“I don’t fuck with none of y’all cops,” rapped Julius Smith, aka Prince Jooveh, on the song “Hands Up.” “Eighty percent of y’all are cowards, y’all stay up in our business.” In one hand, he held a phone to hear the trap beat. In the other, he held a second phone to fire off lyrics. He had 30 minutes to get it right before time ran out — he was recording behind bars as a person incarcerated by the…
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The Committee to Protect Journalists joined six other international and local press freedom organizations in a joint report warning the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of systematic freedom of expression and press freedom violations in Honduras ahead of the country’s human rights record review.
The report, sent to the UPR on April 7, alerts of laws restricting freedom of expression and press freedom in Honduras; murders and attacks against journalists and indigenous media; threats to academic freedom and the limitation of equal participation of women journalists and authors in the media and publishing houses as well as violence against women journalists and historically marginalized communities.
Among 13 recommendations include the revision of the Protection Law and its regulations to strengthen the institutional protection mechanism; the repeal of crimes against honor to prevent further violations of the media and journalists; and the application of the necessary measures to ensure that an inclusive gender and diversity perspective is fully integrated into public and private cultural, journalistic and editorial programs.
Read the joint statement in English here and in Spanish here.
Read the full report in Spanish here.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Despite its otherworldly setting, South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s new science fiction epic, Mickey 17, bears some uncanny echoes of life today in the United States. The country’s working and (to a lesser extent) middle class are sure to recognize themselves in its titular hero, Mickey Barnes (played by Robert Pattinson). Mickey escapes a loan shark by joining a space expedition as an…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
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This content originally appeared on Just Stop Oil and was authored by Just Stop Oil.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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The Committee to Protect Journalists and two Angola-based media rights organizations have made a joint submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling on authorities in the southern African nation to improve its record on ensuring journalists’ safety and press freedom.
The submission, dated July 16, 2024, was made ahead of Angola’s January 2025 Universal Periodic Review (UPR), during which the U.N. member states on the council will assess its human rights record and make recommendations for improvement in keeping with its human rights obligations under international law.
In the submission, CPJ, the Angolan Journalists’ Syndicate, and the Angolan chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa document four years of judicial harassment of journalists through criminal defamation and insult laws, suspension of broadcasts and broadcast permissions, harassment and detention of members of the press, and the enactment of new laws that will further restrict media freedom. The three organizations recommend that Angola improve its press freedom record, including by freeing journalist Carlos Raimundo Alberto, who has been detained since 2023, desisting from imprisoning journalists for their work, as well as abolishing criminal defamation and repealing other laws that criminalize journalism.
The full UPR submission is available in English here.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Like old soldiers around the country, a group of former service members gathered in Crest Hill, Illinois to remember fallen comrades on Memorial Day, 2024. Several months later, The Veteran, a newspaper published by Vietnam Veterans Against the War, ran a photo of the event they attended. It shows a multi-generational group of men — white, Black and Latino — lined up proudly between two flags.
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un take a drive in Pyongyang. Tibetan Buddhist devotees prostrate themselves as they bid farewell to a centuries old monastery, the area later submerged by a Chinese dam. Thai solders take position across from Myawaddy as fighting intensifies between Myanmar junta and rebel forces.
These and others are among the top video news moments of 2024:
China, Philippines clash in South China Sea
Tensions escalated in the South China Sea in June with a clash between Chinese Coast Guard and Philippine Navy ships at Second Thomas Shoal. One Filipino sailer lost a finger.
The United States condemned the “escalatory and irresponsible actions” by the Chinese Coast Guard and Beijing accused the Philippine side of deliberately causing a collision.
PRC citizens disrupt pro-Hong Kong protest in Taiwan
An exclusive video by RFA Cantonese shows two citizens of the People’s Republic of China disrupting an anti-China protest organized by Hong Kongers in Taipei.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council identified the couple by their surname Yao, saying they had entered Taiwan under the pretense of visiting relatives. They were found to have no relatives currently in Taiwan, and were deported.
Dam submerges former site of Tibetan monastery
Rising waters from a new dam in central China have submerged the area where a 135-year-old Tibetan Buddhist monastery once stood, as well as a nearby village, according to experts who viewed satellite photos and two sources inside Tibet.
The Atsok Monastery, built in 1889, was demolished earlier this year to make way for the expansion of the Yangqu hydropower station in Qinghai province.
READ MORE YEAR IN REVIEW
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Vietnamese asylum seekers cross US-Mexico border
Tempted by rumors of a better life abroad and unwilling to wait out a sluggish visa process, Vietnamese have begun crossing into the U.S. on foot in unprecedented numbers, an RFA investigation has found.
