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Category: press freedom

  • Israeli forces just ‘assaulted’ and arrested an Al Jazeera journalist

    On Saturday 5 June, Israeli security forces “assaulted” and then arrested a prominent Al Jazeera journalist. The media outlet has condemned her treatment, accusing Israeli forces of ‘violating all international conventions’. And the incident comes in a long line of the occupying force’s abuse of journalists.

    “Brutal” arrest

    Al Jazeera reported that its journalist:

    Givara Budeiri was arrested in a brutal manner by Israeli occupation forces while covering demonstrations in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

    The outlet noted that:

    Israeli police assaulted the Doha-based media network’s Jerusalem correspondent while arresting her on Saturday and destroyed equipment belonging to Al Jazeera cameraman Nabil Mazzawi.

    People shared footage of Budeiri’s arrest on Twitter:

    Budeiri was reporting on protests over Israel’s planned eviction of Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah in the occupied territories. She said that Israeli security forces:

    came from everywhere, I don’t know why, they kicked me to the wall

    She also said:

    They kicked me inside the car in a very bad way … they were kicking me from everywhere

    ‘Violating international conventions’

    They arrested Budeiri then released her several hours later. Israel forces have told her she cannot go back to Sheikh Jarrah for 15 days. All this is despite the journalist holding an official Israeli-issued press pass. Al Jazeera‘s director general said:

    We condemn the actions of the Israeli occupation forces in the strongest terms. The systematic targeting of our journalists is in total violation of all international conventions. Today’s violent actions by Israeli occupation forces against Givara Budeiri and Nabil Mazzawi are in total disregard for the fundamental human rights of journalists.

    Israeli forces clamping down on journalists is an ongoing tactic. For example, in May its military destroyed a building in Gaza that was used by the Associated Press (AP) and other media:

    Israel’s persecution has been particularly stark towards journalists reporting on the situation in Sheikh Jarrah.

    An ongoing Israeli tactic

    As The Canary previously reported, at the start of June Israeli security forces were detaining 13 Palestinian journalists, some following the violence in May. Reporters Without Borders has been monitoring the situation in Gaza and the occupied territories. It said that:

    the Israeli authorities are currently holding a total of at least 13 Palestinian journalists. They include Alaa Al-Rimawi, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in the West Bank city of Ramallah and head of the online news agency J-Media, who has been held since 22 April without any official charge being brought against him.

    Al Jazeera took the story further. It reported that Israeli security forces released two Palestinian journalists only to then put them under house arrest. Like Budeiri, they had been reporting on the protests in Sheikh Jarrah. An Israeli judge ordered that these two journalists could not communicate for 15 days. 

    It appears as though Israeli forces are actively trying to stop reporting on the situation in Sheikh Jarrah. Moreover, there was international outcry about Israel’s most recent assault on Gaza. Its forces killed at least 247 Palestinians, including 66 children, in 11 days. So it seems the state of Israel is growing increasingly concerned that the world is watching its actions. And it appears to be actively trying to now prevent media coverage.

    Endemic of apartheid

    Budeiri and other journalists’ arrests are symptomatic of the Israeli state’s apartheid occupation. As Jareer Kassis said on Twitter:

    Meanwhile, Israeli media reported on Budeiri’s arrest from a different angle. The right-wing Times of Israel pushed the Israeli security forces narrative that they arrested her for “assaulting” them. But the paper did give Budeiri’s side of the argument.

    So, not only are Israeli forces actively silencing journalists, but some of the country’s corporate media is reinforcing this too. The state of Israel has all the signs of apartheid. And Palestinians will see little respite in the coming weeks and months.

    Featured image via Al Jazeera – YouTube 

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Detained Belarusian dissident says he was set up by an associate

    A dissident journalist arrested when Belarus diverted his flight has said in a video from prison that he was set up by an unidentified associate. The footage of Roman Protasevich was part of an hour-long documentary aired late on Wednesday by the state-controlled ONT channel.

    In the film, the 26-year-old is also shown saying that protests against Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko are now pointless amid a tough crackdown, and suggesting the opposition wait for a more opportune moment. The film claimed Belarusian authorities were unaware Protasevich was on board the Ryanair jet en route from Athens to Vilnius when flight controllers diverted it to Minsk on May 23 citing a bomb threat.

    Belarus Dissident Journalist
    The Ryanair jet on the tarmac at Minsk (Mindaugas Kulbis/AP)

    The EU response

    No bomb was found after the landing, but Protasevich was arrested along with his Russian girlfriend. The flight’s diversion outraged the European Union, which responded by barring the Belarusian flag carrier from its skies, told European airlines to skirt Belarus and drafted new sanctions against key sectors of the Belarusian economy.

    Lukashenko’s rule

    Lukashenko, who has ruled the ex-Soviet nation of 9.3 million for more than a quarter of a century, has accused the West of trying to “strangle” his country with sanctions.

    Belarus has been rocked by months of protests fuelled by his re-election to a sixth term in an August 2020 vote that was widely seen as rigged. Lukashenko has only increased the crackdown, and more than 35,000 people have been arrested since the protests began, with thousands beaten.

    Alexander Lukashenko
    Alexander Lukashenko (Sergei Shelega/BelTA Pool Photo/AP)

    “Bloody rebellion”

    Protasevich, who left Belarus in 2019, has become a leading critic of Lukashenko. He ran a popular channel on the Telegram messaging app that played a key role in organising the huge anti-government protests and was charged with inciting mass disturbances — accusations that carry a 15-year prison sentence.

    Lukashenko last week accused him of fomenting a “bloody rebellion” and defended the flight diversion as a legitimate response to a bomb threat. The ONT documentary appeared to be intended to back that contention by claiming Belarusian authorities were unaware Protasevich was on the plane when they diverted it.

    Set up?

    In the video, the journalist alleged that the bomb threat could have been issued by someone with whom he had a personal conflict. He said the perceived ill-wisher – who he did not name – had links with opposition-minded hackers who have attacked Belarusian official websites and issued bomb threats in the past.

    Protasevich said:

    When the plane was on a landing path, I realised that it’s useless to panic,

    Once the plane taxied to a parking spot, he described seeing heavily armed special forces waiting. It was a dedicated Swat unit — uniforms, flak jackets and weapons,

    A day after his arrest, Protasevich appeared in a video from detention that was broadcast on Belarusian state TV. Speaking rapidly and in a monotone, he said he was confessing to staging mass disturbances. His parents, who now live in Poland, said the confession seemed to be coerced.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Israel is detaining over a dozen Palestinian journalists

    Israeli security forces are detaining 13 Palestinian journalists; some following the violence in May. An international organisation campaigning for journalists has called this “unacceptable”. The situation highlights the reality of Israeli apartheid and the poor press freedom that exists in the occupied territories.

    Israeli violence in Gaza

    As The Canary previously reported:

    Israel’s recent aerial assault on the Gaza Strip killed 247 Palestinians, including 66 children, in 11 days. A ceasefire was announced on 21 May.

    Palestinians have also been under attack in the West Bank and inside Israel’s borders. Israeli colonists backed up by the Israeli army have launched repeated attacks on the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, the third most holy site in Islam. Mosques and Muslim graveyards have been attacked in Palestinian cities within Israel. Lynchings and fatal shootings have taken place both within the West Bank and within Israel, as ultra-nationalist Israeli colonists attacked Palestinians.

    But while the violence may have temporarily and partially subsided, for some journalists working in Gaza and the occupied territories there appears little respite.

    Detaining journalists

    Reporters Without Borders has been monitoring the situation Gaza and the occupied territories. It’s said that:

    the Israeli authorities are currently holding a total of at least 13 Palestinian journalists. They include Alaa Al-Rimawi, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in the West Bank city of Ramallah and head of the online news agency J-Media, who has been held since 22 April without any official charge being brought against him.

    Al Jazeera took the story further. It reported that Israeli security forces released two Palestinian journalists only to then put them under house arrest. They had been reporting on the protests over Israel’s forced evictions of Palestinians from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah area of the occupied territories.

    Making up evidence?

    As Al Jazeera noted:

    After five days in jail, the judge at Jerusalem’s Central Court released them on bail of 4,000 shekels ($1,230) each and ordered them to be under house arrest for a month, forbidding them from communicating with each other for 15 days.

    “The police accused the two of assault, obstructing police work, and of making threats,” their lawyer Jad Qadamani told Al Jazeera.

    However, video footage of the day’s events and their arrest was shown to the judge that contradicted police evidence.

    “The police wanted to keep them locked up for further investigation but they lacked sufficient evidence,” said Qadamani.

    This is endemic of the Israeli authorities approach to Palestinian journalists.

    An entrenched problem

    For example, the Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) said Israeli forces committed “408 violations of the media” in 2020 in the occupied territories. But reporter Rajai al-Khatib told Al Jazeera that this time it seemed worse:

    I’ve been injured many times in the past, but over the last month during coverage of the pending expulsions of Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem, and the invasions of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the behaviour and attitude of the Israeli forces has deteriorated.

    He added:

    My leg was broken by a rubber bullet near Jerusalem’s Old City several weeks ago and I had to go to hospital.

    On another occasion, my camera was smashed and I was also beaten from behind by Israeli police while in Sheikh Jarrah.

    The police are getting personal and their actions seem like retaliation against journalists for the negative media coverage they are receiving internationally

    Reeking of apartheid

    Little wonder that Reporters Without Borders ranks Israel as 86 out of 180 countries in its latest Press Freedom Index. Moreover, the Israeli government’s draconian actions against journalists reeks of similarities to how apartheid South Africa treated Black reporters. Reporters Without Borders stated:

    The repeated recourse to administrative detention exempts the Israeli authorities from having to bring charges and allows them to prolong detention indefinitely, which is unacceptable… Palestinian journalists are just doing their job and should not, under any circumstances, be presumed to be guilty.

    Israel’s crackdown on Palestinian journalists is utterly regressive and authoritarian. Other journalists around the world would do well to condemn this. Yet so far, there’s a telling silence from the Western corporate media.

    Featured image via TRT World – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • It’s not just Belarus. The world is becoming a hostile place for journalists.

    On 23 May, a Ryanair plane was forced to land before it could reach its destination. Instead of coming down in Lithuania as intended, the plane was told it must perform an emergency landing in Minsk due to a suspected security threat.

    When the plane landed in Belarus, police instead detained one of the passengers. Roman Protasevich, a blogger who has criticised the authoritarian regime of president Alexander Lukashenko, was taken into custody in Belarus.

    He reportedly told another passenger before he was arrested:

    I’m facing the death penalty here.

    His whereabouts are now unknown.

    In more than a year of coronavirus cover-ups and political unrest, these kinds of arrests of journalists are beginning more common – not just in Belarus, but across the world.

    “Reprehensible act of state terrorism”

    The plane was apparently only two minutes from Lithuanian airspace when it was hijacked. According to the government press service, Lukashenko gave the order to divert the plane, escorted by a scrambled military jet.

