Pakistan a Deadly Country for Journalists

On 2 January 2014, the International Federation of Journalists called on authorities in Pakistan to carry out an immediate investigation into the murder of journalist Shan Dahar (Odhor) in the Badha area of the country's Larkana district.

According to reports, Dahar, a senior reporter for the Aaab Tak News Channel, was shot by unidentified assailants on his way home last Tuesday, 31 December 2013. He was taken to hospital with critical injuries and passed away in the early hours of New Year's Day.

Following Dahar's death, a series of protests led by IFJ affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), have been held by journalists across Pakistan to call for the government to step up its efforts to protect the safety of journalists in the country.

"We express our deepest sympathies with the family and colleagues of the highly respected journalist Shan Dahar, who we believe is the first journalist to be killed in 2014," said IFJ President Jim Boumelha. "We call for authorities in Pakistan to carry out an immediate and thorough investigation into his murder and to take every step necessary to ensure that the perpetrators of this horrific crime face the full weight of justice."

On 31 December, the IFJ released its annual list of journalists and media staff killed in 2013 which showed that Pakistan remains one of the deadliest countries in the world for media workers, with 10 journalists and media staff killed in the country last year.

Read it all here.

Afghanistan: 62 acts of violence against journalists

The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) has registered 62 cases of violence against freedom of the media and journalists over the past eight months across Afghanistan. This raises serious concerns about the safety of journalists and the state of press freedom as the country prepares for 2014 presidential and provincial council elections and the withdrawal of international troops.

AFJC registered these cases from January to August 2013; the incidents include murders, injuries, physical and verbal abuse, death threats and the closure of media outlets. Government officials and security forces, the Taliban and illegal armed groups are among the perpetrators of these violent attacks.

Over the course of this period, there were two cases of murder, four injuries, the detention of a journalist and the sentencing of another one, the closure of two radio stations, the dismissal of a reporter for merely liking a Facebook post, along with 51 cases of threats, insults and beatings.

AFJC's findings show that violence against reporters is on the increase amid fears that illegal armed groups would resort to further violence in future.

Along with the shrinking number of media outlets, the media are falling into the hands of powerful provincial leaders and foreign interests. The organisation takes special note of the problem facing women journalists in Afghanistan, many of whom are leaving the profession because of threats to their families.

In accordance with the Afghanistan Media law, every person has the right to freedom of thought and speech, which includes the right to seek, obtain and disseminate information and views within the limit of law without any interference, restriction or threat by the government or officials. This right also includes the ability to freely engage in the publication, distribution, and reception of information.

The law also stipulates that the government should work to support, strengthen, and guarantee freedom of the mass media. Except as authorized under this law, no real or legal entity, including the government and government offices, may ban, prohibit, censor or limit the informational activities of the mass media or otherwise interfere in their affairs.

The AFJC is concerned about what will happen post-2014 and the government's continued negligence to protect freedom of speech, which has encouraged illegal armed groups to threaten journalists.

As security is deteriorating, the government increasingly denies journalists access to information, mostly in the provinces.

Meanwhile, most media outlets in Afghanistan have been reliant on foreign aid, and will likely be facing financial challenges after 2014 when there will be a shortage of international assistance.

The AFJC is deeply concerned about the situation of media outlets, their future and the challenges and threats facing them. The organisation calls on the Afghan government to step up efforts to strengthen media organisations, and protect freedom of speech as well as sustain free media in the country.

Related reading: Journalists still targeted by violence, threats and censorship in Afghanistan
‎Reporters Without Borders‎

Trouble Brewing in Turkey

Protests continue in the Turkish cities of Ankara and Istanbul. Riot police were called out and used tear gas against the protesters in Gezi Park. In the western city of Izmir police raided the houses of dozens of students and took them into custody for sharing this photo via Twitter.

The picture is taken from a video (02.06.2013 İzmir Gündoğdu Meydanı polis müdahale) that shows a policeman randomly and violently pulling the hair of passerby girl who had done nothing wrong.

Even the Turkish media was targeted, though it has remained silent about the abuse.

Reuters' photojournalist Osman Orsal was seriously injured when he was hit on the head by a tear gas grenade last Friday. He was near the French consulate in the Beyoglu district at the time and was taken to Taksim Hospital where he received nine stitches. His condition is reported to be improving.

The riots are turning into an anti-government protest movement and two people have been killed and many injured among participants and observers,” the press freedom organization said. “We regret that, despite many appeals for calm made since late last week and the partial withdrawal of police from Istanbul's Taksim Square, police violence has continued.

Orsal took the photograph that symbolises the police crackdown on the Gezi Park occupation.

Erhan Karadag, a journalist with the privately-owned national TV station Kanal D, was questioned by police in Ankara on Saturday night on the grounds that he was believed to support the protests in the capital. He was held at Ankara security headquarters and released the next day. His lawyer said he was detained for taking milk to the demonstrators so they could use it on their faces to soothe the effects of tear gas.

Ahmet Sik, who was hit on the head on Friday, left hospital the next day, after his wound was stitched. His stitches will be removed after 10 days.

The demonstrations began in protest against the government's plan to develop Gezi Park, located on the symbolic Taksim Square on the city's European side. Media workers have been hit by water hoses and tear gas directed against the demonstrators.

Reporters Without Borders condemns the brutal police action against media workers covering the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul. We understand that 14 journalists have been injured, some seriously, since the protests began in Istanbul and elsewhere. Dozens of other people have been affected by tear gas, which has been used widely against the protesters.