Just 263 Vietnamese crossed into the United States via its border with Mexico between October 2021 and October 2022, but nearly 3,300 made that crossing a year later, according to figures from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That number is certain to be surpassed in 2024.
Putin and Kim go for a drive
In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in North Korea for a two-day visit with Kim Jong Un, promising hours before the visit that the two nations will develop an “alternative settlement system” to facilitate commercial cooperation outside the control of the West and fight its sanctions.
What stood out from the usual pageantry was the photo op with both leaders driving in an Aurus sedan — the “Russian equivalent of Rolls-Royce” — which Putin introduced to Kim during a 2023 visit to Russia.
China changes names of 630 Uyghur villages
China has changed the names of about 630 Uyghur villages to Mandarin words such as “Harmony” and “Unity” to promote ethnic harmony in Xinjiang, a report by a human rights group found,
The move is “part of Chinese government’s efforts to erase the cultural and religious expression” of the more than 11 million predominantly Muslim Uyghurs living in China’s far-western Xinjiang region, New York-based Human Rights Watch, or HRW, said in its June 18 report.
Typhoon Yagi
Scores killed by Typhoon Yagi, Asia’s most powerful storm of the year. Images from northern Laos and central Myanmar show the extent of flooding from torrential rains.
Scores of people are dead or missing in several countries in Southeast Asia since roaring across northern Vietnam, northern Laos and Thailand in early September, causing landslides and flooding, and destroying homes, bridges and roads.
North Korean worker in Senegal
Despite a de facto global ban on doing business with North Korean entities or individuals, commerce continues under the table. As of December 2023, as many as 100,000 North Koreans were thought to be living outside the country as laborers under the control of Kim Jong Un’s regime.
In Dakar, a North Korean laborer who works in construction told RFA Korean that he had been stuck in the country for more than six years, separated from his wife and two children.
“It was not supposed to be this long,” the man said. “But I can’t go back because of the coronavirus. The North Korean authorities need to approve my return.”
Myanmar junta and rebels clash at Thai border
April saw an escalation of fighting between the junta and rebel forces in Myawaddy, along the Thai-Myanmar border displacing thousands into Thailand.
Residents told RFA Burmese that the Karen National Liberation Army and other rebel forces, including the anti-junta People’s Defense Force, advanced on government soldiers, who were “dug in” at the Thai-Myanmar friendship bridge border crossing.
Dalai Lama arrives in New York
The Dalai Lama was greeted by a large crowd of chanting and flag-waving Tibetans and other supporters upon his arrival in New York for knee surgery.
It was the first trip to the United States for the 88-year-old Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader in seven years and his first overseas trip since November 2018.
After six weeks of recovery in the U.S., he addressed 17,000 devotees in a New York arena before returning home to Dharamsala, India.
Forever 13 years old
Nyah Mway was a 13-year-old Karen refugee from Myanmar living in Utica, New York.
On a Friday night in June, one day after his middle school graduation, local police officers on patrol stopped to question Nyah and his friend. What happened next? Nyah fled and the police say as he ran, he pulled out what looked like a gun. Moments later, he was tackled to the ground and shot.
A community already haunted by war and violence struggles to cope.
‘Korean Wave’ has already crashed in Cuba
Even before South Korea and Cuba established bilateral relations earlier this year, K-pop had gained a following in the communist-ruled island.
When RFA Korean traveled to Cuba to gauge reactions to Seoul and Havana redefining their relationship, they also found that K-pop had already made inroads into the country.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Roya Shadravan for RFA.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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The disputed South China Sea, Xinjiang in northwestern China and the Russia-Ukraine war were among the topics used in Chinese-language media disinformation campaigns in 2024.
Here are Asia Fact Check Lab’s top five fact checks of the year:
Did Taiwan’s president complain about his predecessor in a leaked audio recording?
Verdict: False
Illustration (AFCL)In January 2024, Taiwan held its presidential election, during which a significant amount of false information emerged before and after the voting.
Following the inauguration of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on May 20, a claim emerged that Lai complained about his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, in a leaked audio.
What makes this particular case noteworthy is that it likely involves the use of AI-generated human voices for deception, marking the first time AFCL has encountered such a case for fact-checking.
Does a video show Putin sending his son to Ukraine?
Verdict: False
Illustration (AFCL)A video emerged in Chinese-language social media posts that claimed it showed Russian President Vladimir Putin sending off his son to fight in the war against Ukraine.
But the claim is false. The video shows Putin awarding a Gold Star to a Russian soldier named Stepan Belov. Details about Putin’s family remain largely private, but he has previously confirmed having two daughters from his first marriage, which ended in divorce in 2014.
The year 2024 is certainly not short of false narratives surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war, and this is a typical example.