    Belarus has accused Protasevich of ‘inciting social hatred and organising mass riots’. He was a former editor on Poland-based Telegram channels Nexta and Nexta Live, which covered the anti-Lukashenko protests last year.

    Protasevich denies the charges, which could see him face up to 15 years in prison.

    His arrest has been widely condemned by Europe and the US, some calling it an act of “state terror”. The US and EU demanded Protasevich’s immediate release. Leaders have asked for a full investigation and have banned flights over Belarus.

    “An attack on democracy”

    Protasevich isn’t the first journalist to be imprisoned by the Lukashenka regime.

    In August 2020, Alexander Lukashenko won the election that gave him a sixth term. Many said the election was fraudulent, and it sparked mass protests across the country.

    Authority forces detained many journalists during the protests. Some were fined. Others faced more serious charges. As of December 2020, at least 10 journalists were imprisoned in Belarus.

    This has continued into 2021, with at least 16 journalists detained in a short period at the end of March.

    Chair of the foreign affairs select committee, Tom Tugendhat, said:

    This isn’t just a story about Belarus or one journalist. It’s a direct assault on the liberties of all of us. If aircraft can be forced to the ground, if aircraft can be diverted from their course in order to punish the political opponents of tyrants, then journalists here in the UK, politicians anywhere in Europe, will find it harder to speak out. …

    This is a direct assault on all of us. An attack on democracy and freedom of speech.

    An increasingly hostile environment

    Indeed, this has in no way been limited to Belarus. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 2020 was a record year in terms of the number of journalists imprisoned across the world.

    The committee found that  274 journalists were in jail in December 2020. The worst offenders were China, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, though the number of journalists imprisoned has risen significantly in both Belarus and Ethiopia.

    It attributes the increase in arrests, in part, to governments trying to cover up reporting of the pandemic and opposition to political unrest.

    Even in the US – CPJ found no journalists imprisoned in December 2020, but 110 had been arrested of criminally charged. Around 300 had been assaulted.

    In December 2020, CPJ executive director Joel Simon, said:

    It’s shocking and appalling that we are seeing a record number of journalists imprisoned in the midst of a global pandemic. This wave of repression is a form of censorship that is disrupting the flow of information and fuelling the infodemic. With COVID 19 raging through the world’s prison, it’s also putting the lives of journalists at risk.

    Journalists murdered

    2020 also saw the killing of at least 30 journalists. 21 of these were specifically murdered in response to their reporting – double the 10 who were murdered in 2019.

    At the time of reporting, CPJ were still investigating the deaths of 15 more journalists.

    Members of the press are no safer in 2021; five journalists have already been killed. CPJ designated four of these deaths as murder.

    Simon added:

    It’s appalling that the murders of journalists have more than doubled in the last year, and this escalation represents a failure of the international community to confront the scourge of impunity.

    He further argued:

    The fact that murder is on the rise and the number of journalists imprisoned around the world hit a record is a clear demonstration that press freedom is under unprecedented assault in the midst of a global pandemic, in which information is essential. We must come together to reverse this terrible trend.

    Featured image via YouTube/BBC News 

    By Jasmine Norden

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Gaza damage and Glasgow raids: human rights this fortnight in pictures

    A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Myanmar to Peru

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Scheer Intelligence: The Ruling Class’ Revenge Against Julian Assange

    The mistreatment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over the past decade has been defined as “psychological torture” by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer. Yet, there is still no real end in sight to Assange’s promethean plight. Several months after a British judge blocked his extradition to the U.S.–citing that conditions in America’s inhumane prison system would be detrimental to his health–the WikiLeaks founder continues to be held in a maximum security prison in the U.K. The U.S. government, first under Donald Trump’s rule and now under Joe Biden’s, is appealing the extradition ruling. With a new decision in the case is due to be announced any day now, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and ScheerPost columnist Chris Hedges joins Robert Scheer on this week’s installment of “Scheer Intelligence” to discuss what Hedges has called Assange’s “martyrdom.”

    The post Scheer Intelligence: The Ruling Class’ Revenge Against Julian Assange appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Media alliance calls in Jokowi’s pledge to allow foreign journalists into Papua

    By Achmad Nasrudin Yahya in Jakarta

    The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) is calling in a pledge made by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2015 over press freedom in Papua that has never been fulfilled over the past five years.

    AJI trade union advocacy division head Erick Tanjung said that at the beginning of Widodo’s first term in office he pledged to allow foreign and domestic journalists to freely report in Papua.

    “But the fact is that to this day this promise has never been fulfilled by President Jokowi,” he said during an event on World Press Freedom Day launching an AJI report titled The Press Freedom Situation in Indonesia in 2021.

    “So we have consistently called on the president to open access to foreign journalists to report in Papua, including domestic journalists and journalists from Papua.”

    Based on AJI’s records, between 2012 and 2015 there were at least 77 cases where journalists were prevented from carrying out their work in the Land of the Bird of Paradise, as Papua is known.

    In addition to this, AJI also recorded 74 cases of journalists having to obtain prior permission to report in Papua and 56 cases of permits being refused.

    Meanwhile, out of the scores of applications for permits to report in Papua, only 18 permits were issued.

    Six deportation cases
    “There were six cases of deportations,” said Tanjung.

    In addition to the issue of access, freedom of information in Papua also faces obstacles due to the high level of violence against journalists in Papua.

    Tanjung said that there were at least 114 cases of violence against journalists in Papua over the last 20 years or between 2000 and 2021.

    “Based on data we gathered through the AJI Papua subdivision, the number of cases of violence against journalists and the media in Papua over the last 20 years or between 2000 and 2021 was 141 cases of violence,” said Tanjung.

    Thirty-six out of these 114 cases were against journalists from Papua while 40 were against non-Papuan journalists.

    Finally, there were 38 cases of intimidation against media companies and the media in general.

    When he visited Wapeko Village in the Kurik subdistrict of Merauke regency, Papua, on Sunday, 10 May 2015, President Widodo said that foreign journalists from any country were allowed to arrive and report in all parts of Indonesia, including Papua and West Papua provinces.

    Two provinces closed
    Up until then, the two provinces were closed to foreign journalist on the grounds that conflicts and violence in Indonesia’s two eastern-most provinces was still frequent, such as actions by armed groups wanting to separate from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

    “Starting today, foreign journalists are allowed to and are free to come to Papua, just the same (as they can come and report) in other parts of the country,” said Widodo.

    According to Widodo at the time, the situation in Papua and West Papua provinces was different than in the past.

    “We have to think positive and trust each other on all issues”, said the President when asked what would happen if foreign journalists began reporting more on armed groups in the highlands.

    Widodo asserted that the decision must be implemented.

    “This decision must be implemented. Enough, don’t ask negative questions about this issue any more,” said Widodo.

    Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “AJI Tagih Janji Jokowi soal Akses bagi Jurnalis Asing ke Papua”.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Media alliance calls in Jokowi’s pledge to allow foreign journalists into Papua

    By Achmad Nasrudin Yahya in Jakarta

    The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) is calling in a pledge made by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2015 over press freedom in Papua that has never been fulfilled over the past five years.

    AJI trade union advocacy division head Erick Tanjung said that at the beginning of Widodo’s first term in office he pledged to allow foreign and domestic journalists to freely report in Papua.

    “But the fact is that to this day this promise has never been fulfilled by President Jokowi,” he said during an event on World Press Freedom Day launching an AJI report titled The Press Freedom Situation in Indonesia in 2021.

    “So we have consistently called on the president to open access to foreign journalists to report in Papua, including domestic journalists and journalists from Papua.”

    Based on AJI’s records, between 2012 and 2015 there were at least 77 cases where journalists were prevented from carrying out their work in the Land of the Bird of Paradise, as Papua is known.

    In addition to this, AJI also recorded 74 cases of journalists having to obtain prior permission to report in Papua and 56 cases of permits being refused.

    Meanwhile, out of the scores of applications for permits to report in Papua, only 18 permits were issued.

    Six deportation cases
    “There were six cases of deportations,” said Tanjung.

    In addition to the issue of access, freedom of information in Papua also faces obstacles due to the high level of violence against journalists in Papua.

    Tanjung said that there were at least 114 cases of violence against journalists in Papua over the last 20 years or between 2000 and 2021.

    “Based on data we gathered through the AJI Papua subdivision, the number of cases of violence against journalists and the media in Papua over the last 20 years or between 2000 and 2021 was 141 cases of violence,” said Tanjung.

    Thirty-six out of these 114 cases were against journalists from Papua while 40 were against non-Papuan journalists.

    Finally, there were 38 cases of intimidation against media companies and the media in general.

    When he visited Wapeko Village in the Kurik subdistrict of Merauke regency, Papua, on Sunday, 10 May 2015, President Widodo said that foreign journalists from any country were allowed to arrive and report in all parts of Indonesia, including Papua and West Papua provinces.

    Two provinces closed
    Up until then, the two provinces were closed to foreign journalist on the grounds that conflicts and violence in Indonesia’s two eastern-most provinces was still frequent, such as actions by armed groups wanting to separate from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

    “Starting today, foreign journalists are allowed to and are free to come to Papua, just the same (as they can come and report) in other parts of the country,” said Widodo.

    According to Widodo at the time, the situation in Papua and West Papua provinces was different than in the past.

    “We have to think positive and trust each other on all issues”, said the President when asked what would happen if foreign journalists began reporting more on armed groups in the highlands.

    Widodo asserted that the decision must be implemented.

    “This decision must be implemented. Enough, don’t ask negative questions about this issue any more,” said Widodo.

    Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “AJI Tagih Janji Jokowi soal Akses bagi Jurnalis Asing ke Papua”.

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    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • [Open Letter] Crackdown on Press Freedom & Freedom of Expression in Bangladesh

    03 May 2021
    H.E. Michelle Bachelet
    United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
    Palais Wilson
    52 rue des Pâquis
    CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland

    RE: Crackdown on Press Freedom & Freedom of Expression in Bangladesh

    Dear High Commissioner Bachelet,

    On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, we write to draw your attention to the escalating human rights violations perpetrated by the Bangladesh government, exemplified in part by the increasing crackdown on press freedom and the freedom of expression of journalists, activists, and dissidents.

    We welcome your March 1 statement following the death in custody of writer Mushtaq Ahmed and torture of cartoonist Ahmed Kishore, which remarked on the “long-standing concern” over allegations of torture by Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), called for an “overhaul” of the draconian Digital Security Act (DSA), and urged the release of all prisoners charged under it.

    In light of the continuing attacks on the media, we now respectfully urge you and other UN special mandates to engage in sustained outreach by publicly and vigorously expressing concerns over the situation of media freedom and using all means at your disposal to urge the Bangladeshi authorities to protect and respect freedom of expression.

    Seven years ago, UN special mandates communicated with the Bangladesh government to bring attention to “the arrest of journalists and the adoption of disproportional punitive measures disrupting the activities of newspapers and televisions.” However, since retaining power in December 2018, the ruling Awami League party has taken an even tougher line with the media. With widespread repression of the media and the harassment of editors who publish reports critical of the government, journalists have taken to self-censoring at unprecedented levels given the risks of imprisonment or closure of media outlets.

