Die Organisation für Pressefreiheit (in English)
——– Original-Nachricht ——–
> Datum: Tue, 20 May 2008 17:14:25 -0400
> Von: „IFEX Communiqué“
> An: info@feminissima.de
> Betreff: IFEX COMMUNIQUÉ VOL 17 NO 20 | 20 MAY 2008
> ——| IFEX COMMUNIQUÉ VOL 17 NO 20 | 20 MAY 2008 | ——
>
> 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.
>
> ——| Sign up for IFEX RSS Feeds:
> http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/78635 |——
>
> ——| For a list of recent IFEX alerts, see the „IFEX Digest“:
> http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/74937
>
> FREE EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT:
> 1. Vietnam: Country’s Media Condemn Journalists‘ Arrests
>
> REGIONAL NEWS:
> 2. Burundi: Public Broadcaster Employees Attacked
> 3. France: Bill on Protecting Journalists‘ Sources Does Not Go Far Enough,
> Says RSF
> 4. Uzbekistan: Three Years on From Andijan, Independent Press Still
> Strangled
>
> REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS:
> 5. Iraqi Kurdistan No Longer the Bastion of Press Freedom, CPJ Finds
> 6. Politicians the Main Perpetrator of Attacks on Press in Romania, Says
> Report
>
> AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS:
> 7. Turkish Publisher Wins IPA’s Freedom to Publish Prize
> 8. Entries Wanted for Bastiat Prize
>
> TOOLS AND RESOURCES:
> 9. Freedom House Delivers Internet Freedom Alerts to Your Inbox
> ——————————————————–
> FREE EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT
>
> 1. VIETNAM: COUNTRY’S MEDIA CONDEMN JOURNALISTS‘ ARRESTS
>
> The arrests of two local reporters last week for „abusing their power“ by
> allegedly misreporting a major corruption scandal have led to an unusual
> confrontation between Vietnam’s government and the country’s
> state-controlled newspapers, says the Southeast Asian Press Alliance
> (SEAPA).
>
> Nguyen Van Hai of the newspaper „Tuoi Tre“ („Youth“) and Nguyen Viet Chen
> of the rival newspaper „Thanh Nien“ („Young People“) broke a story in 2005
> about senior government officials allegedly embezzling funds to wager on
> European football matches. The story led to the resignation of the
> transportation minister and other high officials in 2006. Nguyen Van Hai
> and Nguyen Viet Chen could be held for as long as four months while
> authorities investigate, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
>
> Vietnamese newspapers are generally deferential to the government, which
> controls most of the nation’s media. But last week’s arrests unleashed a
> deluge of protests from journalists and bloggers, who said the detentions
> would discourage aggressive reporting on corruption.
>
> „Honest journalists must be freed,“ read a bold headline in „Thanh Nien“,
> the flagship publication of the Vietnam National Youth Foundation, where
> Nguyen Viet Chen worked until he was jailed. The paper is demanding that
> he
> is allowed bail, reports SEAPA.
>
> „Tuoi Tre“ published a story on 14 May saying it was inundated by phone
> calls, emails and letters from angry citizens protesting the government’s
> move – the most it had received in 33 years of publication.
>
> The English edition of Vietnam.net highlighted the story and solicited
> mostly supportive views from politicians, lawyers and fellow journalists.
> National Assembly Deputy Duong Trung Quoc was puzzled as to why the
> government was „shooting“ the messenger while on an anti-corruption drive.
>
> The arrests also point to a worrying trend of the authorities detaining,
> harassing and jailing journalists in Vietnam using criminal and national
> security laws, say the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and RSF.
>
> On 13 May, Somsak Khunmi (Nguyen Quoc Hai), a long-time news assistant and
> contributor to Chan Troi Moi (Radio New Horizon) was sentenced to nine
> months in prison on terrorism charges. He was detained last November along
> with French-Vietnamese reporter Nguyen Thi Thanh Van and a group of
> political activists working for the pro-democracy Viet Tan (Vietnam Reform
> Party). Nguyen was released in December following international pressure.
>
> Authorities say Somsak is being detained for attempting to distribute
> pro-democracy fliers, a violation of Vietnam’s penal code. But CPJ
> believes
> his detention has more to do with his and Nguyen’s reporting on an earlier
> protest held in Ho Chi Minh City by aggrieved farmers who had been pushed
> off their land by state authorities.
>
> Bui Kim Thanh, a blogger, dissident and lawyer suffered a similar fate for
> defending women farmers made homeless by illegal land grabs, says
> International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC). Police stormed her
> house and detained her in a psychiatric hospital in March – for the second
> time.