Taiwanese YouTubers’ visit to Xinjiang, genuine or propaganda?
Illustration (AFCL)The Chinese government has invited Taiwanese influencers to travel to Xinjiang, home to 12 million Uyghurs who have been persecuted for years, and create promotional videos.
The Taiwanese YouTubers have faced scrutiny for creating videos about Xinjiang that align with China’s official stance on the region, where the United States and other Western parliaments have declared China to be committing a genocide against the Uyghurs.
AFCL also found several YouTubers who promoted the message that Xinjiang was a safe place to travel and there were “no concentration camps” there because they didn’t see them.
Did Taylor Swift say the US couldn’t prevent an invasion of Taiwan?
Verdict: False
A claim emerged in Chinese-language social media posts that Taylor Swift had recently said on a talk show that the U.S. lacked the ability to prevent an invasion of Taiwan. The posts cited several screenshots purportedly taken from the episode of the show.
But the claim is false. The screenshots were from an interview with Swift on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” that aired in 2021. During the show, she made no mention of the United States, Taiwan or an invasion.
Yet another instance of disinformation using AI-driven deepfake technology, with prominent figures being particularly susceptible as targets.
Did a Chinese documentary prove China’s sovereignty over the South China Sea?
Illustration (AFCL)The Chinese government produced a documentary, broadcast in multiple languages, presenting its historical claim to the South China Sea.
Titled “Sovereignty at Stake: A documentary on the South China Sea,” it has drawn criticism for potentially misrepresenting key aspects of the dispute between China and several of its Southeast Asian neighbors.
AFCL fact-checked the Chinese government’s claims one by one.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. AFCL publishes fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. Follow on Facebook, Instagram and X .
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Asia Fact Check Lab.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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The disputed South China Sea, Xinjiang in northwestern China and the Russia-Ukraine war were among the topics used in Chinese-language media disinformation campaigns in 2024.
Here are Asia Fact Check Lab’s top five fact checks of the year:
Did Taiwan’s president complain about his predecessor in a leaked audio recording?
Verdict: False
Illustration (AFCL)In January 2024, Taiwan held its presidential election, during which a significant amount of false information emerged before and after the voting.
Following the inauguration of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on May 20, a claim emerged that Lai complained about his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, in a leaked audio.
What makes this particular case noteworthy is that it likely involves the use of AI-generated human voices for deception, marking the first time AFCL has encountered such a case for fact-checking.
Does a video show Putin sending his son to Ukraine?
Verdict: False
Illustration (AFCL)A video emerged in Chinese-language social media posts that claimed it showed Russian President Vladimir Putin sending off his son to fight in the war against Ukraine.
But the claim is false. The video shows Putin awarding a Gold Star to a Russian soldier named Stepan Belov. Details about Putin’s family remain largely private, but he has previously confirmed having two daughters from his first marriage, which ended in divorce in 2014.
The year 2024 is certainly not short of false narratives surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war, and this is a typical example.
Taiwanese YouTubers’ visit to Xinjiang, genuine or propaganda?
Illustration (AFCL)The Chinese government has invited Taiwanese influencers to travel to Xinjiang, home to 12 million Uyghurs who have been persecuted for years, and create promotional videos.
The Taiwanese YouTubers have faced scrutiny for creating videos about Xinjiang that align with China’s official stance on the region, where the United States and other Western parliaments have declared China to be committing a genocide against the Uyghurs.
AFCL also found several YouTubers who promoted the message that Xinjiang was a safe place to travel and there were “no concentration camps” there because they didn’t see them.
Did Taylor Swift say the US couldn’t prevent an invasion of Taiwan?
Verdict: False
A claim emerged in Chinese-language social media posts that Taylor Swift had recently said on a talk show that the U.S. lacked the ability to prevent an invasion of Taiwan. The posts cited several screenshots purportedly taken from the episode of the show.
But the claim is false. The screenshots were from an interview with Swift on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” that aired in 2021. During the show, she made no mention of the United States, Taiwan or an invasion.
Yet another instance of disinformation using AI-driven deepfake technology, with prominent figures being particularly susceptible as targets.
Did a Chinese documentary prove China’s sovereignty over the South China Sea?
Illustration (AFCL)The Chinese government produced a documentary, broadcast in multiple languages, presenting its historical claim to the South China Sea.
Titled “Sovereignty at Stake: A documentary on the South China Sea,” it has drawn criticism for potentially misrepresenting key aspects of the dispute between China and several of its Southeast Asian neighbors.
AFCL fact-checked the Chinese government’s claims one by one.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. AFCL publishes fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. Follow on Facebook, Instagram and X .
