The Declaration calls on African governments to release jailed journalists, abolish draconian press laws and recognize the importance of press freedom for economic, political and social development.

The World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 newspapers worldwide, endorsed the Declaration.

Some of the key points in the Declaration are:

“- calls for African governments to abolish insult laws and all other laws that restrict press freedom "as a matter of urgency."

- calls for the immediate release of all jailed journalists and the return of journalists who have been forced into exile.

- condemns the repression of African media by censorship and "the use of other devices such as levying import duties on newsprint and printing materials and withholding advertising."

- calls on governments to promote "the highest standards of press freedom" and to provide constitutional guarantees of freedom of the press.

- calls on the African Union immediately to include press freedom and independent media in the criteria for "good governance" in the African Peer Review Mechanism.

- calls on international institutions to promote progress in press freedom in Africa through such steps as assisting newspapers in legal defence, skills development and access to capital and equipment,” as reported in a WAN press release.

The Declaration will be presented to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura and African Union Commission Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare with requests that it be presented to the General Assembly, the General Conference, and to all members of the AU, respectively.

The full Declaration of Table Mountain can be found here.

Source: WAN press release