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.