African Media Barometer Cape Verde Islands

Cape Verde’s legislation protects Freedom of Expresson and Freedom of the Press. The problem lies with the implementation of such legislation. There are laws whose own implementation requires specific regulations. And when such regulations do not exist, it means that the laws cannot be implemented. However, since Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Press are enshrined in the Constitution as Fundamental Rights, it does not require specific regulations for them to be implemented.

The issue of whether freedom is effective or not, can be judged by the number of cases involving the media that have been brought to the courts over the recent years. Such cases are relatively fewer, and where they have come across it cannot be said that they were brought about in order to try and limit Freedom of Expression or Freedom of the Press. In the 20 cases that have been brought to court over the past few years, only three journalists were sentenced, and even then, such sentences were suspended. Thus, it is possible to conclude that generally, there is freedom and that such freedom is widely practiced in Cape Verde both by the population and media professionals.