All information about the armed struggle in Zimbabwe, other than that contained in official communiques, court records or proceedings of the Rhodesian parliament, has now been suppressed by the Smith regime under stringent new press censorship controls introduced in January 1978. The regulations, which carry penalties of a R$1000 fine, one year's imprisonment, or both, apply to foreign journalists as well as to their Rhodesian counterparts. All material relating to the liberation struggle and the regime's security measures, intended for publication abroad, must now be approved in advance by the Rhodesian Ministry of Information.
In practice, given the all-pervading nature of the war, it would appear that virtually all reporting from Zimbabwe is now, at least potentially, subject to the official censor.
The new regulations, published on 7 January in an Extraordinary issue of the Government Gazette, add a new section to the Emergency Powers (Maintenance of Law and Order) (Amendment) Regulations. The section, headed "Publication of information relating to terrorism", specifically prohibits the communication, publication or dissemination, "for the purpose of publishing news by radio, television or writing", of any information which "relates or purports to relate directly or indirectly to (a) Any measure or act of any description whatsoever of the security forces or the Government for the purpose of combating or suppressing terrorism or reducing the incidence thereof within Rhodesia; (b) The commission of any act of terrorism or sabotage." The regulations specify four types of information to be excluded from this blanket ban; namely: (a) official government press statements or communiques; (b) court proceedings (where these are not held in camera or otherwise subject to legal restriction); (c) Parliamentary proceedings; and (d) where the information has been authorised by the Minister of Information, Immigration and Tourism after consulting the Minister of Combined Operations.
In an official statement, the regime explained that the new measures had been necessitated by a number of recent breaches of the existing security clearance procedures for material intended for publication or broadcast. In an apparent reference to the release by the Associated Press news agency of details of security force atrocities compiled by U.S. journalist Ross Baughman, a spokesman explained that "matters which can be described as military secrets and which could be to the detriment of our national security and the safety of our servicemen are being published openly".
A fortnight after the publication of the new censorship measures the Smith regime moved to tighten them even further by imposing a total ban on the publication of any news or comment on its recently announced "safe return" policy for nationalist guerillas. The regime's Deputy Information Minister, Andre Holland, indicated that this apparently contradictory decision had been taken at the request of the military authorities and to enable those guerillas who wished to respond to the "amnesty" offer to do so freely. There has been speculation in the British press that the episode in fact reflects unresolved disagreements within the white establishment over the correctness of the amnesty offer and indeed the "internal settlement" strategy as a whole. The reporting ban will presumably assist the regime to focus domestic and international opinion on the "internal talks" in Salisbury, and hence to promote the notion that they, rather than the armed liberation struggle, are currently the main vehicle for change in Zimbabwe.
In a further move to suppress news of the liberation forces actually fighting the war, the regime has since banned the reporting inside Rhodesia of any statements by, or even mentions of, the Patriotic Front of ZAPU and ZANU and its supporters inside the country (i.e. the African National Council of Zimbabwe and the People's Movement).