    Journalists have been subjected to violence by party activists, they have been arrested arbitrarily, and news sites have been blocked. The Bangladesh government is reportedly targeting websites and YouTube channels of Bangladeshi dissidents abroad. In March, for instance, Indian news website Scroll was rendered inaccessible in Bangladesh after publishing an article by a Bangladeshi writer criticizing the Bangladesh government adviser Gowher Rizvi.

    In recent months, a number of journalists have been targeted for their work, and those who expose government corruption or express dissent are particularly at risk. At least 17 journalists were injured covering protests over the visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2021, a majority of whom were photographers.

    Demonstrators and police officers hit journalists with rifle butts, sticks, iron rods, stones, and bricks, and journalists were shot with rubber bullets resulting in various injuries including bruises, swelling, bleeding, broken bones, a dislocated shoulder, and a cracked skull. During these protests, there were also reports that Facebook and Messenger services were restricted in Bangladesh. In 2020, at least 247 journalists were reportedly subjected to attacks, harassment, and intimidation by state officials and others affiliated with the government.

    Authorities continue to use the DSA to harass and indefinitely detain journalists, activists, and others critical of the government, resulting in a chilling effect on any expression of dissent. This overbroad cybercrime law, passed in 2018, effectively stifles journalism by criminalizing peaceful speech at the discretion of the government. More than 900 cases were filed under the DSA between January and December 2020; with nearly 1,000 people charged and 353 detained. Bangladesh authorities are poised to undertake even more prosecutions of DSA cases, as the Law Ministry has approved a proposal to expand the number of special tribunals specifically for these types of cyber “crimes.”

    One such DSA case took place in October 2020, when Bangladesh police arrested journalist Ruhul Amin Gazi, a reporter with the pro-opposition newspaper The Daily Sangram in a case filed under the DSA for a news article published in 2019. Most recently, on April 20, 2021, Bangladesh police arrested Abu Tayeb, a Khulna journalist who works as a correspondent of the private TV channel NTV and a local correspondent of Dainik Loksomaj. He was arrested from his residence at night and charged under the DSA for an alleged Facebook post.

    In light of these violations and the deepening trend they represent of silencing a free press, we respectfully urge your mandate to explore avenues to hold Bangladeshi perpetrators accountable and urge the government of Bangladesh to respect and protect the right to freedom of expression, repeal the Digital Security Act, and release all journalists, critics, and activists who are in detention for speaking out.

    Sincerely,
    Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD)
    Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
    Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
    Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL)
    Committee to Protect Journalists
    Eleos Justice, Monash University
    Human Rights Watch
    International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
    Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

    CC: UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan

    UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor

    Ambassador/Head of Delegation of the EU to Bangladesh Rensje Teerink

    EU Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore

    U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller

    **
    For a PDF version of this joint statement, please click here.

    For further information, please contact:

    For media inquiries, please contact:

    This post was originally published on FORUM-ASIA.

  • World Celebrates Press Freedom Day, Julian Assange Remains In Belmarsh Prison

    As people worldwide celebrate the UN’s World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, WikiLeaks publisher and journalist Julian Assange remains incarcerated.

    The US continues to demand Assange’s extradition for his role in obtaining and publishing national defence documents from 2009 to 2011. The leaks, provided by US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, are known as the Guantanamo Files, the Iraq War Logs, the Afghan War Diary, and the US diplomatic cables (aka Cablegate).

    There are noteworthy parallels which can be drawn between Assange’s case and that of famed US Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. Ellsberg was a former senior adviser and analyst with the defence and state departments during the Vietnam War.

    The post World Celebrates Press Freedom Day, Julian Assange Remains In Belmarsh Prison appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Media freedom fraternity must counter attacks on j-education, says JERAA

    Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

    Australia’s leading journalism education advocacy body has marked World Press Freedom Day by condemning attacks on journalism education and research, including individual academics.

    President Dr Alexandra Wake of the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA) said such attacks had a real impact on press freedom, adding: “I call on all those who want quality journalism in Australia to flourish, to support our work within the academy”.

    In a statement released today, she said that in the past year:

    • the cost of journalism degrees had increased by 110 percent,
    • universities had been “ditching journalism programmes”,
    • headlines about job losses were encouraging “our best and brightest students” to choose other courses of study, and
    • some parts of the media continued attacks on universities and individual academics.

    “Journalist watchdogs, like all other professionals, must be trained,” she said.

    “They do not learn their skills by osmosis in understaffed news organisations, stripped of senior staff.”

    Dr Wake’s statement said:

    Focus on attacks on journalism education

    “On World Press Freedom Day 2021 I would like us to focus on how attacks on journalism education and research, including on individual academics, have a real impact on press freedom in Australia. I call on all those who want quality journalism in Australia to flourish, to support our work within the academy.

    “In the past year we have seen the cost of journalism degrees increase by 110 percent, universities ditching journalism programmes, headlines about job losses encouraging our best and brightest students to choose other courses of study, and some parts of the media continuing their attacks on universities and individual academics.

    “However, it is within Australia’s universities that much world-leading research is happening, seeking out answers for our ailing industry, not just around financial viability, but also around important social issues – from the need for greater diversity, equity and inclusion to ethics and artificial intelligence, misinformation and regional security issues.

    “It is also within our universities that budding journalists are trained in all the skills of journalism: from fact checking and verification to data analysis and analytics, while still learning to write and broadcast news stories which ask the tough questions of the rich and powerful.

    “Journalist watchdogs, like all other professionals, must be trained. They do not learn their skills by osmosis in understaffed news organisations, stripped of senior staff. At universities we not only teach new recruits to be watchdogs, we ask them to consider themselves as guide dogs showing audiences which issues are worth the investment of their time, and even therapy dogs to help build and rebuild communities.

    “Journalists within the university system work in all kinds of roles, sometimes in traditional modes, with others experimenting with new styles and theories of journalism. In fact, some of the highest quality journalism currently taking place is produced by students and academics. It is often under the guidance of academic staff, most of whom were long-time journos, that students have won the highest local, national and even international journalism awards.

    “Journalism programmes clearly don’t just result in jobs in journalism. But such a course of study does give students the opportunity to develop their critical thinking skills, to build their knowledge of the world, and it gives them the time to think deeply about the issues that need changing in the world.

    “Many of our graduates have thanked us for their training in journalism even those who later choose careers in medicine, engineering, politics and international development.

    Vital life-long skills
    “Undergraduate journalism degrees certainly give students vital life-long skills of media literacy, while graduate diploma and masters programmes in journalism result in highly-skilled and deep thinking journalists.

    “I do not claim that all of Australia’s journalism programs are perfect, but all those who work in journalism within the academy are constantly reviewing curricula and upskilling for the current and future industry requirements.

    “Journalism programmes aren’t stuck in what some newsroom leaders learned in the 1980s, or 2000s. Today’s classes are filled with tools and skills to debunk ‘deep fakes’ and edit incredible sound. Industry professionals are brought in to ensure the students know what is expected in the modern workforce.

    “But with so many newsrooms now devoid of senior staff with the time to guide younger recruits, in many cases, that role has reverted to their academic.

    “More than ever before new journalists find that the only people available to support them, particularly when they are under siege as freelancers, or are within an unwelcoming newsroom is their former lecturer.

    “Although this year I am raising concerns about a lack of support for journalism education and research as a key press freedom issue for Australia, I do not overlook the serious issues faced by Australian journalists working on the front line of covid-19, under the gaze of an unsympathetic public.

    Australians in jail
    “We also remain concerned about the Australians who are in jail in China (Cheng Lei) and the UK (Julian Assange), the very difficult work conditions faced by women, particularly Indigenous women, women of colour and those with disabilities. These are issues which fill our classrooms and conversations with students and all have been heighted during covid.

    “As covid-19 continues to wreak havoc around the world, I would like to call on all those who support excellent journalism – university leaders, newsroom bosses, parents, and philanthropists – to be more vocal in their support of journalism education and research, the overlooked but vital supplier of current and future talent, ideas and solutions.”

    Dr Alexandra Wake
    President
    Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia

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    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Media freedom fraternity must counter attacks on j-education, says JERAA

    Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

    Australia’s leading journalism education advocacy body has marked World Press Freedom Day by condemning attacks on journalism education and research, including individual academics.

    President Dr Alexandra Wake of the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA) said such attacks had a real impact on press freedom, adding: “I call on all those who want quality journalism in Australia to flourish, to support our work within the academy”.

    In a statement released today, she said that in the past year:

    • the cost of journalism degrees had increased by 110 percent,
    • universities had been “ditching journalism programmes”,
    • headlines about job losses were encouraging “our best and brightest students” to choose other courses of study, and
    • some parts of the media continued attacks on universities and individual academics.

    “Journalist watchdogs, like all other professionals, must be trained,” she said.

    “They do not learn their skills by osmosis in understaffed news organisations, stripped of senior staff.”

    Dr Wake’s statement said:

    Focus on attacks on journalism education

    “On World Press Freedom Day 2021 I would like us to focus on how attacks on journalism education and research, including on individual academics, have a real impact on press freedom in Australia. I call on all those who want quality journalism in Australia to flourish, to support our work within the academy.

    “In the past year we have seen the cost of journalism degrees increase by 110 percent, universities ditching journalism programmes, headlines about job losses encouraging our best and brightest students to choose other courses of study, and some parts of the media continuing their attacks on universities and individual academics.

    “However, it is within Australia’s universities that much world-leading research is happening, seeking out answers for our ailing industry, not just around financial viability, but also around important social issues – from the need for greater diversity, equity and inclusion to ethics and artificial intelligence, misinformation and regional security issues.

    “It is also within our universities that budding journalists are trained in all the skills of journalism: from fact checking and verification to data analysis and analytics, while still learning to write and broadcast news stories which ask the tough questions of the rich and powerful.

    “Journalist watchdogs, like all other professionals, must be trained. They do not learn their skills by osmosis in understaffed news organisations, stripped of senior staff. At universities we not only teach new recruits to be watchdogs, we ask them to consider themselves as guide dogs showing audiences which issues are worth the investment of their time, and even therapy dogs to help build and rebuild communities.

    “Journalists within the university system work in all kinds of roles, sometimes in traditional modes, with others experimenting with new styles and theories of journalism. In fact, some of the highest quality journalism currently taking place is produced by students and academics. It is often under the guidance of academic staff, most of whom were long-time journos, that students have won the highest local, national and even international journalism awards.

    “Journalism programmes clearly don’t just result in jobs in journalism. But such a course of study does give students the opportunity to develop their critical thinking skills, to build their knowledge of the world, and it gives them the time to think deeply about the issues that need changing in the world.

    “Many of our graduates have thanked us for their training in journalism even those who later choose careers in medicine, engineering, politics and international development.

    Vital life-long skills
    “Undergraduate journalism degrees certainly give students vital life-long skills of media literacy, while graduate diploma and masters programmes in journalism result in highly-skilled and deep thinking journalists.