“We strongly condemn the deliberate targeting of journalists by the police during the protests. In common with dozens of organizations, including the Journalists' Association of Turkey, we express our outrage. We call for the safety of journalists covering the protests to be guaranteed and for the protest movement to be treated fairly impartially by government media.”

The demonstrations began in protest against the government's plan to develop Gezi Park, located on the symbolic Taksim Square on the city's European side. Media workers have been hit by water hoses and tear gas directed against the demonstrators.

Read more here.

Related reading: Censorship in Turkey; European Court on Human Rights Defends Religious Liberty in Turkey; Scenes from Istanbul Protests; Occupy Gezi Brings Out Turkey's Creative Side; Turkey's Kissing Protest

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Justice Department collected 2012 AP records

The Associated Press (AP) has revealed that the U.S. Justice Department secretly collected telephone records of 20 of its phone lines from April and May 2012. The records may contain communications with confidential sources across all of the news gathering activities undertaken by the AP.

Read it all here.

Suicide Bomb Kills Lawyers and Journalist in Somalia

ARTICLE 19 condemns the killing of a journalist and two human rights lawyers in a suicide attack on a court complex in Mogadishu on 14 April 2013. Mohamed Hassan Habeeb, a journalist who acted as a media adviser to the Bandir regional court, was killed along with the head of the Somali Lawyers Association, Mohamed Mohamud Afrah and the campaigning human rights lawer, Abdikarin Hassan Gorod.

ARTICLE 19 urges the government to launch a prompt and effective investigation into these attacks, for which the militant group Al Shabaab is reported to have claimed responsibility.

"This is one of the deadliest attacks in Mogadishu since 2011. We send our condolences to the families of those who were killed, including the journalists and the lawyers. We strongly urge the government to ensure justice is done for the victims. An urgent investigation is needed, and those responsible should be brought to justice", said Henry Maina ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa Director.

On Sunday 14 April, two car bombs exploded outside the Mogadishu law courts and gunmen stormed the building. A gun battle followed between the group and the security forces, which lasted for more than two hours. Later, another car bomb exploded at a building housing Somali intelligence whilst Turkish and African Union (AU) vehicles were passing.

No official death toll has been published, but ARTICLE 19's Somali partners estimate over 20 people could have died in the twin attacks.

Journalists and human rights defenders in Somalia are frequently the target of violence.

In 2012, 18 journalists lost their lives in the line of duty.

Source: www.ifex.org

Al Jazeera reporter killed by sniper in Syria

CPJ/IFEX) - 18 January 2013 - An Al-Jazeera reporter was killed by a sniper in the city of Daraa today, the station reported, the second journalist fatality in Syria in as many days.

Mohamed al-Mesalma, who was also known as Mohamed al-Hourani, was shot while reporting on fighting in the village of Basri Al-Hariri in Daraa, Al-Jazeera reported. Al-Mesalma had been based in Daraa for about a year, where he reported for Al-Jazeera on the ongoing military clashes between the Syrian army and opposition forces.

Local opposition group AEN Network, and local media affiliated with the Syrian opposition, posted a video of the attack today. The video shows al-Mesalma running across a street with members of an Al-Jazeera crew, and then being shot. The journalist was holding his Al-Jazeera TV microphone at the time of his death. News reports did not immediately identify whether the sniper fire came from government or anti-government forces.

Al-Mesalma was killed shortly after a sniper targeted French military correspondent Yves Debay in Aleppo, news reports said.

"The killing of these two journalists by snipers is part of an alarming trend in which the combatants in Syria are targeting the press," said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour. "Civilians, including journalists, are protected under international law and may not be targeted."

At least four journalists have been killed in targeted attacks in Syria since September 2012, three of them by sniper fire. At least 29 journalists were killed covering the Syrian conflict in 2012, including one just over the border in Lebanon, CPJ research shows. CPJ ranked Syria the most dangerous place in the world for journalists in 2012.

Related reading:  Two Journalist Killed in 254 Hours; Abducted American Journalist's Family Launches Appeal

13 Pro-Democracy Activists Jailed in Vietnam

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - 9 January 2013 - ARTICLE 19 condemns the jailing of thirteen pro-democracy activists in Vietnam and calls on the authorities to release them immediately. The men and women were convicted of "carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration" under Article 79 of the penal code. 

The criminal activities the group are said to have engaged in include writing commentary that is critical of the Government and distributing this on the internet, and both participating in and encouraging peaceful protest. 

ARTICLE 19 believes that these activities should not be considered to be criminal. The Vietnamese authorities have failed to recognise basic human rights and these convictions fail to meet international standards freedom of expression. 

"Thirteen people are now behind bars for doing nothing more than expressing legitimate political concerns. They have been locked away for sharing views about matters of public importance on the internet and for taking part in peaceful demonstrations. These are not things which should be considered criminal. It seems that the real crime here is the appalling abuse of fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of expression, by the state," said Agnes Callamard, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19. 

"This is yet another stain on Vietnam's already blotted human rights record. It is part of a larger trend to silence opposition voices and entrench conformity to the Party line. The Vietnamese authorities should release these people immediately." she added. 

Fourteen men and women appeared in court in total facing charges of breaching national security, in what was the biggest ever trial of pro-democracy activists in Vietnam. 

The group, many of them bloggers and citizen journalists and the majority of them Catholic, were arrested between August and December 2011 and held for more than a year before standing trial. 

