Freedom of Religion/History/Country sources/Gabon

Freedom of Expression

What is the oldest written source in this country that mentions this right?

Gabon

Following independence from France, Gabon’s 1959 Constitution did not explicitly grant freedom of expression. The 2nd Republic’s 1961 Constitution drew ideas from the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and from the 1948 Universal Declaration Of the Rights of Man. It added, “Everyone has the right to the free development of his personality, within the limits of respect for the rights of others and for the public order.” Moreover, the 3rd Republic’s 1991 Constitution expanded upon this conception of the freedom of expression to include “the freedom of conscience, of thought, of opinion, of expression, of communication, the free practice of religion,” based on the 1981 African Charter of the Rights of Man and of Peoples and the 1990 National Charter of Freedoms.

References English Translation of the French Official Original Text of the Constitution of 1959, 3 (2022) https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.cow/zzga0042&id=3&collection=cow&index=

English translation of the French original text of the Constitution of 1961, 194 (2017) https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.cow/zzga0032&collection=cow

English Translation of the French Original Text of the Constitution of 1991, 3 (2022) https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=cow&handle=hein.cow/zzga0054&id=3&men_tab=srchresults