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Betreff: IFEX COMMUNIQUÉ VOL 17 NO 45 | 19 NOVEMBER 2008
Datum: Wed, 19. Nov 2008 16:14:14 -0500
The „IFEX Communiqué“ is the weekly newsletter of the International Freedom
of Expression eXchange (IFEX), a global network of 81 organisations working
to defend and promote the right to free expression. IFEX is managed by
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.
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FREE EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT:
1. PEN Commemorates Day of the Imprisoned Writer
REGIONAL NEWS:
2. Mexico: Veteran Crime Reporter Shot Dead in Ciudad Juárez
3. Uruguay Passes Access to Info Law
4. Philippines: Radio Broadcaster Gunned Down in Mindanao
5. Pakistan: Journalists at Risk in Border Regions
6. Nepal: IFEX Members Work to Get Free Expression Written in Constitution
7. Sudan: Journalists Arrested at Censorship Rally
TAKE ACTION!
8. Have Your Say on Anti-Terror Legislation in Europe
AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS:
9. Saudi Arabia Bans Lawyer From Receiving Award
10. Korean Film Triumphs at Rory Peck Awards
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FREE EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT
1. PEN COMMEMORATES DAY OF THE IMPRISONED WRITER
One afternoon in May, police officers stormed City Hall in Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe, where rehearsals were taking place for a play. „The Crocodile of
Zambezi“ is about an ageing leader of a fictional African country facing
political and personal crises. The police accused the play of ridiculing
President Robert Mugabe, and said they were sent to „censor or stop any
suspicious performances.“ And although the crew vowed to end the show after
only having delivered a single performance, the police gave crew members a
severe beating and banned the play altogether.
That Zimbabwean crew has been chosen as one of five stories to mark
International PEN’s Day of the Imprisoned Writer on 15 November. PEN urges
you to send a letter on behalf of the actors and the thousands of writers
who have been jailed, harassed or persecuted this year alone because of
their work.
Each year PEN focuses on five cases – one from each world region, each
illustrating a different kind of repression. There is Eynulla Fatullayev, a
journalist from Azerbaijan who is serving an eight-year sentence for his
writings on politics and investigations into the murder of another
journalist in 2005. Tsering Woeser is a woman poet from Tibet whose work is
banned in China. Mohammed Sadiq Kabudvand, a Kurdish journalist based in
Iran, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for advocating Kurdish rights.
Melissa Rocío Patiño Hinostroza is a young poet on trial for charges of
terrorism based on her involvement with a left-wing political organisation
– although she has never used nor advocated violence.
Some PEN centres chose to focus on other cases closer to home to
commemorate the day. In Somalia, for example, PEN organised a day-long
symposium in Mogadishu on 15 November that brought together writers,
journalists, human rights activists, government representatives and others
to debate free expression violations amid the backdrop of a civil war.
Other readings and events were also held across Africa: in Sierra Leone,
Uganda, Malawi, Ghana and Guinea.
Swedish PEN awarded Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho with the Tucholsky
Award, granted to writers who have fought for the right to free expression,
while the Oxfam Novib PEN Freedom of Expression Award will be presented at
the Crossing Borders Festival on 22 November in The Hague to five writers
and journalists who have been jailed or threatened for their writing.
See what happened in your country or region here: http://tinyurl.com/68r9z7
PEN is also commemorating the 39 writers and journalists murdered as a
result of their work since last year’s Day of the Imprisoned Writer. In
very few cases have the perpetrators been brought to justice. Mexico, Iraq
and Pakistan remain the countries where to be a writer or journalist is a
dangerous profession.
PEN says it is not too late to send an appeal with copies to your embassy
on behalf of at least one of the highlighted cases. Advice and addresses
are given with each profile, which can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/6s5zzx
Christopher Mlalazi and Raisedon Baya, two of the cast members of
„Crocodile“, hope that International PEN’s efforts will make their case
heard around the world. „We hope that it will also inspire other production
houses and writers all over the world not to take things lying down, just
as we have been inspired by others who have come before us,“ they said.
