okubo, Registrar of the East African Court of Justice, and Donald Deya, Director of the Pan-African Lawyers Union. Various judges appreciated the organization and content of the training, testifying how exposure to the training content had made a significant difference in their perception and appreciation of freedom of expression and safety of journalists’ issues.
Ms. Margaret Ateh, a Magistrate and Head of the Administrative Section in the National School of Administration and Magistracy in Cameroon, appreciated the use of illustrations in the training programme such as videos that allowed the participants to better understand certain theoretical concept, such as the Three-part test and the Rabat Plan of Action on the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred on the legitimate limits to freedom of expression.
“I was happy to learn and appreciate that the openness of court trials as part of the concept of open justice is a right except in some few cases which require special protection of the parties from public exposure. When I go back to Cameroon, we will look at the best way to implement what we have learnt”, she said.
Ms. Jinx Bhoola, a Judicial Educator at the South African Judicial Education Institute hailed the training course, particularly in the way it had opened new perspectives for the participants:
“This training has opened our eyes from a different perspective. It has been very insightful; it has made various contributions to our understanding of freedom of expression and safety of journalists”.
Dr. Stephen Ouma, Deputy Director of Research and Policy at the Kenya Judiciary Academy appreciated the opportunity of participating in the training and called for a forward view of the opportunities that the training presented.
“I am happy to have participated in the UNESCO training for judicial trainers. As the Kenya Judiciary Academy, we are optimistic and only hope that the past experiences of journalists will shape our future as a Centre of Excellence in Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists in Africa”, he said.
The participants judges and magistrates were engaged in a collective exercise on how to take the lessons learnt from this ToT at a national level, by coordinating localized training programmes in their countries, through their respective judicial training institutes, to ensure that as many judicial actors as possible benefit from the knowledge and resources shared and jointly built during the training.
This 5-day training was supported by the Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and Open Society Foundations.
The Training of Trainers in Nairobi, Kenya, was part of UNESCO Judges Initiative which aims to reinforce the capacities of judicial actors to promote freedom of expression and safety of journalists, by ensuring prosecution and trial of those responsible for attacks against journalists, as well as more broadly prevent indiscriminate actions against free speech. As part of this initiative, since 2013, UNESCOJudges’ Initiative has raised the capacities of judicial actors on international and regional standards on freedom of expression, access to information and the safety of journalists in over 150 countries around the world. Over 23,000 judicial actors, including judges, prosecutors, and lawyers, have been trained on these issues, notably through a series of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), on-the-ground training and workshops, and the publications of a number of toolkits and guidelines.