BACKGROUND: 
On 8 January, ARTICLE 19 reported that the Vietnamese authorities had charged the men and women under Article 79 of Vietnamese Penal Code, a provision that relates to national security. 

ARTICLE 19 noted that since July 2011, the Vietnamese government has instituted a new wave of crackdowns on Catholic activists in particular. Twelve of those who were tried are Catholic Redemptorists and come from the Catholic Diocese of Vinh City, a Catholic parish in Vietnam that has suffered continued harassment and monitoring by the authorities. 

Of the fourteen human rights defenders, three are charged as "organizers, instigators, and active participants" under Clause 1 of Article 79. 

Paulus Le Son is a blogger and writer for Vietnam Redemptorist News. He is also an active community organiser, focusing on issues such as HIV and public education. 

Ho Duc Hoa is a community organiser and a contributing writer for Vietnam Redemptorist News. 

Dang Xuan Dieu is an engineer and community organiser, active in mobilising access to education for poor students and assistance for victims of typhoons and disabled persons. He is also a contributing citizen journalist for Vietnam Redemptorist News. 

The remaining eight human rights defenders were charged as "accomplices" under Clause 2 of Article 79: 

Nguyen Dinh Cuong is an activist with the John Paul II Group for Pro-Life. He also participated in protests against local government seizure of church lands. 

Nguyen Van Duyet is the President of the Association of Catholic Workers of Vinh in Hanoi. He also attended courses in citizen journalism organized by Vietnam Redemptorist News and regularly writes for the media network, recently covering the trial of legal scholar Cu Huy Ha Vu. 

Nguyen Van Oai attended the citizen journalism training of the Vietnam Redemptorist News and helped report on the anti-China protests in Vietnam during summer 2011. 

Nong Hung Anh is a fourth year student at Hanoi University, studying foreign languages. He writes for prominent blogs such as boxitvn.net, a widely popular site founded by environmental activists and baokhongle.wordpress.com. 

Nguyen Xuan Anh is a martial arts instructor from Vinh City and is married with two children. After his arrest, security police raided his home. 

Ho Van Oanh was previously detained in April 2011 while trying to attend the trial of legal scholar Cu Huy Ha Vu. 

Thai Van Dung was arrested for attending citizen journalism courses hosted by the Vietnam Redemptorist News. 

Tran Minh Nhat is a writer for the Vietnam Redemptorist News. He was arrested at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology. 

Dang Ngoc Minh is a housewife and mother of Nguyen Dang Minh Man and Nguyen Dang Vinh Phuc (both who are also defendants in the same trial), and was arrested in August 2011 for participating in training workshops. 

Nguyen Dang Minh Man was also arrested on August 2011 for participating in training workshops. 

Nguyen Dang Vinh Phuc was arrested for participating in training workshops. 

WHAT OTHER IFEX MEMBERS ARE SAYING: 

Vietnam: release convicted activists (Human Rights Watch) 

The conviction and prison sentences of 14 activists by the People's Court of Nghe An province on January 9, 2013, marks a sharp escalation of government attacks on critics, Human Rights Watch said. Thirteen of those convicted were sentenced to serve prison terms ranging individually from 3 to 13 years, to be followed by periods of up to five years of controlled residence. One [Nguyen Dang Vinh Phuc] was given a three-year conditionally suspended sentence, making him easily vulnerable to re-arrest. 

Vietnam continues crackdown on free speech with conviction of 14 activists (Freedom House) 

Freedom House is concerned by reports that several family members and supporters of the activists who peacefully gathered outside the courthouse were harassed, assaulted, and detained by police officers. 

Bloggers imprisoned in mass sentencing in Vietnam (Committee to Protect Journalists) 

"These harsh sentences demonstrate the outrageous lengths that Vietnamese authorities are willing to go to suppress independent reporting," said CPJ. "We call on the authorities to reverse these convictions and release all journalists currently held behind bars on spurious national security-related charges." 


Related reading: NYT Article on Convicted Activists

SYRIA: Unprecedented Killing of Citizen Journalists

(RSF/IFEX) - 7 July 2012 - A total of 33 professional and citizen journalists have been killed since the start of the uprising in Syria in March 2001, Reporters Without Borders said today, after attending yesterday's meeting of the "Friends of Syria" in Paris as an observer.

The past few weeks have been particularly deadly, with around 10 citizen journalists killed since late May. Reporters Without Borders is also very disturbed to learn that freelance journalist Mohamed Sami Al-Kayyal was arrested in the coastal city of Tartus on 27 June. 

"'We firmly condemn the remorseless crackdown and accelerating cycle of violence in what is now a civil war," Reporters Without Borders said. "Freely and independently reported news and information are now an absolute necessity but they are unfortunately getting rarer and rarer. June saw the death of an unprecedented number of citizen journalists who have been sacrificing their lives to provide video footage of the uprising, the crackdown and now the military operations by armed groups fighting the ruthless Assad regime. 

"We would also like to stress the difficulty of verifying any information coming out of Syria. The regime has managed to impose a media blackout by posing many obstacles to visits by foreign journalists - who are exposed to great danger if they come - and by jailing Syrian professional journalists who refuse to relay government propaganda. As for the activists who try to report and document the regime's atrocities, they are hunted down relentlessly by the security services, which kill them or sometimes torture them to death." 