    “I do not claim that all of Australia’s journalism programs are perfect, but all those who work in journalism within the academy are constantly reviewing curricula and upskilling for the current and future industry requirements.

    “Journalism programmes aren’t stuck in what some newsroom leaders learned in the 1980s, or 2000s. Today’s classes are filled with tools and skills to debunk ‘deep fakes’ and edit incredible sound. Industry professionals are brought in to ensure the students know what is expected in the modern workforce.

    “But with so many newsrooms now devoid of senior staff with the time to guide younger recruits, in many cases, that role has reverted to their academic.

    “More than ever before new journalists find that the only people available to support them, particularly when they are under siege as freelancers, or are within an unwelcoming newsroom is their former lecturer.

    “Although this year I am raising concerns about a lack of support for journalism education and research as a key press freedom issue for Australia, I do not overlook the serious issues faced by Australian journalists working on the front line of covid-19, under the gaze of an unsympathetic public.

    Australians in jail
    “We also remain concerned about the Australians who are in jail in China (Cheng Lei) and the UK (Julian Assange), the very difficult work conditions faced by women, particularly Indigenous women, women of colour and those with disabilities. These are issues which fill our classrooms and conversations with students and all have been heighted during covid.

    “As covid-19 continues to wreak havoc around the world, I would like to call on all those who support excellent journalism – university leaders, newsroom bosses, parents, and philanthropists – to be more vocal in their support of journalism education and research, the overlooked but vital supplier of current and future talent, ideas and solutions.”

    Dr Alexandra Wake
    President
    Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • World Press Freedom Day 2021: Hostility towards journalists on rise

    Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

    Journalists are fearful that increased harassment, abuse and violence directed towards them during the covid-19 pandemic could become the new normal, says the union for Australian media workers.

    Releasing its 2021 report into the state of press freedom in Australia, Unsafe at Work – Assaults on Journalists, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance says attacks on journalists increased both globally and and in Australia throughout 2020.

    MEAA has been cataloguing the decline of press freedom in Australia now for 20 years.

    MEAA says political polarisation caused by the pandemic was behind much of the rising animosity towards journalists, particularly through social media.

    But the union also warns that law enforcement agencies have become more heavy-handed in their treatment of journalists.

    According to MEAA’s 2021 press freedom survey – the fourth year it has been conducted – Australian journalists are fearful of an increasingly hostile working environment where physical assaults, online abuse and harassment by law enforcement agencies are becoming common.

    Although most working journalists who completed the survey said they had not been physically attacked or harassed themselves, 88.8 percent said they were fearful that threats, harassment and intimidation was on the rise.

    Assaults on journalists
    A quarter of all journalists surveyed said they had been assaulted at least once during their career, and one-in-five said they had been harassed by police while reporting over the past 12 months.

    A larger number – 35 percent – have been subjected to threats to their safety online and 70 percent said they did not believe their employer provided sufficient training or support in situations where they faced threats or assaults.

    MEAA chief executive Paul Murphy said an MEAA media release that the survey results were unsettling.

    “Journalists know that their work will always be under scrutiny and expect it to be criticised, but they are entitled to a safe workplace like all other workers,” he said.

    “But in recent years, and encouraged by politicians, journalists are being exposed to much more than an acceptable critique of their work.

    “They are threatened and sometimes assaulted at public events, while social media has now evolved into a vehicle for abuse, harassment and threats against journalists. Sometimes these attacks are one-offs but increasingly they are part of a torrent of abuse, which is a weapon to hurt and to harm.

    “The polarisation of politics is a key feature in much of this abuse.

    Urgent action needed
    “Urgent action is needed to ensure journalists can carry on their duties to our communities free from abuse, harassment, arrests and violence.”

    Overall, MEAA says that there has been little improvement in press freedom in Australia over the past 12 months, although the union welcomed the decision by the Australian Federal Police not to prosecute three journalists on national security grounds following raids in 2019.

    MEAA is hopeful that reform is slowly approaching towards a national uniform defamation regime, and there are positive signs that the Queensland government will finally adopt journalist shield laws, bringing it into line with all other jurisdictions.

    MEAA will release its 2021 report into the state of press freedom in Australia, Unsafe at Work – Assaults on Journalists, on UNESCO World Press Freedom Day today – Monday, May 3.

    The annual report catalogues MEAA’s press freedom concerns in Australia, and the region.

    Print Friendly, PDF & Email

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • World Press Freedom Day 2021: Hostility towards journalists on rise

    Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

    Journalists are fearful that increased harassment, abuse and violence directed towards them during the covid-19 pandemic could become the new normal, says the union for Australian media workers.

    Releasing its 2021 report into the state of press freedom in Australia, Unsafe at Work – Assaults on Journalists, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance says attacks on journalists increased both globally and and in Australia throughout 2020.

    MEAA has been cataloguing the decline of press freedom in Australia now for 20 years.

    MEAA says political polarisation caused by the pandemic was behind much of the rising animosity towards journalists, particularly through social media.

    But the union also warns that law enforcement agencies have become more heavy-handed in their treatment of journalists.

    According to MEAA’s 2021 press freedom survey – the fourth year it has been conducted – Australian journalists are fearful of an increasingly hostile working environment where physical assaults, online abuse and harassment by law enforcement agencies are becoming common.

    Although most working journalists who completed the survey said they had not been physically attacked or harassed themselves, 88.8 percent said they were fearful that threats, harassment and intimidation was on the rise.

    Assaults on journalists
    A quarter of all journalists surveyed said they had been assaulted at least once during their career, and one-in-five said they had been harassed by police while reporting over the past 12 months.

    A larger number – 35 percent – have been subjected to threats to their safety online and 70 percent said they did not believe their employer provided sufficient training or support in situations where they faced threats or assaults.

    MEAA chief executive Paul Murphy said an MEAA media release that the survey results were unsettling.

    “Journalists know that their work will always be under scrutiny and expect it to be criticised, but they are entitled to a safe workplace like all other workers,” he said.

    “But in recent years, and encouraged by politicians, journalists are being exposed to much more than an acceptable critique of their work.

    “They are threatened and sometimes assaulted at public events, while social media has now evolved into a vehicle for abuse, harassment and threats against journalists. Sometimes these attacks are one-offs but increasingly they are part of a torrent of abuse, which is a weapon to hurt and to harm.

    “The polarisation of politics is a key feature in much of this abuse.

    Urgent action needed
    “Urgent action is needed to ensure journalists can carry on their duties to our communities free from abuse, harassment, arrests and violence.”

    Overall, MEAA says that there has been little improvement in press freedom in Australia over the past 12 months, although the union welcomed the decision by the Australian Federal Police not to prosecute three journalists on national security grounds following raids in 2019.

    MEAA is hopeful that reform is slowly approaching towards a national uniform defamation regime, and there are positive signs that the Queensland government will finally adopt journalist shield laws, bringing it into line with all other jurisdictions.

    MEAA will release its 2021 report into the state of press freedom in Australia, Unsafe at Work – Assaults on Journalists, on UNESCO World Press Freedom Day today – Monday, May 3.

    The annual report catalogues MEAA’s press freedom concerns in Australia, and the region.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • World Press Freedom Day 2021: Hostility towards journalists on rise

    Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

    Journalists are fearful that increased harassment, abuse and violence directed towards them during the covid-19 pandemic could become the new normal, says the union for Australian media workers.

    Releasing its 2021 report into the state of press freedom in Australia, Unsafe at Work – Assaults on Journalists, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance says attacks on journalists increased both globally and and in Australia throughout 2020.

    MEAA has been cataloguing the decline of press freedom in Australia now for 20 years.

    MEAA says political polarisation caused by the pandemic was behind much of the rising animosity towards journalists, particularly through social media.

    But the union also warns that law enforcement agencies have become more heavy-handed in their treatment of journalists.

    According to MEAA’s 2021 press freedom survey – the fourth year it has been conducted – Australian journalists are fearful of an increasingly hostile working environment where physical assaults, online abuse and harassment by law enforcement agencies are becoming common.

    Although most working journalists who completed the survey said they had not been physically attacked or harassed themselves, 88.8 percent said they were fearful that threats, harassment and intimidation was on the rise.

    Assaults on journalists
    A quarter of all journalists surveyed said they had been assaulted at least once during their career, and one-in-five said they had been harassed by police while reporting over the past 12 months.

    A larger number – 35 percent – have been subjected to threats to their safety online and 70 percent said they did not believe their employer provided sufficient training or support in situations where they faced threats or assaults.

    MEAA chief executive Paul Murphy said an MEAA media release that the survey results were unsettling.

    “Journalists know that their work will always be under scrutiny and expect it to be criticised, but they are entitled to a safe workplace like all other workers,” he said.

    “But in recent years, and encouraged by politicians, journalists are being exposed to much more than an acceptable critique of their work.

    “They are threatened and sometimes assaulted at public events, while social media has now evolved into a vehicle for abuse, harassment and threats against journalists. Sometimes these attacks are one-offs but increasingly they are part of a torrent of abuse, which is a weapon to hurt and to harm.

    “The polarisation of politics is a key feature in much of this abuse.

    Urgent action needed
    “Urgent action is needed to ensure journalists can carry on their duties to our communities free from abuse, harassment, arrests and violence.”

    Overall, MEAA says that there has been little improvement in press freedom in Australia over the past 12 months, although the union welcomed the decision by the Australian Federal Police not to prosecute three journalists on national security grounds following raids in 2019.

    MEAA is hopeful that reform is slowly approaching towards a national uniform defamation regime, and there are positive signs that the Queensland government will finally adopt journalist shield laws, bringing it into line with all other jurisdictions.

    MEAA will release its 2021 report into the state of press freedom in Australia, Unsafe at Work – Assaults on Journalists, on UNESCO World Press Freedom Day today – Monday, May 3.

    The annual report catalogues MEAA’s press freedom concerns in Australia, and the region.

    Print Friendly, PDF & Email

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Call for Actions: #SolidarityForMyanmar

    On 1 February 2021 the Myanmar military seized power in a coup, overthrowing the democratically-elected government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD). The coup has been met with nationwide peaceful protests and civil disobedience movements demanding the restoration of the elected civilian government, release of all those who are arbitrarily detained following the coup, including Aung San Suu Kyi and civilian leaders, and accountability for the military’s atrocities.

    Since the 1 February coup in Myanmar, the junta has responded to the ongoing peaceful demonstrations across Myanmar with lethal violence killing over 755 people and systematic crackdowns, including arbitrary arrests and detention, enforced disappearances, and regular disruption of internet and phone lines. 

    On this page, you will have an overview about #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar, relevant responses from the international community and what actions you can take to support the peoples of Myanmar.

     

    Summary of Current Situation: #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar

    The protests over the February 1 coup have been the largest since the Saffron Revolution in 2007 when thousands of monks rose up against the military regime. Tens of thousands of protesters from all walks of life, led by a Civil Disobedience Movement initiated by medical workers continue to employ non-violent tactics including regular and countrywide peaceful demonstrations, acts of civil disobedience, labour strikes, military boycott campaigns, a pot-banging movement, red ribbon campaigns, continue to protest the military coup and demand the restoration of the elected civilian government.