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Asia Fact Check Lab.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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North Korea escapees finishing their graduate degrees in New York City. Pro-democracy exiles building new lives after fleeing Hong Kong. A teenaged woman soldier on the front lines of Myanmar’s civil war. These are some of the people RFA journalists spoke with in 2024 — and here are their compelling stories:
Uyghur Youth Initiative #ofcourse TikTok challenge
A TikTok video by three Uyghur women living in Germany goes viral, mixing humor with human rights abuses and genocide.
“The Uyghur crisis is a very urgent and serious topic,” Muqeddes Memet, 18, one of the women in the video, told RFA Uyghur.
“If we add a little humor content, people will watch it. If we always talk about an urgent topic, people will get tired. If we add some jokes, they will pay better attention.”
Wang Shujun — historian, activist, convicted Chinese spy?
Wang Shujun, 76, lived for the last 30 years in New York as a scholar working in an insular community of pro-democracy advocates fighting for change in China.
A series of reports by RFA Investigative reveals a life turned upside-down when the FBI accused Wang of spying for Beijing. He vigorously denied it but in August was found guilty on four espionage charges. Wang will be sentenced in January 2025.
Tibetan monks and residents protesting China’s dam project
Police arrested more than 1,000 Tibetans, including Buddhist monks, in southwestern China’s Sichuan province on Feb. 23, after they protested the construction of a dam expected to destroy six monasteries and force the relocation of two villages, two sources from inside Tibet told Radio Free Asia.
Exclusive RFA Tibetan video showed the protests which began on Feb. 14, and subsequent arrests, prompting global reaction.
Some of the protesters were beaten so badly that they required medical attention, three sources told Radio Free Asia.
Popular ‘monk’ Thich Minh Tue worries Vietnamese officials
Buddhist monk Thich Minh Tue in Vietnam’s Ha Tinh province, May 17, 2024. A 43-year-old Vietnamese man became an internet hit in May when several influencers began documenting his barefoot pilgrimage across Vietnam. He amassed legions of supporters who were drawn to his simple lifestyle and humble attitude.
But the attention Tue was getting appeared to worry the authorities, leading to his detention and prompted international calls for his release.
In November, RFA Vietnamese obtained a copy of a letter purportedly written by Tue renouncing his vow of poverty. Supporters question its authenticity, saying authorities may be trying to isolate him from the public.
Moe Pyae Sone, Karen National Liberation Army fighter
“I’ve gained combat experience,” she says. “I’ve participated in quite a few battles.”
RFA spoke with Moe Pyae Sone, 18, at an internally displaced people’s camp just south of Myawaddy, where ethnic rebels overran military junta positions in April.
Wearing camouflage pants, a tactical vest, braided hair, pink plastic clogs and a wide grin, she recalls participating in protests against Myanmar’s military junta after the Feb. 2021 coup before joining rebel forces a year later.
Pyongyang to Manhattan: Escaping North Korea for the Big Apple
Brother and sister Lee Hyunseung and Lee Seohyun, who both escaped North Korea, visit Times Square, March 2024. Born into a wealthy, elite family, siblings Lee Hyunseung, 38, and Seohyun, 32, fled North Korea a decade ago with their parents.
Before graduating from Columbia University in May, they witnessed campus demonstrations against Israel’s military strikes on Gaza.
“The fact that the United States truly respects freedom of expression strikes a chord in my heart,” Hyunseung told RFA Korean. “In North Korea or China, it’s unimaginable to even think about such things.”
Ly Chandaravuth, environmental activist, Mother Nature Cambodia
Cambodian environmental activist Ly Chandaravuth. Before returning to Cambodia to stand trial in May, Ly Chandaravuth shared a series of videos with RFA Khmer.
“Currently, we are living in fear,” he said. “For example we have a house but we are afraid of losing it,” referring to Cambodia’s natural resources. “We have ore mining but we are still poor. Those who benefit from ore mining are foreigners, foreign companies or powerful people.”
Chandaravuth was among 10 Mother Nature Cambodia activists who were handed six-year sentences and taken into custody after being convicted of plotting against the government on July 2.
Hong Kong exiles rebuilding their lives
Hong Kong exiles, from left to right: Amity Chan, Frances Hui, Huen Lam, and Baggio Leung, in Washington, in 2024. Five years ago, a million Hong Kong residents took to the streets to protest a plan to extradite Hong Kongers to mainland China.
A crackdown followed. Thousands were arrested, news outlets were shut down and civil society groups were disbanded. In March, the reins were tightened further with Hong Kong’s Article 23 security law.
Many Hong Kongers have fled in the years since. RFA spoke with four exiles about their old lives in Hong Kong and their new ones in the United States, the things they miss about home and what they worry about.