‚Tis the season – International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) is
also asking that you send greetings cards to writers in prison or their
families. For more details of this initiative, email: wipc (@)
internationalpen.org.uk
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REGIONAL NEWS
AMERICAS
2. MEXICO: VETERAN CRIME REPORTER SHOT DEAD IN CIUDAD JUÁREZ
A crime reporter was shot to death outside his home last week in the border
city of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, report the Center for Journalism and
Public Ethics (CEPET), the Committee to Protect Journalists and other IFEX
members.
José Armando Rodríguez Carreón, a well-known and respected reporter who
covered crime for more than a decade for the local daily „El Diario“, was
shot at least eight times in a company-owned car parked inside his garage
on 13 November, reports CPJ. His young daughter, who was in the car at the
time of the attack, was uninjured.
A motive for the killing has not yet been established, but CPJ reports that
Rodríguez’s colleagues feel he was targeted for his work. Pedro Torres,
deputy editor of „El Diario“, said Rodríguez had received a threatening
text message in February telling him to „tone it down.“ As a result, he was
transferred to El Paso, Texas temporarily for his safety, says Reporters
Without Borders (RSF), but on his return he insisted on resuming work
without any special protection.
In a joint statement, the National Center for Social Communication
(CENCOS), ARTICLE 19-Mexico, the World Association of Community Radio
Broadcasters (AMARC) and other local rights organisations said the murder
of a journalist is „the most extreme form of censorship, which not only
restricts the right to free expression of the victim but also the right of
society as a whole to learn.“
Torres said in a television interview that the murder would not silence the
paper. „The worst thing we could do as journalists, as a company, is to
keep quiet. I think that the authorities are doing nothing. We have a
commitment beyond that which the authorities have with the public. We must
continue to cover all these events as they are, not as many people would
like them to be.“
IFEX members working in Mexico say it’s time for the government to get
involved. „The state has an obligation to prevent, investigate and punish
the perpetrators, as well as to ensure adequate reparation to victims,“
they said.
Because of the poor record of successful prosecutions, the Mexican Congress
is considering legislation that would make crimes against free expression a
federal offence, a step backed by President Felipe Calderón. A law has yet
to be passed.
More than 1,000 people, including journalists, police officers, doctors,
lawyers and drug traffickers, have been killed in drug-related crimes in
Ciudad Juárez this year, say IFEX members. On 6 November, unidentified
individuals left a decapitated head at the city’s Journalists‘ Square.
Police have not identified it.
Powerful drug cartels and escalating violence associated with criminal
groups have made Mexico one of the deadliest countries for reporters
worldwide. According to International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee
(WiPC), Rodríguez is the eighth writer to be killed in Mexico in 2008.
Visit these links:
– CPJ: http://tinyurl.com/6ke3tb
– CEPET: http://tinyurl.com/6bblec
– IFEX members in Mexico statement: http://tinyurl.com/6kwhq6
– RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=29293
– WiPC: http://tinyurl.com/66mz7g
– International Federation of Journalists: http://tinyurl.com/5hhrct
3. URUGUAY PASSES ACCESS TO INFO LAW
Last month, Uruguay became the latest country in the Americas to pass an
access to public information law, reports the World Association of
Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC).
Article 1 of the law outlines that its aim is to „promote transparency in
the administrative functioning of all public bodies, whether they be
state-run or not, and to guarantee the fundamental right of individuals to
public information.“
Secret and confidential information is not covered by the law, says AMARC.
But the law also says that entities cannot resort to using the
confidentiality clause when the information requested relates to human
rights violations or aids in the investigation of such cases.
„The law represents a new milestone for Uruguay as it recognises the access
to public information rights of all individuals and legally recognised
bodies without discrimination,“ says AMARC.
