WAN slams reporters' license plan

WAN slams reporters' license plan

PARIS (DPA): The World Association of Newspapers (WAN)
yesterday called on Indonesian President B.J. Habibie to abandon
a planned licensing system for journalists, saying that such a
move contravened human rights.

In a letter to Habibie, WAN president Bengt Braun said in
Paris that the president should reject all calls for the
licensing of journalists and uphold international norms of free
expression.

"We respectfully remind you that any licensing system is open
to abuse, and almost inevitably leads to censorship or self-
censorship," the letter stated, adding that "we also believe that
such restrictions are in contravention of Article 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

Suppression of information also went "hand-in-hand with
corruption", Braun said. WAN believed this had been an
"aggravating factor in the Asian economic crisis".

Habibie in July suggested a license for Indonesian journalists
-- to be issued annually -- in order to increase their
professional skills.

So far no actual steps have been taken.

WAN, based in the French capital, is a global association of
the newspaper industry.