>
> Also in March, freelance journalist and a member of the banned Bloc 8406
> pro-democracy movement Truong Minh Duc was given a five-year jail sentence
> on charges of „taking advantage of democratic rights to act against the
> state’s interests“ and „receiving money from abroad to support complaints
> against the state“, reports RSF. He often wrote about corruption and abuse
> of authorities for newspapers and websites in Vietnam and abroad.
>
> The Beijing Games has also been a flashpoint in Vietnam. According to RSF,
> a Vietnamese government website stated that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung
> had called for „absolute security“ during the Olympic torch relay in Ho
> Chi
> Minh City and warned against „hostile forces“ that were ready to disturb
> the peace.
>
> A leading blogger who posted entries on his blog about worldwide
> demonstrations against the Olympics was kept under close police
> surveillance and arrested just days before the Ho Chi Minh leg of the
> relay
> for taking part in protests against Chinese policy, reports RSF. Nguyen
> Hoang Hai, better known by his blogging pseudonym of Dieu Cay, was charged
> with tax fraud, „just a pretext to prevent one of Vietnam’s most
> influential bloggers from continuing to post comments critical of the
> government,“ RSF says.
>
> And U.S. journalist Le Hong Thien was seized by security police in Ho Chi
> Minh City while covering the torch relay itself, says RSF. Thien is the
> editor of the US-based magazine „Gia Dinh“, a reporter on the „Viet Times
> Weekly“, and contributor to Radio New Horizon. He is currently under house
> arrest at his brother’s home and his passport has been confiscated. He has
> not yet been charged.
>
> According to RSF, at least nine journalists and cyber-dissidents are
> currently in prison in Vietnam.
>
> Visit these links:
> – SEAPA: http://www.seapabkk.org/
> – RSF on Dieu Cay: http://tinyurl.com/48j34z
> – RSF on Nguyen Van Hai, Nguyen Viet Chen and Le Hong Thien:
> http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27023
> – RSF on Truong Minh Duc: http://tinyurl.com/4hezgj
> – CPJ: http://tinyurl.com/4wyxxj
> – WiPC: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/93095/
> – IFEX Vietnam page: http://tinyurl.com/3swwm3
> – Vietnam.net: http://tinyurl.com/3pbkq3
> – AP via ABC News: http://tinyurl.com/3zyuy3
> ——————————————————–
> REGIONAL NEWS
>
> AFRICA
>
> 2. BURUNDI: PUBLIC BROADCASTER EMPLOYEES ATTACKED
>
> IFEX members Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the International
> Federation of Journalists (IFJ) are calling on the Burundi government to
> investigate two separate attacks last week that killed one employee of the
> country’s public broadcaster and left another staff member wounded.
>
> Cécile Ndikumana, a sales agent with Radio-Télévision Nationale du
> Burundi
> (RTNB), was killed by gunmen in the capital city Bujumbura while on her
> way
> home with her husband on 12 May. Ndikumana died instantly and her husband
> received non-life-threatening injuries.
>
> The same evening, cameraman Hilaire Minani was with a neighbour in
> Bujumbura when two gunmen attacked them, demanding their money and mobile
> phones. Minani was wounded on the head and his friend was shot dead.
>
> IFJ is calling for a thorough investigation into the two attacks, as well
> as improvement in the working conditions of RTNB journalists and media
> workers. Union members have been on strike since 28 April in protest over
> the failure to implement a collective bargaining agreement signed in
> December.
>
> There has been a wave of violence in the Burundian capital in recent weeks
> since clashes resumed between the army and rebels of the Forces nationales
> de libération (FNL), the last active, armed movement in Burundi. At least
> 20,000 people have fled their homes, says UN humanitarian news and
> analysis
> service IRIN.
>
> Visit these links:
> – RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=26967
> – IFJ: http://tinyurl.com/6ze6n5
> – IRIN: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=78129
>
> EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
>
> 3. FRANCE: BILL ON PROTECTING JOURNALISTS‘ SOURCES DOES NOT GO FAR ENOUGH,
> SAYS RSF
>
> The French government introduced a bill last week that says reporters may
> have to reveal their sources when „a pressing imperative requires it“ –
> wording that Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and other press freedom
> organisations say is too vague.
>
> Cases involving terrorism or the kidnapping of a child may qualify under
> the law as times when journalists in France may have to reveal sources.
>
> RSF has criticised the bill, saying that it does not offer sufficient
> protection to media professionals. The bill „leaves too much to the
> interpretation of investigators who alone can assess whether a ‚pressing
> imperative of public interest‘ justifies an attack on the protection of
> sources,“ says RSF.