Following the war 

The latest victim is Wael Omar Bard, a citizen journalist who was killed in Jarjanaz, 40 km south of Idlib, on 26 June. Bard used to live in Saudi Arabia and it was there that he started supporting the Syrian uprising by posting information about it on social networks. Then he returned to his native Syria armed with just a video camera and started filming demonstrations and the regime's atrocities. 

According to the Doha Centre for Media Freedom, he was filming a clash between the regular army and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) when he was killed by a shot to the heart. Activists said that on the eve of his death he went back to the village where he was born, Teftanazz, 10 km northeast of Idlib. He went there to bury his brother, a doctor specializing in emergency cases who was murdered by intelligence officers. 

The citizen journalist Hamza Mahmoud Othman was fatally shot by a sniper in Homs on 21 June while filming the regular army's shelling of two of its districts, Jobar and Al-Sultaniyeh. He often posted videos online showing events in Homs, which has been the scene of violent fighting for many months. 

He was the brother of Ali "Al-Jedd" Othman, the citizen journalist who ran the Baba Amr press centre in Homs until it was destroyed in February and who was then captured by intelligence officers on 28 March. 

Bassim Darwish died on 15 June from the injuries he received two days earlier in an explosion while covering the bombing of Rastan, a town 30 km north of Homs, by two military aircraft. He was one of the founders of the Rastan press centre and had covered many demonstrations in the region as well as the regular army's operations. 

Ayham Youssef Al-Hariri, an anti-government activist since March 2011, was fatally injured by the blast from a shell in Deraa on 13 June. Another local activist told the Doha Centre for Media Freedom that Hariri had been filming the army's shelling of the Deraa district of Al-Sadd when he was hit by the explosion. 

Aged 35, married and the father of five children, Hariri had been imprisoned and tortured twice by intelligence officers. As well as gathering and distributing news, he organized demonstrations, delivered aid to the families of victims and helped smuggle government opponents across the nearby border into Jordan. 

Abdelhamid Idriss Matar, a 22-year-old student of agro-food engineering at Baath University in Homs, was fatally injured by a shot fired from a tank as he was filming an assault on Al-Qussair, a town 25 km south of Homs, on 31 May. He often filmed demonstrations and army operations, posting his videos on YouTube. 

Reporters Without Borders already reported the deaths of two other citizen journalists last month - Ahmed Hamada in Homs on 16 June and Khaled Al-Bakir in Al-Qussair on 10 June. 

The Coordinating Committee in Tel Rifaat, a town 20 km north of Aleppo, said Mohamed Hamdo Hallaq was killed by a shell while filming the army's bombardment of the nearby town of Azaz on 2 July. The Doha Centre for Media Freedom said a citizen journalist identified as Samer Khalil Al-Sataleh was killed during the shelling of Douma, a town on the western outskirts of Damascus, on 28 June. And the Syrian Journalists League said Ghias Khaled Al-Hmouria was killed while filming an FSA operation in Douma on 25 June. 

Nonetheless, due to the difficulty of obtaining information from Syria, Reporters Without Borders has not yet managed to independently confirm the deaths of the three people named in the previous paragraph or the fact that they were citizen journalists. 

Reporters Without Borders has confirmed that, as of yesterday, a total of 33 Syrian citizens and professional journalists have been killed in 
connection with their journalistic activities since the start of the uprising in March 2011. 

(. . .) 

Read the full report 

For more information:

Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
47, rue Vivienne 
75002 Paris 
France 
rsf (@) rsf.org 
Phone: +33 1 44 83 84 84
Fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51
http://www.rsf.org
@rsf_rwb

Ugandan Journalist Seeks Justice after Police Attack

Tom Rhodes

Joseph Mutebi, a photojournalist for the popular vernacular state-owned daily Bukedde, spent his afternoon trying to file a complaint with the police in the capital, Kampala. "First they told me the officer who assaulted me was based at another station, so I went there and now they are telling me he is based at the police station where I originally went. So I am confused. I think they are just playing with me." Mutebi's case is not uncommon--both in terms of the constant threat journalists face from Uganda's police force and the challenges they encounter trying to file a complaint.

Thursday, Mutebi had gone to cover a protest organized by the "boda-boda" drivers (Uganda's motorcycle taxis) outside Old Kampala Police Station along with several journalists from other media houses. "Once I took my camera out an officer came from behind and hit me twice with a baton," he told me. Why Mutebi was singled out from the rest of the press is a mystery to him. "I don't know, perhaps because I have been a crime reporter for the past eight years and they recognized me?" he said. After going to the hospital to receive treatment for the blows to his back, Mutebi is now undertaking another agonizing process: trying to get justice.

There is some hope that justice may be more readily served in the future. Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura is forming a new press unit of police to act as an ombudsman for complaints by journalists and as a public relations department. "The inspector general is committed to professionalizing the police force," Simon Kuteesa, who will run the new unit, told me. "We are not re-inventing the wheel here--it's all part of a strategic initiative." The new unit is expected to be operational in three months, he said.

Kuteesa is the former head of the police's media crimes unit, a division specially designed to monitor Uganda's press. Wokulira Ssebaggala, program coordinator for the Ugandan Human Rights Network for Journalists--an organization that documents and fights police attacks on the press on a weekly, if not daily, basis--is skeptical. "So the Media Crimes department, formerly run by Kuteesa, will continue to function alongside this new department...We are not optimistic about this but will wait and see," Ssebaggala said.