The law has been promoted by the Archives and Access to Public Information
Group (GAIP), a coalition of civil society organisations, including AMARC,
formed three years ago to help develop access to info legislation. GAIP
welcomed „this historic step in the democratic and republican
institutionalisation of the country,“ but recognised the passing of the law
only marks the beginning of their work.
The complete text of the law (in Spanish only) can be found at:
http://tinyurl.com/5aeog6
Also visit this link:
– AMARC: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/98213/
ASIA
4. PHILIPPINES: RADIO BROADCASTER GUNNED DOWN IN MINDANAO
A radio broadcaster who often criticised local corruption was shot to death
on 17 November in Gingoog City, Mindanao, southern Philippines, report the
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and other IFEX members.
Aresio Padrigao, broadcaster at Radyo Natin (Our Radio), had just dropped
off his daughter in front of Bukidnon State University on the morning of 17
November when he was killed by a gunman riding tandem on a motorcycle.
While the motive is unclear, CMFR believes Padrigao was killed for his work
as a journalist. Padrigao anchored „Sayri ang Katilingban“ (Know the
People), which aired every Friday. He often criticised local government
corruption as well as illegal logging activities in the province on his
programme. He also wrote a column for the community newspaper „Mindanao
Monitor Today“.
Toto Gancia, a radio announcer at the same station, told CMFR that Padrigao
had received threats prior to his murder. „The threats told him in effect
that he would not live ‚til Christmas,“ Gancia said.
According to CMFR, Padrigao was the fifth Filipino journalist killed in the
line of duty in 2008. Of the 37 journalists murdered in relation to their
work during President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s reign, only two have
yielded convictions for the gunmen and none have resulted in convictions of
the masterminds, says CMFR.
„The aura of impunity surrounding these attacks on journalists is the
government’s fault,“ says the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). „As
long as authorities continue in their failure to prosecute those
responsible for such killings, journalists will be seen as easy targets.“
CPJ has launched a global campaign to combat impunity in unsolved
journalist murders, focusing initially on the Philippines and Russia.
Visit these links:
– CMFR via Southeast Asian Press Alliance:
http://www.seapabkk.org/newdesign/newsdetail.php?No=992
– CPJ: http://tinyurl.com/62o3x8
– International Federation of Journalists: http://tinyurl.com/67z6nf
– Reporters Without Borders (RSF): http://tinyurl.com/6y6erl
5. PAKISTAN: JOURNALISTS AT RISK IN BORDER REGIONS
Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), the International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ) and other IFEX members have voiced great concern about
the deteriorating security situation in the border area of Pakistan.
Last week, two journalists were shot and wounded in Peshawar, the capital
of Pakistan’s restive North West Frontier Province, as they were returning
from interviewing a Taliban commander in nearby Khyber.
Sami Yousafzai, „Newsweek“ magazine’s special correspondent in the region
and a CBS News stringer, and Yatsukura Motoki, Islamabad bureau chief for
the Japanese daily „Asahi Shimbun“, are in stable condition. Their driver
was also shot.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), it’s unclear
whether the journalists were attacked for their work or were the targets of
a criminal gang seeking ransom.
The North West Frontier Province, as well as the adjoining Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), has been the scene of a number of attacks
on journalists, foreigners and government officials in recent weeks.
On 11 November, Khadija Abdul Qahaar, a Canadian freelance journalist and
publisher of the website Jihad Unspun, and her Pakistani translator and
guide were kidnapped while travelling in the region’s Bannu district, say
CPJ, PPF and IFJ. PPF says tribal elders are negotiating for Qahaar’s and
her colleagues‘ release.
„The Pakistan-Afghanistan border region has long been unstable, but its
violence has been steadily spreading into other areas of Pakistan,“ said
CPJ. „Journalists in the region have long warned about the lack of security
and the threats they face from all sides – Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters,
drug lords, gun runners, criminal gangs, and even the Pakistani government.