>
> According to news reports, the bill came after Guillaume Dasquié, a
> journalist for „Le Monde“, was accused in December of publishing state
> secrets when he wrote an article quoting classified reports that French
> intelligence services knew of some Al-Qaeda plans before the 11 September
> 2001 attacks. Dasquié has refused to name the person who gave him the
> information.
>
> Justice Minister Rachida Dati argued the new legislation promised by
> President Nicholas Sarkozy during his election last year struck a balance
> between the rights of journalists and the needs of police and security
> forces.
>
> But RSF says a protection of sources law should offer a broader definition
> of the people allowed to withhold their sources of information, and that
> journalists should have the right to oppose the seizure of any kind of
> equipment they use to collect and impart information. See all of RSF’s
> recommendations at: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27024
>
> Debate on the bill opened in parliament as Sarkozy and his governing party
> faced criticism for accusing the French media of bias. Sarkozy complained
> during a meeting with deputies from his party earlier this month that
> several French media, including Agence France-Presse (AFP), „le Parisien“
> and „l’Express“, had failed to properly cover a court decision against his
> defeated Socialist rival, Ségolène Royal.
>
> „As a candidate, Sarkozy assured us that he believed the media are a key
> element of democratic life, but he seems to have forgotten these
> principles
> as a President and he doesn’t hesitate to cry ‚censorship‘ when media do
> not report the news to his liking. We are outraged by his behaviour,“ says
> the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the regional group of the
> International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
>
> EFJ says that Sarkozy’s statements, together with the draft law on
> protection of sources and his plans to strip advertising revenue from
> public broadcasters, are „a shocking way to defend press freedom in
> France,“ and do not bode well so soon after the presidential elections.
>
> Visit these links:
> – RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27024
> – IFJ/EFJ: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/93662/
> – IFEX France page: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/197/
> – AFP via France24.com: http://tinyurl.com/6m6fw7
> – Privacy International’s Global Survey on Protection of Journalists‘
> Sources: http://tinyurl.com/5xrk4w
>
> 4. UZBEKISTAN: THREE YEARS ON FROM ANDIJAN, INDEPENDENT PRESS STILL
> STRANGLED
>
> Three years after civilians were killed by Uzbek security forces in the
> city of Andijan, Uzbekistan, the government continues to persecute
> journalists, activists and human rights defenders who spoke out against
> the
> massacre, say the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Human Rights
> Watch.
>
> According to CPJ, five journalists are still in jail for their reporting
> of
> Andijan. They are serving sentences ranging from five to 15 years on
> „trumped-up charges“ – from embezzling funds to participating in
> anti-constitutional activities.
>
> One such journalist is the President’s nephew, Dzamshid Karimov. Karimov,
> a
> former correspondent for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR)
> disappeared in September 2006 only to be discovered in a psychiatric
> hospital in the city of Samarkand. He is still being held incommunicado.
>
> Other reporters – and their families – have been subjected to harassment
> and surveillance by security services, their movements and reporting
> ability hampered. According to CPJ, the authorities have circulated an
> „unofficial“ list of topics on which the media is forbidden to report –
> from the massacre and other human rights abuses, to the President and
> opposition party activities.
>
> Dozens of journalists and activists have fled the country for fear of
> their
> safety. Several refugees who returned to Uzbekistan – only to flee again –
> told Human Rights Watch they had been subjected to repeated interrogations
> upon their return, and forced to sign false confessions or statements
> supporting the government’s version of the May 2005 events. Kyrgyzstan,
> Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Russia have all flouted their international
> obligations and forcibly returned refugees and asylum seekers to
> Uzbekistan, often at Tashkent’s request.
>
> Meanwhile, foreign journalists have had their accreditation revoked and
> have been chased out of the country. In 2007, at least two correspondents
> of German news agency „Deutsche Welle“ were forced to leave Uzbekistan
> after enduring harassment by tax police and Tashkent prosecutors, says
> CPJ.
>
> The handful of local independent journalists who have remained in
> Uzbekistan now report only clandestinely; most do so under pseudonyms,
> says
> CPJ. The restrictions have „all but eliminated the independent press in
> the
> country,“ regional journalists and media experts told CPJ.
>
> The Andijan massacre took place three years ago on 13 May 2005, when
> government troops indiscriminately shot dead hundreds of civilians
> protesting against President Karimov’s regime. Despite calls for an
> independent investigation into the events of 13 May, the Uzbek government
> has refused to allow an investigation to take place and has held no one
> accountable for the massacre.