There is certainly a need. According to CPJ research, the police were responsible in 25 cases last year of direct, physical attacks on journalists, none of which were punished. This year is not looking any better, with 10 cases already recorded by CPJ of police physically attacking the press. Mutebi believes the high number of assaults is due to the police force's lack of professionalism. "Some are not trained very well and often don't listen to their commanders, they just try to resolve everything with beating," he said. Even worse, their bosses rarely confront their officers over such attacks, Mutebi said.

The police force's attitude toward the press is a problem, says Sula Mutebi (no relation to Joseph Mutebi), a cameraman for Bukedde TV, the sister broadcaster to the newspaper. "Political leaders see the press as activists. President [Yoweri] Museveni recently accused the press of being bribed so, whether right or wrong, we are seen as the opposition to authorities." A female police sergeant slapped Sula Mutebi and detained him at a police post for an hour and a half on Wednesday after he attempted to cover a story about a murder investigation in Nakasero Market, Kampala, he said.

Ssebaggala takes Sula Mutebi's argument one step further. While police see the press as supporters of the opposition, Ssebaggala believes the police institution is compromised and supports individuals within the government. In May, for instance, police quizzed Nyombi Mahmoud, a presenter for private radio Pearl FM, for over two hours regarding a talk show he hosted that debated the level of Ugandan parliamentary democracy in comparison with other countries, the human rights network reported. Assistant Inspector of Police Byamugisha Jackson, who summoned and interrogated him, admitted that he did not see any reason for the investigation but was "acting on orders from above," the report said.

The high number of police attacks against the press is also due to the political tension on Kampala's streets in recent years. Mass opposition rallies against rising fuel and commodity prices, known as "walk to work" campaigns, has placed the police in a tight spot, with little interest in media coverage of their actions. "Especially duringdemonstrations, individual journalists have been targeted as police try to kill the evidence of their own actions," Ssebaggala told me.

Kuteesa said the assaults are an unfortunate by-product of a force handling a difficult situation. "Uganda is a young democracy," Kuteesa said. "People are trying to exert their rights and not everyone is rational--some resort to violence, especially in the city. The police are facing professional hazards and unfortunately people get injured here and there."

Voice of America recently cited police spokesman Ibin Ssenkumbi as denying that abuse of journalists is widespread, and saying some journalists brought the problem upon themselves. "There have been a few instances where there have been clashes between a few individual journalists and police, especially during operations.  But that is not an institutional policy. We have also encountered some problems that some of our journalists are actually unprofessional. They want to have limitless powers and freedom in any place at any time, which, practically, is not possible," he said, VOA reported on Wednesday.

Whether the new department represents a genuine effort to end attacks on the press with impunity or is simply a public relations exercise remains to be seen. Ugandan police attacked two journalists this week, just days after Inspector General Kayihura publicly apologized to the media for the excesses of some officers against the press and promised to investigate the cases, according to local reports. This is not the first apology from the Inspector General, who marched with journalists in an unexpected show of solidarity on World Press Freedom Day last month. "He can apologize today but tomorrow someone is beaten up," Ssebaggala said.

While many local journalists are skeptical about the new police unit, Sula Mutebi is hopeful and thinks police attitudes are changing. "Actually the police wanted to press charges against the officer that assaulted me. For once I was invited to file a case, so it is an encouraging sign."

[Reporting from Nairobi]

Source: Committee to protect Journalists

Tom Rhodes is CPJ’s East Africa consultant, based in Nairobi. Rhodes is a founder of southern Sudan’s first independent newspaper. Follow him on Twitter: @africamedia_CPJ

Three Journalists Found Dead in Veracruz

4 May 2012 SOURCE: ARTICLE 19

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - Mexico City, May 3, 2012 - The bodies of three photojournalists, Guillermo Luna, Gabriel Huge and Esteban Rodríguez, were found on 3 May 2012 in a sewage canal in the municipality of Boca del Rio, Veracruz. Hours before the discovery, the families of Guillermo Luna and Gabriel Huge reported them as missing. These crimes took place a week after the murder of Regina Martínez, a journalist for Proceso magazine, also in Veracruz. 

According to information confirmed by the local authorities, the bodies were found by the Naval Police in a sewage canal known as La Zamorana, near the Las Vegas II housing unit, with a fourth body, identified as Luna's partner. The three photojournalists had worked for years covering police issues. Huge and Luna worked for the newspaper Notiver with Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco and his son Misael Lopez Solana, who were murdered on June 20, 2011. Esteban Rodríguez worked for the newspaper AZ. The three photojournalists were forced to flee their homes last year because of the threats they received.

The fact that they had fleed was reported by ARTICLE 19 in a document submitted to Mexican government officials at a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on October 27, 2011. Neither the representatives of the Sub-Secretary of Legal and Human Rights Affairs of the Secretary of the Interior, nor the authorities of the state of Veracruz took the necessary measures to ensure the safety of these journalists.  

These murders occurred less than a week after the public commitment from the governor of Veracruz, Javier Duarte, to ensure proper investigation into the murder of Martínez. The number of journalists who have now been murdered during his administration has increased to eight.

ARTICLE 19 reaffirms its position: the Mexican authorities have consistently failed to fulfill their international obligations to guarantee the free exercise of freedom of expression and the mechanisms currently in place do not address the central problem, which is the impunity that follows these crimes.