    The junta has responded to the ongoing peaceful protests with systematic and violent crackdowns with shoot-to-kill orders. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has described the junta’s crackdown on peaceful protestors as crimes against humanity. Since the coup, over 755 people, including at least 43 children, women and medical workers have been killed so far in the junta’s violence against peaceful demonstrators.

    More than 4496 people including human rights defenders, journalists and civilian political leaders have been arbitrarily arrested, detained, and raided their offices and homes. Whereabouts of many who have been arrested remain unknown while several others have reported torture, sexual violence and ill treatment in detention.

    Amid the growing opposition to the junta, the military has escalated its military offensives in ethnic areas displacing thousands of people and forcing many to seek refuge in neighbouring countries.

    The junta has resorted to regular internet shutdowns, social media and media blackouts, disinformation campaigns, and disingenuous political overtures to counter the growing protest movement.

    In response to the coup d’état, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) comprising members of the parliament elected in the November 2020 election was formed in February 2021. According to the CRPH, it performs necessary activities and duties entrusted upon elected lawmakers or the regular functions of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (both houses of the Assembly of the Union), as well as activities necessary to ensure the unconditional release of those detained including the President and the State Counsellor.

    On 16 April 2021, the CRPH announced the formation of a National Unity Government (NUG) led by elected civilian leaders. The NUG cabinet consists of lawmakers elected in the 2020 election, members of ethnic communities and key figures in the anti-coup protest movement, almost all of whom are in hiding or exile.

     

    Timeline: #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar

    Every three weeks, FORUM-ASIA produces a timeline of key events for you to catch up on #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar.

    For a PDF version of this timeline please click here

    To learn about the latest development in Myanmar, please see:

    • Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) Daily Briefing in Relation to the Military Coup here

     

    Response from the International Community

    1) Summary of ASEAN Response

    • 24 April 2021: An ASEAN Leaders Meeting was held in Jakarta, followed by the Chairman’s statement with a Five-Point Consensus.
    • 19 March 2021: The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, supported by Malaysia and Singapore, issued a follow-up statement to condemn the utilisation of violence against protesters in Myanmar and conveyed his willingness to discuss with the current ASEAN Chair, Brunei Darussalam, the possibility of conducting a special ASEAN summit on Myanmar. 
    • 11 – 12 March 2021: At the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 46th session, ASEAN Member States made interventions during the interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar in which they highlighted the key message from the Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting.
    • 2 March 2021: The Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting was convened, and the attendees included Myanmar’s military-appointed Foreign Minister. The ASEAN Chair released a statement urging ‘all parties’ to refrain from violence but stops short of taking any collective action.
    • 24 February 2021: Indonesia’s Foreign Minister met with her Myanmar military-appointed counterpart in Bangkok, pushing for an ASEAN-led resolution to the crisis in Myanmar.
    • 15 February 2021: Eight former AICHR representatives issued a statement that took a stronger position than the current representatives’ joint statement. They called on AICHR to demand that the military junta ‘immediately release all those currently arbitrarily detained [and] respect the human rights of the peoples of Myanmar and refrain from any use of violence against peaceful assemblies.
    • 6 February 2021: Four representatives from the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) – (Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand) – issued a joint statement that expressed grave concern over the current situation in Myanmar and urged the military to respect the principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter.
    • 1 February 2021: Brunei Darussalam, as the current Chair of ASEAN, released a ‘Statement on The Developments in The Republic of The Union of Myanmar‘. The statement highlighted the values in the ASEAN Charter and called for the return to normalcy under the will and interests of the peoples of Myanmar.

    2) Summary of UN Response 

    • 1 April 2021: The UN Security Council condemned Myanmar junta’s use of violence against peaceful protesters.
    • 12 March 2021: The UN Human Rights Council’s debate on Myanmar saw the unequivocal condemnation of the coup and the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar suggested the military’s violence against peaceful protestors could amount to crimes against humanity; called for coordinated international action on the military.
    • 10 March 2021: The UN Security Council unanimously called for a reversal of the military coup in Myanmar and condemned the military’s violence against peaceful protestors.
    • 12 February 2021: the UN Human Rights Council held a special session on the human rights implications of Myanmar’s crisis. 
    • 4 February 2021: The President of the UN Security Council issued a press statement expressing deep concern at the declaration of the state of emergency in Myanmar and calling for the immediate release of all those detained including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint.

     

    FORUM-ASIA’s public interventions

    Press Releases

    • [Media Lines] FORUM-ASIA’s response to today’s ASEAN Summit on Myanmar: Failure in addressing the Myanmar crisis is a failure to uphold human rights and democracy in the region – 24 April 2021
    • [Media Lines] Myanmar: The relentless and intensifying violence on peaceful protesters must stop now – 3 March 2021
    • [Media Lines] Myanmar: FORUM-ASIA’s response to Myanmar’s escalation of violence and internet shutdown – 15 February 2021

    Statements

    • [Joint Statement] Myanmar: Brutal crackdown and targeting of human rights defenders and civil society continue – 1 April 2021
    • [Joint Statement] International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and State Donors: Stop loans and fully reassess Myanmar policy in light of coup d’état Do not fund the military junta or its cronies – 25 March 2021
    • [UN Human Rights Council Statement] 46th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council, Oral Statement on Item 4: General Debate on human rights situations that require the Council’s attention – 12 March 2021
    • [UN Human Rights Council Statement] 46th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council, Oral Statement on Item 4: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar – 11 March 2021
    • [Statement] International Partners Must End all Cooperation with the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission – 11 March 2021
    • [Joint Statement] ASEAN: Regional process should be aligned with Myanmar peoples’ aspiration – 1 March 2021
    • [Joint Statement] Malaysia Defies Court Order, Putting Lives in Imminent Danger – 1 March 2021
    • [Statement] Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) Must Denounce the Military Coup and Uphold Fundamental Rights of Peoples – 16 February 2021
    • [UN Human Rights Council Statement] 29th Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights implications of the crisis in Myanmar: Oral Statement – 12 February 2021
    • [Joint Statement] Myanmar military should end its use of violence and respect democracy – 1 February 2021
    Open Letters/Call
    • [Joint Open Letter] Call for a Global Arms Embargo on Myanmar: An Open Letter to the UN Security Council and Individual UN Member States – 25 February 2021
    • [Joint Open Letter] ASEAN’s Response to the Military Coup in Myanmar – 19 February 2021
    • [Joint Open Letter] Civil Society Organisations Call on the UN Human Rights Council’s Immediate Action to ensure the Protection of Demonstrators – 9 February 2021
    • [Joint Open Letter] Joint Call For Human Rights Council Special Session on Myanmar – 5 February 2021
    Publications:
    • [Brief] One Vision, Different Responses: An Analysis of ASEAN Member States’ Responses to the Myanmar Coup and Recommendations – 22 April 2021
    Events:
    • [Press Conference] Analysis of the Special ASEAN Summit on Myanmar and its impact on human rights and democracy – 26 April 2021
    • [Online Summit] Southeast Asia Peoples’ Summit on Myanmar – 22 April 2021
    • [Online Public Dialogue] One Vision, Different Responses: Public Dialogue on ASEAN Responses to Myanmar – 22 April 2021
    • [Webinar and HRC46 Side Event] Protection for Human Rights Defenders in Asia: At the frontlines of movements for human rights and democracy – 4 March 2021

     

    Call for Actions

    1. Write a Letter, Share It on Social Media, and Send It to ASEAN and UN Leaders!

    • Send a letter to ASEAN foreign ministers. You can find the letter template here (PDF). If you wish to publish your letter on social media, you can find the visual templates here (PNG). Share on social media, use the following hashtags #SolidarityForMyanmar / #StandWithMyanmar / #SupportMyanmar / #EndTheCoup, / #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar, and tag the ASEAN Foreign Ministers. You can find their emails and Twitter handles here
    • Send a letter to the UN Human Rights Council Member State’s foreign ministers and the country mission based in Geneva. You can find the template here (PDF). If you wish to publish your letter on social media, you can find the visual templates here (PNG). Share on social media, use the following hashtags #SolidarityForMyanmar / #StandWithMyanmar / #SupportMyanmar / #EndTheCoup / #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar, and tag them. You can find the emails and Twitter handles here

     

     

    2. Share this page to raise awareness

    3. Express your solidarity using #SolidarityForMyanmar / #StandWithMyanmar / #SupportMyanmar / #EndTheCoup / #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar. Take a picture showing your support or share a poster [please click here for Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram & and Stories].

    You can also use any of the following tweet templates:

     

    This post was originally published on FORUM-ASIA.

  • World Press Freedom Index 2021 is out

    The 2021 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows that journalism, the main vaccine against disinformation, is completely or partly blocked in 73% of the 180 countries ranked by the organisation.

    This year’s Index, which evaluates the press freedom situation in 180 countries and territories annually, shows that journalism, which is arguably the best vaccine against the virus of disinformation, is totally blocked or seriously impeded in 73 countries and constrained in 59 others, which together represent 73% of the countries evaluated. These countries are classified as having “very bad,” “bad” or “problematic” environments for press freedom, and are identified accordingly in black, red or orange on the World Press Freedom map. To compare with last year, see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2020/04/21/2020-world-press-freedom-index-is-out/

    The Index data reflect a dramatic deterioration in people’s access to information and an increase in obstacles to news coverage. The coronavirus pandemic has been used as grounds to block journalists’ access to information sources and reporting in the field. Will this access be restored when the pandemic is over? The data shows that journalists are finding it increasingly hard to investigate and report sensitive stories, especially in Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

    The 2021 Edelman Trust barometer reveals a disturbing level of public mistrust of journalists, with 59% of respondents in 28 countries saying that journalists deliberately try to mislead the public by reporting information they know to be false. In reality, journalistic pluralism and rigorous reporting serve to combat disinformation and “infodemics”, including false and misleading information.

    “Journalism is the best vaccine against disinformation,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. “Unfortunately, its production and distribution are too often blocked by political, economic, technological and, sometimes, even cultural factors. In response to the virality of disinformation across borders, on digital platforms and via social media, journalism provides the most effective means of ensuring  that  public debate is based on a diverse range of established facts.”

    For example, President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil (down 4 at 111th) and President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela (down 1 at 148th) promoted medically unproven Covid-19 remedies. Their false claims were debunked by investigative journalists at media outlets such as Brazil’s Agência Pública and in-depth reporting by Venezuela’s few remaining independent publications. In Iran (down 1 at 174th), the authorities tightened their control over news coverage and stepped up trials of journalists in order to weaken the media’s ability to scrutinise the country’s Covid-19 death toll. In Egypt (166th), President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s government simply banned the publication of any pandemic statistics that didn’t come from the Ministry of Health. In Zimbabwe (down 4 at 130th), the investigative reporter Hopewell Chin’ono was arrested shortly after helping to expose the overbilling practices of a medical equipment supply company.