Lao content creators detained for comical pothole fishing video
James Famor, left, and Dai James, center, in an Aug. 29, 2024, social media post. Graphic artists using the names Dai James and James Famor uploaded an AI-generated video to Facebook, showing them fishing in water-filled potholes on a street, surrounded by crocodiles – a video that went viral in Laos. The police came knocking.
A friend who produces and posts videos to social media confirmed the arrest and release to RFA Lao.
Police required Famor to attend a “re-education” class, forcing him to confess and apologize before freeing him.
Edited by Paul Eckert
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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The Committee to Protect Journalists has submitted a report on the state of press freedom and journalist safety in Kyrgyzstan to the United Nations Human Rights Council ahead of its 2025 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session.
CPJ’s submission, together with Austria-based human rights group Freedom for Eurasia and the Free Russia Foundation, highlights the sharp deterioration in media freedom in Kyrgyzstan, once vaunted as a relative Central Asian safe haven for free press, since the country’s 2020 UPR review.
Following current President Sadyr Japarov’s rise to power, Kyrgyz authorities have launched an unprecedented assault on independent reporting, imprisoning journalists on retaliatory charges, blocking and shuttering key media, and introducing a Russian-style “foreign agents” law.
Read the full report here.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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The Committee to Protect Journalists joined two other press freedom organizations in calling on authorities in Guinea-Bissau to accept and implement recommendations to improve its press freedom record at the country’s January 2025 Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
The UPR is a peer review mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council, through which the human rights records of the Council’s member states are reviewed every 4.5 years, and recommendations are made for improvement.
Since January 2020, authorities in Guinea-Bissau have undermined press freedom through physical and verbal attacks, arbitrary detention of journalists, and legal harassment, according to the October 2024 submission by CPJ, the local journalists’ union (Sinjotecs), and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).
The three organizations recommend that Guinea-Bissau improve its press freedom record by investigating and ensuring accountability for past attacks on the press, ending arbitrary detentions and media shutdowns, repealing laws that criminalize journalism, and allowing the press to establish self-regulatory mechanisms.
The UPR submission is available in English here.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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The Committee to Protect Journalists and 10 other journalism and human rights groups sent a letter on Monday, November 11, to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva ahead of its November 13 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Nicaragua’s human rights record.
The letter is a response to a September report by the State of Nicaragua asserting that there have been no violations of freedom of expression during the U.N. evaluation period (2019-2023). But reports from press freedom and human rights groups and international bodies show that press freedom in the country is nearly nonexistent.
The coalition of organizations calls on the Nicaraguan government to stop persecuting and criminalizing journalists and other dissenting voices, and urges the UNRHC to support press freedom and adopt measures to protect it.
Read the letter in English here.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Ethiopian authorities to accept and implement recommendations on improving press freedom conditions and guaranteeing the safety of journalists during the United Nations’ upcoming review of its human rights record.
Earlier this year, CPJ submitted a report assessing Ethiopia’s press freedom and journalist safety record from 2019, as part of the country’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) scheduled for November 12. During the UPR, the United Nations Human Rights Council peer reviews the human rights record of a country, and considers recommendations on how a country can better fulfill its international human rights obligations.
CPJ’s report to the U.N. detailed the arbitrary detention, physical violence, harassment, and severe legal restrictions Ethiopian journalists face. CPJ made several recommendations including promptly releasing detained journalists, investigating attacks on the press, ensuring accountability for violence against journalists, and amending repressive laws to align with international human rights standards.
CPJ’s UPR submission on Ethiopia is available in English here.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Former Services Australia chief executive Rebecca Skinner has been brought in to help deliver the Australian Taxation Office’s first capability review in a decade. Ms Skinner, who stepped down from the Services Australia in September 2023, will undertake the review alongside Nigel Ray, a former Treasury deputy secretary. Mr Ray was appointed Australia’s executive director to…
The post Gig Guide: Former ServicesAus boss joins ATO review appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
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The Committee to Protect Journalists has submitted a report on the state of press freedom and journalist safety in Iraq and semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan to the United Nations Human Rights Council ahead of its January to February 2025 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session.
The U.N. mechanism is a peer review of each member state’s human rights record. It takes place every 4 ½ years and includes reports on progress made since the previous review cycle and recommendations on how a country can better fulfill its human rights obligations.
CPJ’s submission, together with the MENA Rights Group, a Geneva-based advocacy organization, and the local human rights groups Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq and Community Peacemaker Teams Iraq, shows that journalists face threats, online harassment, physical violence, and civil and criminal lawsuits.
The submission notes an escalating crackdown on civic space in Iraq where crimes against journalists are rarely investigated, fueling a cycle of violence against the press, while public officials have voiced anti-press rhetoric and attempted to limit access to information.