Once more, ARTICLE 19 expresses its solidarity with the family, friends and colleagues of the deceased and calls upon the Mexican authorities and especially the Attorney General of Veracruz, to work to bring those responsible to justice to prevent this becoming another emblematic case of impunity.

MORE INFORMATION:

CPJ condemns murder of Mexican photographers (CPJ, 3 May 2012)
Mourning for and condemnation of new deaths in Mexico (IAPA, 3 May 2012)
World's press outraged by latest journalist killings (WAN-IFRA, 4 May 2012)


For more information:

ARTICLE 19
Free Word Centre
60 Farringdon Road
London
EC1R 3GA
United Kingdom
info (@) article19.org
Phone: +44 20 7324 2517
Fax: +44 20 7490 0566
http://www.article19.org/
@article19org

Canada Scores an F for Free Expression

Source:  Canadian Journalists for Free Expression

(CJFE/IFEX) - May 2, 2012, Toronto, ON - For the third straight year, the federal government received failing grades from Canadian Journalists for Free Expression in a report card on freedom of expression in Canada.

The report card, included in the annual Review of Free Expression in Canada, highlights how access to information at the federal level is marred by secrecy and delays  -  the federal government continues its stonewalling tactics to deter journalists, muzzles scientists from speaking to media about their research, and is failing to do its part to protect our digital rights.

Released to coincide with World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2012, the Review also examines such issues as our relationship with the Internet, media ownership and wiretapping.

"A year into the Harper majority we have yet to see changes to federal government behaviour regarding transparency and reform to access to information," said Arnold Amber, CJFE President. "Freedom of expression is continually stifled by restrictions. Our internet freedom in particularly is in jeopardy, as proposed legislation intrudes on our privacy and threatens the free flow of information."

Report card grades include:

Access to information and the federal government: F

• Bumped up from an F- last year due to a very slight increase in completed federal ATI requests and a slight decrease in the number of requests denied for security reasons, the government's performance is still unacceptable. Canada was ranked 40th out of 89 countries in last year's Global Right to Information Rating, the ATI process is still marred by delays, denials, fees and redactions, and the number of ATI requests denied on security grounds has tripled since 2002 - 2003.

Federal scientists' freedom of expression: F

• Canada's control over the communications of federally funded scientists is alarming. Climate change science coverage in the media has plummeted by 80 per cent since 2007, drastically reducing information available to Canadians. Some scientists have been denied permission to talk to the media about their research even after it was published in peer-reviewed journals.

The Supreme Court: B+
• The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that emergency wiretapping by police without a warrant is unconstitutional and upheld a lower court's ruling that hyperlinking is not the same as publication in alleged cases of libel. Although both decisions were welcomed by free expression advocates, the Supreme Court's decision barring access to records held in cabinet ministers' offices brought down its overall grade.

Grades were also assigned to Media Ownership, Federal Protection of Digital Rights and Internet Access, and the Canadian Public.

Other topics covered in this year's Review include:

• an overview of the global cyber threat landscape
• the debate over Internet anonymity
• media ownership in Canada
• obstacles faced by Canadian whistleblowers
• online collaborative journalism
• cross-Canada free expression reports
• notable free-expression-related court decisions from the past year


For more information:
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
PO Box 407
555 Richmond St. W., Suite 1101
Toronto, ON M5V 3B1
Canada
cjfe @ cjfe.org
Phone: +1 416 515 9622
Fax: +1 416 515 7879
http://www.cjfe.org
@canadacjfe

Mexico: Constitutional Milestone Would Protect Journalists

New York - The Committee to Protect Journalists hails the Mexican Senate's landmark approval on March 13 of a constitutional amendment that, if passed by a majority of states, would federalize anti-press crimes and transfer investigative powers to national authorities.

The broadly worded amendment, approved unanimously in the Senate, would modify Article 73 of the Mexican Constitution to say that federal authorities would have jurisdiction over any crime against "journalists, people, or outlets that affects, limits, or impinges upon the right to information and freedom of expression and the press." In effect, the legislation makes federal authorities responsible for investigating and prosecuting attacks on the press, instead of state and local authorities who have been prone to corruption and inefficacy. Versions of the legislation have been debated since 2008 before finally passing the Chamber of Deputies in November.

The measure now goes for ratification to the states, where passage by half plus one is needed for the change to go into effect. Senators told a CPJ delegation this month that despite some resistance, they expect the bill to be passed by the states within the next two months. The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which holds a majority in the Senate and controls the governorships in most of Mexico's states, is expected to urge state legislatures to pass the amendment.

Read more here.

Stop Journalist Bloodbath in Somalia

On March 2, 2012 in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of Somali Republic to the United Nations in Geneva, speakers lifted the veil on the situation of freedom of expression in Somalia, which has progressively worsened after five journalists were murdered in Mogadishu since August 2011.

"In today's Somalia, journalists are targets of a widespread, often politically driven campaign of murder and maltreatment. Many have fled their homes, or even the country, to protect themselves and their families. There is now an urgent need to stop this bloodbath," said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General, who painted a grim picture of the state of freedom of expression and journalists' rights.

"The latest killings confirm the dismaying reality facing journalists in Somalia today, where intolerance and callous targeting sees prominent journalists gunned down at their homes," said Jim Boumelha, IFJ President. "Once again we will be looking to international institutions to take up their responsibility and protect journalists from this brutal injustice."

Speaker after speaker berated the inability of the Somali government's officials to defend journalists. Recent murders have put in doubt the recent claims of building peace and restoring stability made after the Somali conference in London. Journalists and trade union representatives laid bare the role by some government officials who were abusing their office and instead leading a campaign to suppress journalists and their right to free expression and association.