For journalists, as for all others in Peshawar, this is a situation going
from bad to worse.“
In a separate incident, Royal TV and daily „Sahafat“ reporter Abdul Razzaq
Johara was killed in Mianwali, in the Punjab, on 3 November – the day after
he did a report on drug trafficking, report PPF, IFJ and Reporters Without
Borders (RSF). According to RSF, the local police said they arrested
several suspects, although five other suspects remain at large.
In response to a call from IFJ affiliate the Pakistan Federal Union of
Journalists and the All Pakistan Newspaper Employees Confederation,
journalists demonstrated throughout Pakistan on 12 November in protest
against the latest killings of their colleagues and to urge the authorities
to go after those responsible.
Visit these links:
– PPF: http://www.pakistanpressfoundation.org
– IFJ: http://tinyurl.com/5q3tue
– CPJ: http://tinyurl.com/5ohryy
– RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=29285
– IFEX Pakistan page: http://tinyurl.com/23z96j
6. NEPAL: IFEX MEMBERS WORK TO GET FREE EXPRESSION WRITTEN IN CONSTITUTION
IFEX members in Nepal are campaigning to ensure that press freedom and
freedom of expression are enshrined in the constitution.
Seven months since the Constituent Assembly elections – the monumental day
when Nepal elected an assembly to decide the fate of the monarchy and write
a new constitution for the country – the process of writing the
constitution has not been taken seriously, says the Federation of Nepali
Journalists (FNJ).
According to FNJ, a minimum general agreement among the 25 representative
parties of the assembly has not been reached due to „minor scuffles and
differences of opinions.“
On 5 November, day one of a month-long campaign, FNJ submitted a memorandum
to the constituent assembly, pressuring it to begin writing the
constitution, as well as to enshrine press freedom and freedom of
expression as an unchangeable article. The memo has since been handed to
the prime minister and other top officials from various parties.
„Political parties, professional organisations and all sectors of society
play equally crucial roles in the campaign to draft the constitution, so
certainly Nepalese journalists will also have an essential role to play,“
FNJ said in the memo.
The Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES), with the
support of the IFEX Campaigns Programme and funding from the Finnish media
development foundation VIKES, has also been working hard to promote
people’s participation in the constitution-making process. Since June, it
has been broadcasting a radio programme entitled „Swatantra Abhibyakti“
(Free Expression) on five FM radio stations in five different regions.
Radio is considered one of the best methods to raise people’s awareness in
mostly-rural Nepal – helping to reach a large audience and „bridging the
views of experts and politicians with those of commoners,“ says CEHURDES.
The campaign takes place amid a backdrop of increasing attacks on media
houses and personnel, says FNJ. In one of the latest attacks, the office of
„Himal Khabar Patrika“ magazine was burned down in Kathmandu.
Visit these links:
– FNJ: http://www.fnjnepal.org/view_detail.php?id=78&
– IFEX Nepal page: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/155/
AFRICA
7. SUDAN: JOURNALISTS ARRESTED AT CENSORSHIP RALLY
Police in Sudan arrested more than 60 journalists during a protest against
media censorship, report the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information
(ANHRI), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and news sources. Riot police armed with
canes and shields rounded up the journalists outside parliament on 17
November and took them to a police station. Those detained were
subsequently released.
The daily newspaper „Ajras al-Hurriya“ and other papers have been
increasingly subject to pre-print or „proof“ censorship, a practice which
began in February, says ARTICLE 19. Sudan’s National Security Services
visit newspaper houses every day before they go to print and physically
remove articles they deem problematic and taboo. Media houses not complying
with the censors risk having their publications confiscated and destroyed
after they have gone to print.
„Ajras al-Hurriya“ and other Khartoum-based papers have led weeks of
protests against media censorship in Sudan. The day after the arrests, 10
newspapers suspended publication for day, says CPJ. Early this month, more
than 50 Sudanese journalists went on a one-day hunger strike and three
papers, including „Ajras al-Hurriya“, shut down for three days, report
ARTICLE 19 and ANHRI. Columnists have also decided to withdraw their
columns in protest.