Iraq is ranked 6th in CPJ’s Global Impunity Index 2023, with 17 unsolved murders of journalists, and is one of the few countries to have been on the Index every year since its inception in 2007.
CPJ’s UPR submission on Iraq is available in English here.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Just Stop Oil and was authored by Just Stop Oil.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Mexico City, August 27, 2024—Nicaragua has escalated its persecution of critical voices since 2018, pushing freedom of expression to a nearly nonexistent state, according to a joint submission to the United Nations by the Committee to Protect Journalists and eight other journalism and human rights groups.
The submission, prepared for Nicaragua’s Universal Periodic Review in 2024, documents the government’s use of various tactics to silence journalists, including media shutdowns, property confiscations, and the suppression of independent reporting. The report highlights how press freedom has been systematically dismantled during the 2019-2023 review cycle.
The coalition of organizations aims to bring these ongoing violations of free expression and access to information to the attention of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The submission’s findings are based on data collected and analyzed by the signatory groups, emphasizing that these abuses continue without consequence.
Read the full submission here.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Businessman David Thodey and current and former senior public servants have been quietly tapped to review Services Australia’s ability to deliver policy outcomes as part of the Albanese government’s public service uplift. Mr Thodey led a review of the entire Australian Public Service in 2019 but this time will focus on the tech-heavy agency responsible for…
The post Thodey tapped for Services Aus review appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
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There is a scene two-thirds of the way through the film Civil War, which has seen considerable success at the box office since its release, where it becomes abundantly clear who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. An unnamed soldier, (played by Jesse Plemons), is casually interrogating a group of journalists who have the misfortune of encountering him while he and a comrade are cleaning up…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
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The U.S. State Department has opened the public review process for proposed changes to export controls that would allow defense contractors in Australia and the United Kingdom to import American military technology without needing to obtain licenses.
Australia and the United Kingdom would join Canada as the only countries with exemptions from licensing requirements under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, which is meant to stop U.S. defense technology falling into the wrong hands.
Public comment on the proposed exemptions – central to “Pillar 2” of the AUKUS security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States – is being sought by May 31, according to a statement issued by the State Department on Thursday.
The change “would create a license exemption supporting billions of dollars in license-free defense trade between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States and allow for deeper security cooperation and innovation among AUKUS partners,” it said.
“All three nations are committed to working with our private sectors and our research communities – those who will use these exemptions – to ensure the exemptions, taken together, support the goals of the AUKUS enhanced security partnership,” the statement added.
The Virginia-class attack submarine Pre-commissioning Unit (PCU) John Warner (SSN 785) is moved to Newport News Shipbuilding’s floating dry dock in preparation for a christening August 31, 2014 in Newport News, VA. (U.S. Navy/John Whalen/Huntington Ingalls Industries/Handout/Reuters) AUKUS Pillar 2 aims to create a broad and “seamless” defense industry across the three nations amid ongoing production backlogs in America as its defense industrial base is stretched by growing commitments to allies in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
However, the proposed ITAR changes have been criticized by some U.S. lawmakers, including the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, who has asked whether Australia can protect defense secrets from Chinese spies.
ITAR exemption
Officials at the State Department last year also expressed concerns about the proposed ITAR exemptions, arguing that Australian and British firms can already freely access U.S. military technology after being vetted and going through the licensing process.
Proponents of Pillar 2, though, said the process is bureaucratic and burdensome for many foreign firms, and that exemptions are needed to facilitate production innovation across the three AUKUS countries.
Congress ultimately approved the possible exemptions in last year’s defense spending authorization bill, and gave President Joe Biden until last month to evaluate whether Australia and the United Kingdom had appropriate safeguards in place to protect U.S. military secrets.
The Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Missouri (SSN 780) departs Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for a scheduled deployment in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility, Sept. 1, 2021. (Amanda R. Gray/U.S. Navy via AP) On April 19, though, the State Department said Biden had not yet reached such a determination and would again evaluate the allies in 120 days, at which time the exemptions could be “finalized.”
Sen. Jim Risch, a Republican from Idaho and his party’s ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, slammed the decision at the time as undermining the AUKUS pact.
“The Biden Administration’s determination that the U.K. and Australia do not have a system of export controls comparable to those of the United States is deeply misguided and further delays the implementation of AUKUS,” Risch said in a April 22 statement.
“This judgment means our trade with the U.K. and Australia will continue to operate under the existing ITAR rules for at least the next four months,” he said. “It is time to deliver on the promise of AUKUS. Continued failure to do so would demonstrate the administration is fundamentally unserious about competing with China.”