"The record of unsolved murders of journalists over the past few years and sustained attacks on the National Union of Somali Journalists by Somali authorities show their lack of urgency over the media safety crisis and the authorities' poor record on defending freedom of expression and journalists' rights," added Boumelha.

"The culture of impunity must be reined in urgently and accountability ensured. There is a need to inquire on the deaths of the various journalists killed in Somalia. Regrettably, the Transitional Government has proven to be incapable of investigating and prosecuting these killings even as doubts about its culpability have continued to grow amongst local journalists and media circles," said Esther Busser, Assistant Director of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) advocacy office at the UN in Geneva.

"Somalia's government has very seriously violated trade union rights, as enshrined in the ILO's Conventions 87 (on Freedom of Association) and 98 (on Collective Bargaining). The ITUC is extremely disturbed about the consistent politicised actions against NUSOJ members and its leadership to thwart them from carrying out their legitimate activities," added Busser.

"The murder of journalists in Somalia is not just a random act of violence in a conflict zone, it is a political act: by killing the messenger, you kill the message," said Hélène Sackstein, UN Advocacy Representative of RSF.

Participants concluded the meeting by rebutting the proclamation made by the Somali authorities to be investigating the killings and called on the UN Human Rights Council to set up an independent commission of inquiry into the murder of journalists in Somalia.

A high-level list of participants composed of UN and State officials, and leading human rights and free expression advocacy organizations attended the event.


For more information:

National Union of Somali Journalists
1st Floor, Human Rights House
Taleex Street, KM4 Area, Hodan District
Mogadishu
Somalia
nusoj (@) nusoj.org
Phone: +252 1 859 944
Fax: +252 1 859 944
http://www.nusoj.org/

Mubarak and Multi-National Telecommunications Colluded

Last year, amid widespread protests in Egypt, a group of citizens managed to force their way into buildings of the Ministry of Interior – a branch of the government notorious for brutal tactics employed to preserve the former Mubarak regime.   In one of these buildings, a cache of documents were found (which you can now access on the web) that detailed a series of meetings between officials of the Interior Ministry and the local heads of large multi-national telecommunications and internet companies operating in Egypt.  In one such meeting at the end of 2010, the discussions included how to cut off internet access in a single city and in several cities, blocking particular websites, and obtaining personal information.  In another meeting at the beginning of 2011, digital Spy-ware purchased from a private company was discussed, including its ability to tap into online accounts, plant spy files on computers that would allow one to control the computer, and other highly invasive abilities. Here were well-know private companies planning repression with a government body famous for committing severe rights violations.

A couple of months later all of the capabilities that private companies jointly developed with the Interior Ministry were employed on a country wide scale in an attempt to undermine mass democratic protests.  Sequential crackdown on communication platforms, including kill-switch, happened from 25 January till 5 February[1].

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[1] Diagram http://www.flickr.com/photos/ramyraoof/5814392791/

SOURCE: Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies

(CIHRS/IFEX) - In a Panel on Freedom of Expression on the Internet, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) in cooperation with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) delivered an oral statement before the 19th session of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council currently in session. A high-level list of panelists composed of UN and state officials, and heads of multi-telecommunications companies took the floor. Speakers included the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay who spoke of the importance of internet in the context ongoing unrest and expressed concern over certain practices like blocking access to websites and committing violations against human rights defenders for using social media tools to document rights violations.

In their joint statement, CIHRS and EIPR revealed the existence of documented proof that the telephone and internet blackout in Egypt during the 18 days revolution was a premeditated crime organized between the Interior Ministry and the local heads of multi-national telecommunications and internet companies. Both organizations argued that official documents from 2010 and 2011, included strategies to cut off internet access in a single city and in several cities, blocking particular websites, and obtaining personal information. In addition to other strategies to tap into online accounts, plant spy files on computers, and other highly invasive abilities.

The statement pointed out that the responsibility for human rights violations and abuses does not lie solely on the state, but also private actors such as companies are liable for such violations.

"The Human Rights Council has the duty to find alternative means to hold private multi-national telecommunications and internet companies liable for these violations" said Ramy Raouf, Online Media Officer at EIPR. "The national and international legal vacuum, under which these companies are currently operating, is further endangering the lives of peaceful pro-democracy protestors and citizens in repressive states" he added.

The two Egyptian organizations argued that asking corporations to conduct a due diligence process is not enough since "in many instances the private companies themselves have violated their own user agreements, but with little consequence since no sufficient external or multi-national ombudsman exist to ensure that these companies apply basic human rights standards."

"If the International Community is serious in implementing policies that protect the life of civilians during peaceful protests, a resolution or international guidelines should be developed to ensure that online companies have a limited access to users' information and that the users themselves have access and control to what personal information companies have and own" said Laila Matar CIHRS' UN Representative. "A clear policy of zero tolerance should be adopted by the international community and private companies concerning the cutting off of communications systems at anytime, for any reason" she added.

During the panel, several countries took the floor, including Germany, Turkey, China, India, Canada, Morocco, and Egypt who stated that freedom of Internet is important for individual dignity and socio-political development and has played a key role in the Egyptian revolution. The Egyptian delegation further stated that there should be no restrictions on the law of the internet, which must be compatible with international human rights law.