>
> Human rights defender Mutabar Tojibaeva, who is currently serving an
> eight-year prison sentence for her outspoken criticism of the government
> following the massacre, has been selected to receive this year’s Martin
> Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, a prize given by Human Rights
> Watch and nine other leading human rights organisations.
>
> In October 2005, Tojibaeva was arrested in her home as she was preparing
> to
> travel to a human rights conference in Ireland. She was charged with 17
> counts of criminal activity, including slander, extortion, tax evasion,
> polluting the environment and membership in an illegal organisation – her
> own unregistered NGO. Yet, despite the threat of a long prison sentence,
> Tojibaeva remained defiant and told the court, „I do not regret my
> activities and I will continue them regardless of the verdict.“
>
> Tojibaeva was recently diagnosed with cancer and her health is
> deteriorating. The Martin Ennals jury is calling for her immediate
> release.
>
> Human Rights Watch is urging the U.S. and the EU to act urgently to help
> stop the crackdown in Uzbekistan. The release of human rights defenders
> was
> among the criteria that the EU set for reviewing the sanctions it imposed
> on Tashkent in October 2005 following the Andijan massacre. Over the past
> two years, the EU has incrementally weakened the sanctions, consisting
> mostly of an arms embargo and a visa ban for government officials, despite
> the Uzbek government’s persistent defiance to heed the criteria. On 29
> April, the EU for the second time in a row suspended the visa ban
> altogether for six months.
>
> Visit these links:
> – CPJ: http://tinyurl.com/4djk2e
> – Human Rights Watch Uzbekistan page: http://tinyurl.com/4gotxf
> – Human Rights Watch report, „Saving its Secrets: Government Repression in
> Andijan“: http://hrw.org/reports/2008/uzbekistan0508/
> – Martin Ennals Award: http://www.martinennalsaward.org/
> ——————————————————–
> REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS
>
> 5. IRAQI KURDISTAN NO LONGER THE BASTION OF PRESS FREEDOM, CPJ FINDS
>
> As a contributor to Kurdistanpost, a popular Kurdish news website, Nasseh
> Abdel Raheem Rashid has railed against the actions of crooked politicians
> in Iraqi Kurdistan. It was only a matter of time before Rashid’s criticism
> would get him noticed. As he walked through the market of his hometown
> Halabja last October, four armed men in military garb forced him into a
> pickup, bound him up and covered his head with a sack. He was then dropped
> off at an unknown location, but not before being beaten and threatened at
> gunpoint to stop working or be killed.
>
> The image of Iraqi Kurdistan as a place of freedom and tolerance following
> the 1991 Gulf War is being severely tarnished by a disturbing rise in
> attacks on journalists like the assault on Rashid over the past three
> years
> – often at the hands of officials, says „The Other Iraq“, a new report by
> the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
>
> The mountainous region in northern Iraq is home to a „small but combative
> independent press“ that regularly challenges the region’s main parties by
> publishing bold stories about government corruption and human rights
> abuses, says CPJ.
>
> But their increasing presence on the media scene has triggered a spike in
> assaults, detentions and prosecutions of journalists, with the most
> forceful attacks targeting those who have reported critically on
> high-ranking officials like the head of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP)
> Masoud Barzani and fellow Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani – Iraq’s
> President.
>
> In a meeting with Barzani last November, a CPJ delegation urged him to
> publicly investigate the spate of violent acts of aggression against the
> press.
>
> Barzani bemoaned what he called the lack of professionalism in the
> fledgling industry but said it would be „intolerable“ for a journalist to
> be attacked over a free expression issue. „The security forces (are)
> interested in terrorism – that is their main objective,“ he said.
>
> CPJ also expressed concern about restrictive press legislation passed by
> the Kurdistan parliament late last year but vetoed by Barzani. The bill
> would have allowed the government to impose heavy fines and close
> newspapers. CPJ told Barzani that parliament has an opportunity to devise
> model press legislation for the region by eliminating criminal defamation,
> jail sentences for journalists, and other provisions that violate
> international standards.
>
> „The Other Iraq“, available in English, Kurdish and Arabic, is based on a
> two-week fact-finding mission to Arbil and Sulaymania last November. Read
> it here: http://www.cpj.org/other.iraq/index.html
>
> Also read a front-line take on covering war in „The Biggest Story“, which
> includes interviews with veteran journalists in Iraq. Both reports are
> available in the latest edition of CPJ’s „Dangerous Assignments“,
> available
> in PDF here: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2008/DA_spring_08.pdf
>
> 6. POLITICIANS THE MAIN PERPETRATOR OF ATTACKS ON PRESS IN ROMANIA, SAYS
> REPORT
>
> Romanian President Traian Băsescu was the „undisputed champion“ of
> insults and attacks against journalists in 2007, says a new report by
> Romania’s Media Monitoring Agency (MMA).