Last year, Risch noted that Australia and the United Kingdom were – along with Canada and New Zealand – already trusted as part of the “Five Eyes” intelligence sharing alliance with the United States.
Widening net
Those critical of the exemptions point out that Five Eyes is an arrangement with trusted foreign governments, while the changes to ITAR would put U.S. defense technology into the hands of private companies who would then be responsible for safeguarding it.
Australian and British companies would no longer need to seek approval from the State Department “prior to any export, reexport, retransfer, or temporary import of defense articles” from America, according to a filing on the U.S. Federal Register.
In order to mitigate the risks involved with that, the proposed exemptions say individuals in Australia and the United Kingdom with access to sensitive U.S. technologies would need the equivalent in their countries of “Secret”-level clearance in the United States.
The exemptions would also not be comprehensive.
The State Department will compile “a list of defense articles and defense services excluded from eligibility for transfer under the proposed new exemption,” the Federal Register filing says.
Whatever the case, the Biden administration seems intent on passing the exemptions that could dramatically expand military production amid fears about China’s aims of territorial expansion in the Pacific.
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell – who until February was Biden’s top advisor on Asia – said last month that Pillar 2 of AUKUS was “basically … the way forward” from the massive backlogs that he said have “plagued” the America’s defense industrial base.
National Security Council Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell listens during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing to examine his nomination to be Deputy Secretary of State on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, in Washington. (Mariam Zuhaib/AP) In time, U.S. officials say that Pillar 2 could be expanded to include more allies. Last month, officials indicated Japan could be the first extra country added, but also said Tokyo has to wait until the arrangement with Canberra and London is “fully fleshed out.”
South Korea this week also expressed its interest in joining.
Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Alex Willemyns for RFA.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Tuvalu has reaffirmed its recognition of Taiwan following an election last month that had triggered speculation the Pacific island country could sever ties and recognize Beijing.
After choosing a prime minister earlier this week, Tuvalu’s new government on Wednesday released a statement of its domestic and international priorities. While reaffirming ties with Taiwan, the coral atoll nation of some 10,000 people also signaled it wants more benefits from the relationship.
“The new government wishes to reaffirm its commitment to the long-term and lasting special relationship between Tuvalu and the Republic of China, Taiwan,” the statement said.
“It intends to reassess options that would strengthen and lift it to a more durable, lasting and mutually beneficial relationship.”
Seve Paeniu, the finance minister in the previous government who reportedly argued for reviewing ties with Taiwan, is not part of Tuvalu’s new nine-man Cabinet.
Tuvalu is one of the dwindling number of nations that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan instead of Beijing. Last month, another Pacific island nation, Nauru, severed ties with Taiwan, reducing its diplomatic allies to 12 countries. Among Pacific island nations, Palau and the Marshall Islands also recognize Taiwan.
China’s government has courted Pacific island nations for the past two decades as it seeks to isolate Taiwan diplomatically, gain allies in international institutions and challenge U.S. dominance. Beijing regards Taiwan, a democracy and globally important tech manufacturing center, as a renegade province that must be reunited with the mainland.
Funafuti, the main island of the nation state of Tuvalu, is shown in this file photo taken on Oct. 13, 2011, from a Royal New Zealand Air Force C130 aircraft as it approaches the tiny South Pacific nation. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) The new Tuvalu government’s statement of priorities underlined the numerous challenges facing the farflung archipelago nation, particularly on its most populated atoll Funafuti.
It listed 19 challenges that included higher sea levels, lack of protection against king tides that swamp atolls, insufficient medical services, chronic problems of waste disposal on Funafuti – which is only a few square kilometers in area – lack of affordable flights, lack of reliable shipping and a high cost of living.
The statement also said that the new government broadly supports a contentious security pact with Australia that was signed last year, but would seek to amend parts of it.
The treaty between Tuvalu and Australia, called the Falepili Union, requires Tuvalu to have Australia’s agreement for “any partnership, arrangement or engagement with any other state or entity on security and defence-related matters.” Its expansive scope and lack of consultation was criticized during the election campaign.
The Tuvalu government statement said it recognizes the absence of transparency and consultations in informing Tuvaluans about the treaty, which comes with a long-term commitment to resettle some Tuvaluans in Australia.