According to ARTICLE 19, censorship of the print press in Khartoum has
largely been centred on the Darfur conflict and the turbulent political
relationship with neighbouring Chad. The latest press crackdown appears to
be directed at discouraging news reports on the Sudan opposition leaders‘
summit due to be held on the conflict in Darfur.
Journalist Salah Bab Allah of the Khartoum-based „Al Entibaha“ newspaper
defied the censorship orders of security forces – and has been held
incommunicado, reports ANHRI. The censors had demanded that he remove a
story about the outbreak of fever in western Sudan. Bab ignored them and
printed it on the front page.
The former southern rebels, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM),
have condemned the arrests – and have removed its officers working in the
press department of the security forces in protest.
The 2005 peace agreement that brought an end to Sudan’s north-south civil
war is meant to uphold freedom of expression and the press. ANHRI, ARTICLE
19, CPJ and IFJ are urging the Sudanese authorities to guarantee media
freedom as promised in the agreement.
ANHRI said, „We add our voice to the voices of the Sudanese journalists in
their collective protest against proof censorship, and we demand the
Sudanese Journalists Union take up its role in defence of freedom of the
press and the protection of journalists.“
Visit these links:
– ANHRI: http://www.anhri.net/en/reports/2008/pr1118.shtml
– ARTICLE 19: http://tinyurl.com/64qbws
– CPJ: http://tinyurl.com/6xr5zj
– IFJ: http://tinyurl.com/5qxulp
– BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7733255.stm
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TAKE ACTION!
8. HAVE YOUR SAY ON ANTI-TERROR LEGISLATION IN EUROPE
The Council of Europe is organising a conference on „anti-terror
legislation in Europe since 2001 and its impact on freedom of expression
and information“ in Amsterdam on 17 and 18 November.
The General Rapporteur will post questions and some results of the
discussions on the Council of Europe media freedom forum. Interested people
are invited to comment on these questions. Relevant comments might be
included by the General Rapporteur in her report of the conference:
http://mediafreedom.cws.coe.int/tiki-forums.php
For more information on the conference, see: http://tinyurl.com/639ku7
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AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS
9. SAUDI ARABIA BANS LAWYER FROM RECEIVING AWARD
The Saudi authorities have banned a crusading defence attorney from
travelling abroad to receive Human Rights Watch’s 2008 Human Rights
Defenders Award.
Abdul-Rahman al-Lahim was due to be honoured in November in London, Paris
and Geneva with the award for his fight for the rights of Saudi citizens
against arbitrary and unjust rulings.
Al-Lahim gained worldwide attention for defending a woman from Qatif who
was sentenced in November 2006 to several months in prison and 90 lashes
after being gang-raped. Her punishment was for an act that preceded the
rape: being alone in a car with a man who was not related to her, which is
illegal in Saudi Arabia. An appeals court increased the woman’s sentence to
200 lashings and six months in jail. In December 2007, King Abdullah set
aside the woman’s sentence after the case drew international criticism.
Al-Lahim „is at the forefront of the struggle to put into effect the kind
of judicial reforms that King Abdullah has announced,“ said Human Rights
Watch.
Unable to attend the ceremony in London on 11 November, al-Lahim prepared
remarks that were read at the event: „This award is an acknowledgement of
the hundreds of human rights activists in Saudi Arabia,“ he said. „It is
also a recognition of the work of brave writers who have spoken against
Islamist extremists and their calls for violence.“
Four other activists have been honoured with the Human Rights Defender
award.
Sri Lankan rights defender Sunila Abeysekera won for the two decades she
has spent working as an activist amid Sri Lanka’s civil war, exposing
serious abuses by government security forces and the Tamil Tigers.
Mathilde Muhindo works to support rape victims and to stop the use of rape
as a weapon of war in Democratic Republic of Congo.