    Biggest movements in the Index

    Norway is ranked first in the Index for the fifth year running even though its media have complained of a lack of access to state-held information about the pandemic. Finland maintained its position in second place while Sweden (up 1 at 3rd) recovered its third place ranking, which it had yielded to Denmark (down 1 at 4th) last year. The 2021 Index demonstrates the success of these Nordic nations’ approach towards upholding press freedom.

    The World Press Freedom map has not had so few countries coloured white – indicating a country situation that is at least good if not optimal – since 2013, when the current evaluation method was adopted. This year, only 12 of the Index’s 180 countries (7%) can claim to offer a favourable environment for journalism, as opposed to 13 countries (8%) last year. The country to have been stripped of its “good” classification is Germany (down 2 at 13th). Dozens of its journalists were attacked by supporters of extremist and conspiracy theory believers  during protests against pandemic restriction….The country that fell the furthest in 2021 was Malaysia (down 18 at 119th), where the problems include a recent “anti-fake news” decree allowing the government to impose its own version of the truth. Big descents were also registered by Comoros (down 9 at 84th) and El Salvador (down 8 at 82nd), where journalists have struggled to obtain state-held information about the government’s handling of the pandemic.

    https://rsf.org/en/2021-world-press-freedom-index-journalism-vaccine-against-disinformation-blocked-more-130-countries

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • Tabloid Jubi journalist Victor Mambor ‘terrorised’ over Papua reports

    By Reza Gunadha and Chyntia Sami Bhayangkara in Jayapura

    Victor Mambor, journalist and editor of the Papua-based Tabloid Jubi, has become the target of a terrorist act this week.

    A car that he owns which was parked on the road near his home in the Papuan capital of Jayapura was vandalised by unknown individuals between 12 midnight and 2am on Wednesday, April 21.

    The windscreen of Mambor’s Isuzu Double Cabin DMax was smashed by a blunt object. The rear and left-side windows were also damaged by a sharp instrument.

    Victor Mambor
    Journalist Victor Mambor on a visit to New Zealand’s Pacific Media Centre in 2014. Image: Del Abcede

    The left-side front and back doors were also spray painted with orange paint.

    The Jayapura branch of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) chairperson, Lucky Ireeuw, suspects that the vandalism act was committed over reporting by Tabloid Jubi which a “certain party” disliked.

    Tabloid Jubi and its website are known for consistently presenting the public with reports on human rights violations in Papua.

    “This act of terror and intimidation is clearly a form of violence against journalists and threatens press freedom in Papua and more broadly in Indonesia,” said Ireeuw in a press release on Thursday, April 22.

    ‘Terrorism suffered’
    “It is strongly suspected that the terrorism suffered by Victor is related to reporting by Tabloid Jubi which a certain party dislikes.”

    Prior to the vandalism of his car, Mambor has suffered a series of attacks.

    “Digital attacks, doxing, and disseminating a flyer on social media the content of which painted Tabloid Jubi and Victor Mambor in a bad light, playing people off against each other and threats of criminal attacks on the media and Victor personally,” Ireeuw said giving examples of the attacks.

    The incident has already been reported to the authorities and Ireeuw is calling on the police to immediately investigate and arrest the perpetrators.

    Ireeuw slammed the attack against Mambor and Tabloid Jubi and urged whoever committed it to stop such actions immediately.

    “We appeal to all parties to respect the work of journalists and respect press freedom in the land of Papua,” he said.

    Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “Victor Mambor, Jurnalis Tabloid Jubi Papua Jadi Korban Aksi Teror”.

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    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Tabloid Jubi journalist Victor Mambor ‘terrorised’ over Papua reports

    By Reza Gunadha and Chyntia Sami Bhayangkara in Jayapura

    Victor Mambor, journalist and editor of the Papua-based Tabloid Jubi, has become the target of a terrorist act this week.

    A car that he owns which was parked on the road near his home in the Papuan capital of Jayapura was vandalised by unknown individuals between 12 midnight and 2am on Wednesday, April 21.

    The windscreen of Mambor’s Isuzu Double Cabin DMax was smashed by a blunt object. The rear and left-side windows were also damaged by a sharp instrument.

    Victor Mambor
    Journalist Victor Mambor on a visit to New Zealand’s Pacific Media Centre in 2014. Image: Del Abcede

    The left-side front and back doors were also spray painted with orange paint.

    The Jayapura branch of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) chairperson, Lucky Ireeuw, suspects that the vandalism act was committed over reporting by Tabloid Jubi which a “certain party” disliked.

    Tabloid Jubi and its website are known for consistently presenting the public with reports on human rights violations in Papua.

    “This act of terror and intimidation is clearly a form of violence against journalists and threatens press freedom in Papua and more broadly in Indonesia,” said Ireeuw in a press release on Thursday, April 22.

    ‘Terrorism suffered’
    “It is strongly suspected that the terrorism suffered by Victor is related to reporting by Tabloid Jubi which a certain party dislikes.”

    Prior to the vandalism of his car, Mambor has suffered a series of attacks.

    “Digital attacks, doxing, and disseminating a flyer on social media the content of which painted Tabloid Jubi and Victor Mambor in a bad light, playing people off against each other and threats of criminal attacks on the media and Victor personally,” Ireeuw said giving examples of the attacks.

    The incident has already been reported to the authorities and Ireeuw is calling on the police to immediately investigate and arrest the perpetrators.

    Ireeuw slammed the attack against Mambor and Tabloid Jubi and urged whoever committed it to stop such actions immediately.

    “We appeal to all parties to respect the work of journalists and respect press freedom in the land of Papua,” he said.

    Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “Victor Mambor, Jurnalis Tabloid Jubi Papua Jadi Korban Aksi Teror”.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Fiji drops three places in RSF press freedom index over gagging critics

    Pacific Media Watch newsdesk

    Fiji has dropped three places in the latest Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index and been condemned for its treatment of “overly critical” journalists who are often subjected to intimidation or even imprisonment.

    The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog has criticised many governments in the Asia-Pacific region for censorship and disinformation that has worsened since the start of the covid-19 coronavirus pandemic last year.

    “On the one hand, governments use innovative practices often derived from marketing to impose their own narrative within the mainstream media, whose publishers are from the same elite as the politicians,” says RSF.

    “On the other, politicians and activists wage a merciless war on several fronts against reporters and media outlets that don’t toe the official line.”

    Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Philippines are among the regional countries condemned for draconian measures against freedom of information. China was given a special panel for condemnation in a summary report.

    “Thanks to its massive use of new technology and an army of censors and trolls, Beijing manages to monitor and control the flow of information, spy on and censor citizens online, and spread its propaganda on social media,” says RSF.

    Independent journalism was also being fiercely suppressed in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and and Nepal.

    ‘Less violent repression’
    “A somewhat less violent increase in repression has also been seen in Papua New Guinea (down 1 at 47th), Fiji (down 3 at 55th) and Tonga (up 4 at 46th).” The Tongan “improvement” was due to the fall in other countries.

    In the country report for Fiji, reference is made to the “draconian 2010 Media Industry Development Decree, which was turned into a law in 2018, and under the regulator it created, the Media Industry Development Authority”, which is under direct government oversight.

    “Those who violate this law’s vaguely-worded provisions face up to two years in prison. The sedition laws, with penalties of up to seven years in prison, are also used to foster a climate of fear and self-censorship.

    “Sedition charges poisoned the lives of three journalists with The Fiji Times, the leading daily, until they were finally acquitted in 2018. It was the price the newspaper paid for its independence, many observers thought.”

    RSF also referred to the banning of Fiji Times distribution in several parts of the archipelago at the start of the covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

    A year ago, RSF condemned an op-ed by a pro-government Fiji military commander in Fiji defending curbs on freedom of expression and freedom of the press in order to enforce the lockdown imposed by the government to combat covid-19.

    “In times of such national emergency such as this […] war against covid-19, our leaders have good reasons to stifle criticism of their policies by curtailing freedom of speech and freedom of the press,” Brigadier-General Jone Kalouniwai wrote in an op-ed in the pro-government Fiji Sun newspaper on 22 April 2020.

    ‘Enemy within’
    General Kalouniwai, the Republic of Fiji Military Forces chief-of-staff and who is regarded as close to Prime Minister Bainimarama, went on to voice “deep concerns about this enemy within, which have been fuelled by irresponsible citizens selfishly […] questioning the rationale of our leader’s decision to impose such restrictions.”

    “No authority, and certainly not a military officer, should be arguing in favour of placing any kind of curb on press freedom,” declared Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk at the time.

    “These comments recall the worst time of the Fijian military dictatorship from 2006 to 2014. We urge the Fijian government to do what is necessary to guarantee the right of its citizens to inform and be informed, which is an essential ally in combating the spread of the virus.”

    In late March, after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in the western city of Lautoka, police manning a roadblock outside the city prevented delivery of the Fiji Times, the country’s only independent daily.

    Its pro-government rival, the Fiji Sun, was meanwhile distributed without any problem.

    RSF noted “two other significant media actors that sustain press freedom” in the country – the Fiji Village news website and associated radio stations, and the Mai TV media group.

    PNG journalists ‘disillusioned’
    In Papua New Guinea, the ousting of Peter O’Neill by James Marape as prime minister in May 2019 was seen as an encouraging development for the prospects of greater media independence.

    However, “journalists were disillusioned” in April 2020 when the police minister called for two reporters to be fired for their ‘misleading’ coverage of the covid-19 crisis.

    “In addition to political pressure, journalists continue to be dependent on the concerns of those who own their media. This is particularly so at the two main dailies, the PNG Post -Courier, owned by US-Australian media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, which is above all focused on commercial and financial concerns, and The National, owned by the Malaysian logging multinational Rimbunan Hijau.”

    In contrast to the Pacific drops in the index, Timor-Leste rose seven places to 78th.

    “In 2020, journalists came under attack from the Catholic clergy, which is very powerful in Timor-Leste. A bishop [attacked] two media outlets that published an investigative article about a US priest accused of a sexual attack on a minor.

    “The Press Council that was created in 2015 plays an active role in defusing any conflicts involving journalists, and works closely with university centres to provide aspiring journalists with sound ethical training.

    “But the media law adopted in 2014, in defiance of the international community’s warnings, poses a permanent threat to journalists and encourages self-censorship.”

    ‘Press freedom models’
    In other regional developments, RSF said that the “regional press freedom models – New Zealand (up 1 at 8th), Australia (up 1 at 25th), South Korea (42nd) and Taiwan (43rd) – have on the whole allowed journalists to do their job and to inform the public without any attempt by the authorities to impose their own narrative”.

    In Australia, “it was Facebook that introduced the censorship virus.

    “In response to proposed Australian legislation requiring tech companies to reimburse the media for content posted on their social media platforms, Facebook decided to ban Australian media from publishing or sharing journalistic content on their Facebook pages.”

    Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.

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    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Fiji drops three places in RSF press freedom index over gagging critics

    Pacific Media Watch newsdesk

    Fiji has dropped three places in the latest Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index and been condemned for its treatment of “overly critical” journalists who are often subjected to intimidation or even imprisonment.