>
> Although attacks and threats against journalists didn’t increase from
> 2006,
> many of their perpetrators were top level politicians, says MMA. In one
> incident, Băsescu grabbed the phone of a journalist who was filming
> him with her phone. Unbeknownst to the President, the phone was still
> recording, and taped him calling the journalist a „dirty gypsy“ in a
> private conversation with his wife.
>
> „Such gestures are a threat to all journalists given the message they
> send,“ says MMA, and were reflected at all levels of government: instances
> of local authorities offending journalists or illegally suspending their
> accreditation as punishment for their critical articles were common in
> 2007.
>
> >From political pressures imposed on public radio and television to the
> lax
> implementation of access to info laws, „Press Freedom in Romania 2007“
> covers the most important freedom of expression issues and challenges in
> Romania last year. It’s available here: http://www.mma.ro/
> ——————————————————–
> AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS
>
> 7. TURKISH PUBLISHER WINS IPA’S FREEDOM TO PUBLISH PRIZE
>
> A Turkish publisher who refused to abandon his campaign for freedom of
> thought – despite being given a three-year jail sentence – is this year’s
> winner of the International Publishers‘ Association (IPA) Freedom to
> Publish Prize.
>
> Since starting his publishing house Belge with his wife Ayse Nur in 1977,
> Ragip Zarakolu has been constantly at the receiving end of the wrath of
> the
> Turkish authorities. The charges they brought against him and Nur resulted
> in jail time for the couple, confiscation and destruction of books, and
> the
> imposition of heavy fines, endangering the survival of Belge. But Zarakolu
> refused to give up his campaign for free expression, saying he fought „for
> an attitude of respect for different thoughts and cultures to become
> widespread in Turkey.“
>
> The Freedom to Publish Prize honours a person or an organisation that has
> made an important contribution to the defence and promotion of freedom to
> publish anywhere in the world. This year, the prize, worth 5,000 Swiss
> Francs (US$4,800), will be presented to Zarakolu at the International
> Seminar on Neo-Censorship in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in September.
>
> For more details, see: http://tinyurl.com/5lell6
>
> 8. ENTRIES WANTED FOR BASTIAT PRIZE
>
> Journalists from around the world are invited to apply for the 2008
> Frédéric Bastiat Prize, which honours work that promotes the principles
> of
> a free society with eloquence and wit. The deadline for entries is 30 June
> 2008.
>
> The award, administered by the U.K.-based International Policy Network, is
> named in honour of the 19th century liberal French satirist and advocate
> of
> civil liberties. A US$15,000 prize will be split among first, second and
> third place winners.
>
> Entries, which should take the form of one or more published articles, are
> judged according to their intellectual content, the persuasiveness of the
> language and the type of publication in which they appeared. Articles must
> be in English and should not exceed 4,500 words.
>
> Full contest rules and forms can be requested by emailing: info (@)
> bastiatprize (.) org or found at: http://www.bastiatprize.org
> ——————————————————–
> TOOLS AND RESOURCES
>
> 9. FREEDOM HOUSE DELIVERS INTERNET FREEDOM ALERTS TO YOUR INBOX
>
> Who are the latest bloggers to go to jail for their work? Which country is
> the worst at blocking Internet sites? How can you circumvent the censors?
>
> Subscribe to „Internet Freedom Alert“, a new publication of Freedom
> House’s
> Global Internet Program, to get the latest on online developments relating
> to censorship, Internet governance and freedoms online.
>
> In the most recent issue (4 April to 19 May), read about Egypt’s Facebook
> revolution, a Syrian blogger who got three years in jail for undermining
> states, or how China, who leads the world in web censorship, relaxed its
> grip on the Internet and the media after the quake.
>
> Also find out which events are happening in your neighbourhood, such as
> the
> Global Voices‘ Citizen Media Summit in Budapest, Hungary this June.
>
> Events, opportunities and relevant links to stories sorted by issue and
> region/country are summarised from del.ici.ous’s Internet Freedom
> bookmarks
> site, which you can access here: http://del.icio.us/internetfreedom
>
> To subscribe to Internet Freedom Alert, visit:
> http://ethreemail.com/e3ds/s.php?g=21862acb
>
> Better yet, email along comments, articles and specific cases on Internet
> freedom and governance that you think should be covered, to: contact (@)
> netfreedom-project (.) org
> ——————————————————–
> 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://hrinfo.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,
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>