Umida Niazova, an Uzbek journalist, continues to speak out against the
government’s abuses, despite being convicted for covering the 2005 massacre
in Andijan, where troops killed hundreds of unarmed protesters.
Bo Kyi spent more than seven years in prison for his political activism
since the pro-democracy riots in Burma in 1988. Upon release from jail, he
co-founded the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners in Mae Sot,
Thailand. He said upon accepting his award in London, „We have a way to
communicate with the prisoners and get their stories out. I cannot tell you
how we do this. I do not want the Burmese regime to find out. But I can
tell you that these stories fill the pages of our reports and those of
Human Rights Watch … Over time, the stories of these prisoners generate
pressure on the international community to take a stand.“
The awards are being presented at a series of dinners across North America
and Europe in November.
For more information on the 2007 Human Rights Watch honourees, see:
http://tinyurl.com/5a7jfj
For details on the campaign to lift al-Lahim’s travel ban, see:
http://tinyurl.com/57mn6c
For Bo Kyi’s acceptance, see George Packer’s blog on „The New Yorker“:
http://tinyurl.com/5m8h9m
10. KOREAN FILM TRIUMPHS AT RORY PECK AWARDS
South Korean freelance cameramen Jung In Taek and Han Yong Ho have won the
2008 Rory Peck Trust Impact Award.
The pair received the prize for „Korea: Out of the North“, a film which
followed the journeys taken by North Koreans trying to flee the country and
that was broadcast by the BBC.
Both risked arrest and punishment during the 10 months of filming at night
in sub-zero temperatures, the Rory Peck Trust said. „Without the physical
and political courage that Jung In Taek and Han Yong Ho displayed in
undertaking this project, this compelling story of human endeavour – of
people in search of freedom to pursue a better life – would never have been
seen by the wider public.“
The award for news footage was presented to Abdullahi Farah Duguf for his
Somalian film „Two weeks in Mogadishu“, which showed violence, destruction
and human misery on the streets of the Somali capital.
British journalist Tim Hetherington was awarded the Rory Peck Award for
features for his film „The Other War“, which focused on the experiences of
a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
Zimbabwean cameraman Mike Saburi was honoured with the Martin Adler prize –
given in memory of a freelance cameraman who was murdered while filming in
Somalia in 2006 – for his coverage of life under Robert Mugabe’s regime.
At the ceremony, freelance journalist Vaughn Smith criticised news
broadcasters for failing to give camera operators due recognition for their
work, telling the audience, „I’ve been shot more times than I have been
credited by the BBC.“
Smith, who was nominated as a finalist for his film, „Grenadiers Fighting
in Helmand“, made an impassioned plea for fairer treatment from
broadcasters and for large news organisations to stop passing off work
supplied by freelance cameramen as their own.
Profiles of this year’s awards winners, which are specifically for
freelance cameramen and women, can by found on the Rory Peck Trust website:
http://www.rorypecktrust.org
A version of Smith’s plea on the „Guardian“: http://tinyurl.com/5wghx5
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The „IFEX Communiqué“ is published weekly by the International Freedom of
Expression eXchange (IFEX). IFEX is managed by Canadian Journalists for
Free Expression ( http://www.cjfe.org ) on behalf of the network’s 81
member organisations.
The „IFEX Communiqué“ is also available in French, Spanish, Russian (
http://www.ifex.cjes.ru/ ) and Arabic ( http://anhri.net/ifex/ ).
The views expressed in the „IFEX Communiqué“ are the sole responsibility of
the sources to which they are attributed.
The „IFEX Communiqué“ grants permission for its material to be reproduced
or republished provided it is credited as the source.
Contact IFEX Online Editor Natasha Grzincic at: communique (@) ifex.org
Mailing Address: 555 Richmond Street West, #1101, PO Box 407, Toronto,
Ontario M5V 3B1 Canada, Tel: +1 416 515 9622; Fax: +1 416 515 7879;
Website: http://www.ifex.org
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