To download the text of the intervention:
CIHRS_HRC_Intervention_Multinationals.doc (187 KB)

For more information:
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
PO Box 117 (Maglis El-Shaab)
Street address: 21 Abd El-Megid El-Remaly St., 7th Floor, Flat no. 71, Bab El Louk
Cairo
Egypt
info (@) cihrs.org
Phone: +202 2 795 1112/+202 27963757
Fax: +202 2 792 1913
http://www.cihrs.org

Chandrika Rai and his Family Murdered in India

(IFJ/IFEX) - February 21, 2012 - The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is shocked and horrified at the brutal murder of senior journalist Chandrika Rai, his wife and two young children, in Umaria district in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Chandrika Rai, 43, a freelance journalist who was published frequently in newspapers in the state capital of Bhopal, was found dead at his home on the evening of Saturday, February 18. His 39-year old wife, 19-year old son and 17-year old daughter, were also found dead in different rooms of the house. All four bodies bore injuries inflicted by a sharp weapon.

Media reports from India suggest that Rai could have been targeted for revenge by elements involved in local coal mining activities. Rai had recently written articles exposing numerous illegalities in the coal trade in the region.

Other reports hint at a connection with the recent abduction of the son of a government official. Rai is believed to have expressed his scepticism over police claims that the boy was rescued without any ransom changing hands. This may have attracted the anger of an organised kidnapping racket in the area.

"The IFJ is deeply shocked and saddened at the brutality of this murder, and the loss of a brave journalist and his entire family", said the IFJ Asia-Pacific.

"Violence committed against journalists, whatever its motive, has a chilling effect on good investigative journalism carried out in the public interest.

"We call upon the authorities in the state of Madhya Pradesh to utilise all necessary resources and efforts to investigate this matter, and ensure that those responsible for this murder are brought to justice for their crimes".

For more information:
International Federation of Journalists
International Press Centre, Residence Palace
Bloc C, second floor, Rue de la Loi, 155
1040 Brussels
Belgium
Phone: +32 2 2352207
Fax: +32 2 2352219
http://www.ifj.org

RSF Urges Mirrors of Endangered News Sites

(RSF/IFEX) - 8 February 2012 - Filtering, denial of service attacks, withdrawal of content - censors use many different methods to silence news websites. In addition to drawing attention to these acts of censorship and providing the victims with legal, material and financial help, Reporters Without Borders has now decided to provide them with technical assistance as well.

So that independent news websites that are targeted by cyber-attacks and government blocking can continue posting information online, Reporters Without Borders is going to start mirroring sites. The first sites to be mirrored are those of the Chechen magazine Dosh and the Sri Lankan online newspaper Lanka-e News. We urge Internet users all over the world to create more mirrors of these sites in an act of solidarity.

If a cyber-attack renders Doshdu.ru inaccessible again, as it was during last December's parliamentary elections in Russia, Internet users will be able to access the exact copy created by Reporters Without Borders, http://dosh.rsf.org . The mirror will be regularly and automatically updated.

Mirror sites can also be used to circumvent blocking by governments. For example, the Lanka-e-News site, http://lankaenews.com , has been blocked in Sri Lanka since October (by blocking the site domain name or the hosting server's IP address), but Internet users in Sri Lanka will be able to access the Reporters Without Borders mirror site, http://lankaenews.rsf.org , which is hosted on another server with another domain name.

If the mirror is itself later also blocked, the creation of further mirror sites together with a regularly updated list of these mirrors will continue to render the blocking ineffective in a Streisand effect.

Reporters Without Borders will soon create other mirrors and urges Internet users who want to help combat censorship and have the ability to host a site on a web server to follow suit. A list of the mirror sites will be updated on this page. If you want to participate, send the URL of the mirror site you have created to wefightcensorship [at] rsf.org. We will add it to the list below. The next mirroring operations launched by Reporters Without Borders will be reported on the @RSF_RWB and @RSFNet Twitter accounts with the #RSFmirror hashtag.

List of sites mirrored by Reporters Without Borders

doshdu.ru
Dosh, which covers politics and current affairs throughout the Russian Caucasus, received the Reporters Without Borders press freedom prize in 2009 for the courage and quality of its reporting. Despite frequent attempts to intimidate its staff, it is one of the very few independent sources of news about Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan, the victims of a low intensity civil war. Its website is often the target of DDoS attacks, the latest of which was during Russia's disputed parliamentary elections on 4 December 2011. The site's content and all of its files were completed deleted in 2010.

Mirror 1 : http://dosh.rsf.org/


lankaenews.com
Lanka-e-News is one of the few independent news outlets in Sri Lanka, where a government licence is needed to publish news online. As Lanka-e-News does not have a licence, the site has been blocked since October 2011. Its headquarters in a Colombo suburb were badly damaged by an arson attack in January 2011.

Mirror 1: http://lankaenews.rsf.org/


How to create a mirror site

To mirror one of the sites on the above list, you can:

Either install website copying software on your server and run it at regular intervals in order to have an updated version of the mirrored site (we recommend copying the content of the existing mirror rather than the original site in order not to overload the original)

Or download a compressed file of the mirrored site (available for all the Reporters Without Borders mirrors at http://mirroradress/archive.tar ), decompress it and use ftp to transfer all the files to your server.


For more information:

Reporters Without Borders
47, rue Vivienne
75002 Paris
France
rsf (@) rsf.org
Phone: +33 1 44 83 84 84
Fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51
http://www.rsf.org/