SLAPP is a accusation that is brash to censor, intimidate, and blackout critics by burdening them with the amount of a acknowledged defence until they carelessness their criticism or opposition
The toolkit developed in accord with Third World Network-Africa (TWN) and Trust Africa includes a ambit of resources, guidance, and accoutrement brash to abutment ecology rights defenders, decidedly women defenders, in their advancement efforts
It additionally comprised of applied strategies for anecdotic and responding to SLAPP suits, case studies illustrating acknowledged attrition tactics, acknowledged assets analogue accordant laws, adopting awareness, and mobilising effort. At a two-day branch in Accra, aftermost Thursday, to alternation the CSOs on the SLAPP suit, the Executive Director, SARW, said SLAPP apparel were about brash an corruption of the acknowledged arrangement and brash to asphyxiate chargeless accent and accessible participation
He said it was generally filed adjoin individuals or groups who allege out on affairs of accessible absorption and could accept aftereffect on abandon of announcement as able-bodied as actuality adverse to autonomous processes
He said the prevalence of SLAPP apparel differs from country to country, amidst such prevalence or non-thereof, countries or states all-embracing acknowledged standards astrict states and corporations to beforehand axiological animal rights and freedoms
"As such, states are answerable to facilitate the exercise of the rights of abandon of expression, peaceful accumulation and affiliation which includes amid others, the assignment to authorize and beforehand an enabling ambiance for civilian affiliation to accomplish freely," he added
The Coordinator of TWN-Africa, Dr Yao Graham, said the toolkit would accouter defenders with the ability and accoutrement bare to finer claiming acknowledged repression and beforehand ecology justice
He said it would additionally empower the CSOs to body attrition to the SLAPP clothing in attention the ecology and amusing rights of association members
Ms Thui Zulu, Advancement and Research Officer, Centre for Applied Acknowledged Services, for her part, brash CSOs to seek acknowledged representation back faced with a SLAPP clothing as allotment of their applied remedies
In accession to the acknowledged representation, she said it was important for CSOs to certificate all communications and interactions accompanying to the SLAPP suit
"In adjustment to accord with the growing SLAPP clothing in Africa, it is important that anybody knows their rights. The Constitutions of the altered countries accommodate for acknowledged remedies in instances area alone rights are violated," she stated
BY VIVIAN ARTHUR