    The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog has criticised many governments in the Asia-Pacific region for censorship and disinformation that has worsened since the start of the covid-19 coronavirus pandemic last year.

    “On the one hand, governments use innovative practices often derived from marketing to impose their own narrative within the mainstream media, whose publishers are from the same elite as the politicians,” says RSF.

    “On the other, politicians and activists wage a merciless war on several fronts against reporters and media outlets that don’t toe the official line.”

    Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Philippines are among the regional countries condemned for draconian measures against freedom of information. China was given a special panel for condemnation in a summary report.

    “Thanks to its massive use of new technology and an army of censors and trolls, Beijing manages to monitor and control the flow of information, spy on and censor citizens online, and spread its propaganda on social media,” says RSF.

    Independent journalism was also being fiercely suppressed in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and and Nepal.

    ‘Less violent repression’
    “A somewhat less violent increase in repression has also been seen in Papua New Guinea (down 1 at 47th), Fiji (down 3 at 55th) and Tonga (up 4 at 46th).” The Tongan “improvement” was due to the fall in other countries.

    In the country report for Fiji, reference is made to the “draconian 2010 Media Industry Development Decree, which was turned into a law in 2018, and under the regulator it created, the Media Industry Development Authority”, which is under direct government oversight.

    “Those who violate this law’s vaguely-worded provisions face up to two years in prison. The sedition laws, with penalties of up to seven years in prison, are also used to foster a climate of fear and self-censorship.

    “Sedition charges poisoned the lives of three journalists with The Fiji Times, the leading daily, until they were finally acquitted in 2018. It was the price the newspaper paid for its independence, many observers thought.”

    RSF also referred to the banning of Fiji Times distribution in several parts of the archipelago at the start of the covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

    A year ago, RSF condemned an op-ed by a pro-government Fiji military commander in Fiji defending curbs on freedom of expression and freedom of the press in order to enforce the lockdown imposed by the government to combat covid-19.

    “In times of such national emergency such as this […] war against covid-19, our leaders have good reasons to stifle criticism of their policies by curtailing freedom of speech and freedom of the press,” Brigadier-General Jone Kalouniwai wrote in an op-ed in the pro-government Fiji Sun newspaper on 22 April 2020.

    ‘Enemy within’
    General Kalouniwai, the Republic of Fiji Military Forces chief-of-staff and who is regarded as close to Prime Minister Bainimarama, went on to voice “deep concerns about this enemy within, which have been fuelled by irresponsible citizens selfishly […] questioning the rationale of our leader’s decision to impose such restrictions.”

    “No authority, and certainly not a military officer, should be arguing in favour of placing any kind of curb on press freedom,” declared Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk at the time.

    “These comments recall the worst time of the Fijian military dictatorship from 2006 to 2014. We urge the Fijian government to do what is necessary to guarantee the right of its citizens to inform and be informed, which is an essential ally in combating the spread of the virus.”

    In late March, after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in the western city of Lautoka, police manning a roadblock outside the city prevented delivery of the Fiji Times, the country’s only independent daily.

    Its pro-government rival, the Fiji Sun, was meanwhile distributed without any problem.

    RSF noted “two other significant media actors that sustain press freedom” in the country – the Fiji Village news website and associated radio stations, and the Mai TV media group.

    PNG journalists ‘disillusioned’
    In Papua New Guinea, the ousting of Peter O’Neill by James Marape as prime minister in May 2019 was seen as an encouraging development for the prospects of greater media independence.

    However, “journalists were disillusioned” in April 2020 when the police minister called for two reporters to be fired for their ‘misleading’ coverage of the covid-19 crisis.

    “In addition to political pressure, journalists continue to be dependent on the concerns of those who own their media. This is particularly so at the two main dailies, the PNG Post -Courier, owned by US-Australian media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, which is above all focused on commercial and financial concerns, and The National, owned by the Malaysian logging multinational Rimbunan Hijau.”

    In contrast to the Pacific drops in the index, Timor-Leste rose seven places to 78th.

    “In 2020, journalists came under attack from the Catholic clergy, which is very powerful in Timor-Leste. A bishop [attacked] two media outlets that published an investigative article about a US priest accused of a sexual attack on a minor.

    “The Press Council that was created in 2015 plays an active role in defusing any conflicts involving journalists, and works closely with university centres to provide aspiring journalists with sound ethical training.

    “But the media law adopted in 2014, in defiance of the international community’s warnings, poses a permanent threat to journalists and encourages self-censorship.”

    ‘Press freedom models’
    In other regional developments, RSF said that the “regional press freedom models – New Zealand (up 1 at 8th), Australia (up 1 at 25th), South Korea (42nd) and Taiwan (43rd) – have on the whole allowed journalists to do their job and to inform the public without any attempt by the authorities to impose their own narrative”.

    In Australia, “it was Facebook that introduced the censorship virus.

    “In response to proposed Australian legislation requiring tech companies to reimburse the media for content posted on their social media platforms, Facebook decided to ban Australian media from publishing or sharing journalistic content on their Facebook pages.”

    Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • A History Of The Espionage Act And How it Ensnared Julian Assange

    From its earliest years the United States has found ways to deny the rights of a free press when it was politically expedient to do so.

    One of the latest ways was to arrest WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange two years ago today and to indict him — the first time a publisher and journalist has ever been charged under the 1917 Espionage Act for possessing and publishing state secrets.

    Though several U.S. administrations had come close to punishing journalists for revealing defense information, they all pulled back, until Assange. They were restrained because of a conflict with the First Amendment, which prohibits Congress from passing any law, including the Espionage Act, that abridges press freedom.

    The post A History Of The Espionage Act And How it Ensnared Julian Assange appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Two Years After Assange’s Arrest, Biden Can End Trump’s Assault On Press Freedom

    The post was originally published as part of The Dissenter Newsletter.

    WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been detained at the high-security Belmarsh prison in London for two years.

    During that time, Assange became the first publisher to be indicted under the United States Espionage Act and prevailed after a district judge denied the U.S. government’s extradition request. He completed a sentence for “jumping bail” when he sought asylum from Ecuador. He also survived multiple COVID-19 outbreaks in prison.

    “It’s long past time for this injustice to end, and we continue to appeal to the United States and the Department of Justice to drop the appeal and all the charges against Julian. This gross injustice must come to an end,” WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson declared.

    Stella Moris, Assange’s partner, acknowledged the protests and solidarity actions that are planned throughout the world.

    Mobilizations were planned for April 11 in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., Denver, Chicago, Raleigh, San Jose, Seattle, Tulsa, Toronto, London, Glasgow, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Mexico City, Melbourne, Perth, Auckland, and Wellington.

    Several actions will take place over the course of the week in cities like Boston, Berlin, Brussels, Dresden, Vienna, and Hamburg.  

    “Anniversaries are a platform to educate, nurture compassion and solidarity, and bring like-minded people onboard,” Moris stated.

    The U.S. Justice Department dramatically escalated the political prosecution against Assange on April 11, 2019, when it unsealed a single charge indictment against the WikiLeaks founder. Ecuador allowed British police to enter their London embassy and drag him to a van.

    While video posted showed a vulnerable person in distress, begging the United Kingdom and everyone around the world to resist this prosecution, many focused on his unkempt appearance—his long hair and shaggy beard—and mocked him.

    Nils Melzer, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, shared, “During my visit, he explained to us that his shaving kit had been deliberately taken away three months earlier.”

    This was all part of Ecuador President Lenin Moreno’s U.S.-backed pressure campaign to force Assange to leave the embassy.

    In 2012, Assange was granted political asylum, when Rafael Correa was president of Ecuador. Correa’s administration considered “legal evidence” that Assange would not receive a fair trial if extradited to the U.S. and endorsed Assange’s fears of due process violations and cruel and inhuman treatment if he was handed over to Sweden. 

    At Assange’s extradition trial in September, his defense team presented evidence of an espionage operation backed by U.S. intelligence that was carried out against him at the London embassy.

    Undercover Global S.L., a Spanish security company, bugged the embassy and had a “real obsession” with spying on Assange’s legal team. Beyond that, U.C. Global Director David Morales talked about plots to kidnap Assange or even poison him, and the company ordered employees to steal diapers so they could figure out if he fathered a child.

    In October 2019, a Spanish high court charged Morales with offenses “related to violating the privacy of the WikiLeaks founder and passing the information on to the United States’ intelligence services,” according to El Pais.

    That case is still unfolding in Spain, however, the Justice Department has sought to obstruct proceedings by refusing cooperation unless whistleblowers from the company reveal their identities.

    The unsealed indictment against Assange was initially limited to a “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion” offense under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and a general statute against any conspiracies to “defraud” the U.S. government, which prompted a number of Western pundits to erroneously insist prosecutors avoided a case that would implicate the First Amendment.

    However, the indictment declared, “The WikiLeaks website publicly solicited submissions of classified, censored, and other restricted information. Assange, who did not possess a security clearance or need to know, was not authorized to receive classified information of the United States.”

    The indictment relied upon language straight from the Espionage Act. Prosecutors explicitly singled out Assange as an “aider” and “abettor” of “espionage” for publishing unauthorized disclosures of classified information, even though reporters and editors at media organizations throughout the world routinely produce stories based upon sensitive documents without a U.S. security clearance.

    A little over a month later, in May 2019, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed a superseding indictment with 17 charges under the Espionage Act. It dispelled any illusions journalists throughout the world may have had.

    ***

    President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Attorney General Merrick Garland now have the obligation, if they are serious about press freedom, to drop the charges that were issued under Trump by a Justice Department deeply politicized by Attorney General Bill Barr.

    The Biden administration should recognize how much time has passed, including how long ago it was that Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department examined the evidence against Assange and chose not to indict a publisher. (Biden was President Barack Obama’s vice president.)

    Whether the Biden administration returns to a norm that existed under Obama, Stella Moris suggests that those opposed to the prosecution “remind people that the judge threw out the U.S. extradition request in January.”

    “Remind them that Julian published information because he defends people’s right to know what the government does in their name. Remind them that he has done nothing wrong and to put him in prison is to criminalize journalism. Remind them that he has a family and that he is suffering,” Moris concluded.

    Those who support freedom of the press may also recall the U.S. war crimes in Iraq that Assange helped to expose by publishing disclosures from Pfc. Chelsea Manning. They may recall diplomatic cables that revealed how the British government sought to limit an inquiry into the U.K.’s involvement in the Iraq War. They may recall the pressure European countries faced to not investigate CIA torture, and the extrajudicial assassinations by CIA and U.S. military forces in Pakistan, which became widely known. And they may recall how documents showed the CIA enlisted U.S. officials to spy on UN officials and foreign diplomats at the UN in New York.

    Though the above represents only a sliver of the information published, it is some of the most compelling evidence that Assange was targeted for enabling scrutiny of a global superpower.

    The U.S. government has appealed the January ruling by the British judge against extradition. Assange’s team has also appealed because his attorneys believe the judge issued a decision that was far too dangerous for the future of press freedom in the world.

    The High Court of Justice will decide in the coming months whether to hear the appeal.

    Meanwhile, in Ecuador, President Moreno’s right-wing, neoliberal, and U.S.-backed agenda has been entirely rejected. A runoff is taking place on the same day as the anniversary of Moreno’s flagrant violation of Assange’s human rights. It will likely result in a triumph for the left as Ecuadorians are widely expected to give Andrés Arauz a resounding victory at the polls.

    The post Two Years After Assange’s Arrest, Biden Can End Trump’s Assault On Press Freedom appeared first on Shadowproof.

    This post was originally published on Shadowproof.

  • Vigils planned in support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

    Vigils are to be held this weekend to mark the second anniversary of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange being detained in prison after being dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

    Supporters demanding his release will join events on Sunday outside the embassy, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, and at Belmarsh prison in London where he is being held.

    Assange lived inside the embassy for several years before being forcibly removed and arrested by police on 11 April 2019.

    A bid by the United States to extradite him was rejected at Westminster Magistrates’ Court earlier this year but he has remained in prison until the outcome of an appeal.

    WikiLeaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson told the PA news agency that Assange’s continued imprisonment was an “outrage and a travesty of justice”.

    He said: “April 11 marks two years since one of the world’s most important journalists was silenced when Metropolitan Police officers stormed into the Ecuadorian embassy and subsequently arrested and imprisoned Julian Assange on the United States’ behalf.

    “It has now been two years of incarceration, isolation and psychological torture, all for exposing war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, the same journalism for which Julian has been applauded all over the world for and nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

    “It’s long past time for this injustice to end and we continue to appeal to the United States and the Department of Justice to drop the appeal and all the charges against Julian.

    “In January, a judge in London ruled that Julian should not be extradited and so we are today calling for him to be released from Belmarsh prison and be a free man to be able to spend his time with his young family.”

    Hrafnsson added that dozens of human rights and media organisations are supporting the case for Assange to be freed, saying: “This gross injustice must come to an end.”

    It was recently revealed that Pope Francis sent a personal message to Assange, whose partner Stella Moris said: “After a hard night, Julian woke up this morning to a kind, personal message from Pope Francis @pontifex delivered to his cell door by the prison priest.”

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • April 11: Global Day Of Action For Julian Assange

    Assange supporters Candles4Assange have put together an incredibly helpful list of actions planned for Julian Assange on April 11th around the world, to mark 2 years of his unjust imprisonment. The full Twitter thread is here but we’ve also listed each event by city below. 

    The post April 11: Global Day Of Action For Julian Assange appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Assange’s Father John Shipton On The Home Run Tour For Julian

    For the past fortnight the Home Run for Julian tour has been weaving its way through regional and suburban Victoria and NSW, towards the nation’s capital.

    And along its route, it’s met with supporters to spread the word that Australians want Wikileaks founder Julian Assange returned home.

    After over a decade of drawn out detention in the UK, Assange is now incarcerated in London’s Belmarsh prison, pending an appeal of the British court decision not to extradite him to the United States to face multiple espionage charges over his publishing.

    The Home Run for Julian speak out tour has been led by Assange’s father John Shipton, along with 3CR journalist and peace campaigner Jacob Grech, the Peace Bus’ Graeme Dunstan and Melbourne for Wikileaks’ Raine Sinclair.

    The post Assange’s Father John Shipton On The Home Run Tour For Julian appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Journalist Acquitted: Covering Protests Against Racism Is Not A Crime

    After a three day trial an Iowa jury has found Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri not guilty on misdemeanor charges stemming from her coverage of a June 2020 demonstration against racist police violence. Police pepper-sprayed the journalist in the face and arrested her as she covered a local protest against police brutality. The police alleged that they ordered the crowd to disperse, but three people including two journalists testified under oath that no such order or notice was given. Body cam footage would have cleared any question of what happened yet this was brazenly deleted by the police. During the trial Sahouri testified to her brutalization by police: “I put up my hands and I say ‘I’m press’ because he was coming like, right at me, and I didn’t think it was a good idea to run from officers,” she said. “

    The post Journalist Acquitted: Covering Protests Against Racism Is Not A Crime appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • AFJC joins call for the UN Security Council to act against the killing of journalists in Afghanistan

    (March 10, 2021) – The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) and 40 other civil society organizations from around the globe, in a letter to the UNSC and UNAMA, highlight the wave of journalists’ killings in Afghanistan and urge them to stand in solidarity with the Afghan journalists to help ensure their safety and media freedom given the role they play in a peaceful and democratic transition during and after the ongoing peace negotiations

    —

    Dear permanent and elected members of the UN Security Council and Deborah Lyons, Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan

    Your Excellencies,

    The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) and undersigned civil society organizations, dedicated to the defense and promotion of free expression and the safety of journalists, are deeply concerned by the torrent of targeted killings of journalists in Afghanistan since early 2020. These attacks have had a devastating impact on Afghanistan’s vulnerable civic space, press freedom, and related democratic rights, and we write to urge you to take immediate action.

    AFJC’s press freedom tracker has documented 11 journalists and media workers who have been killed in Afghanistan since the peace deal was signed between the United States and Taliban in February 2020. Most of these journalists were deliberately targeted for their work, which underscores the lack of effective human rights protections in the country. Among the eleven journalists are TV presenter Malala Maiwand, who was killed on Human Rights Day on December 10, 2020 with her driver, freelance photojournalist Rahmatullah Nikzad, who was killed in Ghazni province on December 21, 2020, and Besmillah Adel Aimaq, a radio journalist who was killed in Central Ghor province on January 1, 2021.

    Media freedom and freedom of expression are human rights recognized under international legal conventions that Afghanistan is a party to, as well as domestic law. Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights protects the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas, while enforcement of Afghan Media Laws ensuring the security of journalists and media outlets is a fundamental responsibility of the Afghan government. Although some efforts have been made by the government to protect and uphold these rights, they have not been sufficient to prevent violations, and prosecute the perpetrators of violence against journalists. The Afghan government has made repeated pledges to ensure the security of Afghan civilians, yet there remains a culture of impunity for those responsible for carrying out targeted killings of journalists.

    In response to this failure, AFJC and 200 journalists published a letter in July 2020 to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and called on the government to end this worrying trend. Likewise, in December 2020, an EU delegation representing 8 EU member states plus Australia, Canada, the NATO Mission to Afghanistan, Norway, the United Kingdom and the U.S. Mission based in Kabul condemned the targeted and unlawful attacks on representatives of the media and called on the state to investigate and prosecute those who target these individuals with violence and immediately end impunity for killings.

    We believe that strong and concerted political action from the United Nations Security Council and increased support from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan are now essential, given their interest in a peaceful transition and the role that a free press plays in this endeavour. Targeting journalists creates a societal ripple effect of fear and censorship and deprives the public of crucial information about the peace process. Therefore, we request that the UN Security Council stand against the ongoing impunity for attacks against journalists in Afghanistan.

    We, the undersigned organizations, call on the United Nations Security Council and UNAMA to support the media community by calling on all parties to stop violence against journalists in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2222 (2015) and other established UN standards for the protection of journalists in conflicts and warzones. Among these are the 2012 UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, which also calls for the need to “strengthen provisions for the safety of journalists in conflict zones” (paragraph 5.24).

    With these calls to action in mind, and in light of the distinctive threats faced by journalists outlined above, the Council should:

    • Use every diplomatic power at their disposal to ensure the protection of press freedom and the safety of journalists and media workers as a group of civilians under the imminent threat of physical violence in Afghanistan today and in the event that the peace deal results in a new political settlement;
    • Intensify efforts to protect journalists in Afghanistan, in particular working together with the government to take serious actions to end impunity and pressure the perpetrators to cease targeting journalists;
    • Scrutinize and reconsider international financial support to the Afghan government, to ensure meaningful commitments to protect media freedom and the rule of law.
    • Encourage the international community to offer and strengthen practical and accessible support to threatened journalists and media workers, such as safe passage, refuge, and medical assistance where necessary

     

    Signed,

    Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC)

    ARTICLE 19 – International

    Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)

    Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA)

    Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

    World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) – International

    Bytes for All (B4A) – Pakistan

    Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) – Cambodia

    Community Media Solutions – United Kingdom

    Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) – International

    Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI) – International

    Federation of Media Employee Association (FMETU) – Sri Lanka

    Foundation for Press Freedom – FLIP – Columbia

    Free Media Movement (FMM)- Srilanka

    Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) – Nepal

    Free Press Unlimited (FPU) – International

    Freedom Forum – Nepal

    Freedom House – International

    Fundamedios – Andean Foundation for Media Observation and Study – Latin America

    Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) -International

    Globe International Center – Mongolia

    Initiative for Freedom of Expression (IFOX) – Turkey

    Independent Journalism Center (IJC)- Moldova

    Indian Journalists Association (IJU) – India

    International Press Centre (IPC) – Nigeria

    International Press Institute (IPI) – International

    Media Development Investment Fund – International

    Media Watch – Bangladesh

    Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) – West Africa

    Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) – Southern Africa

    Media Rights Agenda (MRA) – Nigeria

    National Union of Journalists – India

    Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) – International

    PEN Canada – Canada

    PEN International – International

    PEN Norway – Norway

    Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) – Pacific Islands

    Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) – Pakistan

    Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) – International

    Southeast Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) – Eastern Europe

    Vigilance for Democracy and the Civic State – Tunisia

     

    **
    For a PDF version of this statement, please click here.

     

    For further information, please contact:

    For media inquiries, please contact:

    This post was originally published on FORUM-ASIA.

  • Julian Assange Wins 2020 Gary Webb Freedom Of The Press Award

    Julian Assange, the imprisoned and maligned publisher of WikiLeaks, has been awarded the 2020 Gary Webb Freedom of the Press Award by the board of the Consortium for Independent Journalism, publishers of Consortium News. 

    Assange is incarcerated in a maximum security prison in London awaiting a hearing later this month on an extradition request by the United States. He has been charged 0n 17 counts under the U.S. Espionage Act of possessing and publishing classified material that revealed prima facie evidence of U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

    For practicing the highest order of journalism–revealing crimes of the state–Assange faces 175 years in a U.S. prison–a life sentence for the 48-year old Australian. 

    The post Julian Assange Wins 2020 Gary Webb Freedom Of The Press Award appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Julian Assange’s Father Takes Fight To Free His Son To Canberra

    John Shipton, the father of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is currently in custody in London pending a High Court appeal, will protest outside Parliament House with supporters from 8:00 am on Monday, 15 March.

    Mr Shipton is also due to speak at the Australian National University on Sunday night with former Deputy Chief Minister and lawyer Bernard Collaery. Mr Collaery is on trial for allegedly unlawfully sharing protected information about an Australian spy operation that bugged allies in the Timor-Leste Government in 2004 when Australia was negotiating for oil and gas resources in the Timor Sea.

    The whistleblower, David McBride, will also speak on Sunday night.

    Mr Shipton is calling on the Australian Government to bring Mr Assange, 49, back to Australia.

    The post Julian Assange’s Father Takes Fight To Free His Son To Canberra appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.