It said it would address those concerns and work with the Australian government for an arrangement that safeguards Tuvalu’s sovereignty.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Stephen Wright for BenarNews.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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The Australian Research Council’s operating model, culture and organisational capability did not support its core purpose of administering around $800 million in competitive grants each year, according to an outside review of the agency. The review, conducted last year but only provided to the Senate this week, found the grant processes are opaque and the schemes…
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Calls for the federal government to address Australia’s outdated privacy regime have intensified, with digital rights advocates and researchers demanding urgent action in a new open letter. It comes as the Attorney-General’s Department revealed it is yet to begin drafting legislation to reform the Privacy Act, which the government has committed to in this term…
The post Groups unite to call for urgent action on privacy reform appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
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Papua New Guinea’s opposition leader has sought a Supreme Court review of the legality of a recently signed defense cooperation agreement with the United States, highlighting continuing unhappiness about the pact in the Pacific island country.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Papua New Guinea’s Defense Minister Win Bakri Daki signed the agreement in May, which once ratified would give the U.S. military unrestricted access to six air and sea ports in the island nation. The U.S. would also have criminal jurisdiction over American military personnel in Papua New Guinea.
The agreement “has sparked unprecedented protests and opposition all over the country,” opposition leader Joseph Lelang told BenarNews on Monday. “The issue of sovereignty and constitutionality of that agreement is now being tested.”
The agreement has been criticized by some analysts and groups such as the PNG Trade Union Congress as overly accommodative to Washington and entangling Papua New Guinea in the intensifying rivalry between China and the United States. Its signing sparked student protests at campuses in Papua New Guinea.
The U.S. has sought to bolster its already significant military presence in the Pacific and East Asia in response to China’s claims to the South China Sea that impinge on several Southeast Asian countries’ waters, its belligerence towards Taiwan – which Beijing considers a rebel province – and other activity.
Aside from Papua New Guinea, the U.S. has strengthened its defense ties with the Philippines, which is embroiled in territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea.
The U.S. and the United Kingdom are also working to equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines by next decade, under the AUKUS pact – another source of concern for some Pacific island nations that fear being dragged into superpower competition.
China’s military spending has grown rapidly for the past two decades but remains much smaller than that of the U.S. and its allies.
Lelang said the defense agreement case was submitted to Papua New Guinea’s top court on Thursday and a date for hearings to begin has yet to be decided.
A statement from Lelang said the government has the right to enter into agreements with other countries, but must do so without breaching the constitution or any other laws.
“As leader of the opposition it is my duty to ensure that all lawful checks and balances are strengthened or are available and that at all times, PNG’s sovereignty is not unnecessarily compromised,” he said.
Lelang said the opposition’s lawyers are also preparing a challenge to the shiprider agreement signed with the U.S. in May.
The agreement provides the basis for personnel from the Pacific island country to work on U.S. coast guard and naval vessels, and vice versa, in targeting economic and security challenges such as illegal fishing.
The Pacific island country’s courts are independent and are empowered to shape society rather than be judicial bystanders, according to constitutional law expert Bal Kama. The Supreme Court, which is the final judicial word on interpretations of the constitution, in 2016 ordered the closure of an Australian detention center on Papua New Guinea soil that was used to hold refugees and asylum seekers.
Papua New Guinea is among the poorest nations in the Pacific and its central government struggles to exert control over vast tracts of remote mountainous territory that frequently erupt in fatal tribal violence.
Prime Minister James Marape has previously said the defense agreement would help Papua New Guinea develop a robust economy, without giving details of how that would be achieved.
Mihai Sora, a Pacific analyst at the Lowy Institute, a Canberra-based think tank, said Marape probably has enough influence to ensure political support for the defense agreement.
However, the window of stability for his administration is closing, Sora said. A grace period that prevents no confidence motions in the first 18 months of a government will end in February.
“I think fundamentally the benefits of the defense cooperation agreement for Papua New Guinea are yet to be realized or even satisfactorily explained,” Sora said.
“This is the U.S.’s problem more than Marape’s problem. It should be their main priority in PNG right now,” he said.
The U.S.-PNG agreement and the AUKUS security pact are part of the new regional security architecture of the so-called Indo-Pacific, a U.S. strategic concept that combines the Indian and Pacific oceans and which analysts say aims to contain China.
Samoa’s Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa said in March that it was disconcerting to be lumped into a new super region without any consultation.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Harlyne Joku and Stephen Wright for BenarNews.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This June, the Swiss journalist Maurine Mercier found several United States citizens fighting in Ukraine under the guise of humanitarian work. “All of them are veterans, former soldiers who fought in all the recent American wars: the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan,” she reports. Many suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, carrying the embodied ghosts of past conflicts and deep psychic wounds to…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
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New York, July 17, 2023—Cameroonian journalists are facing lethal threats and false legal charges as they pursue reporting in the midst of Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict, according to a new report on press freedom and freedom of expression submitted to the United Nations by Freedom House, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights, with the support of Covington & Burling LLP.
The joint submission on press freedom in Cameroon released ahead of the country’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva later this year marks six months since the abduction and killing of prominent Cameroonian journalist Martinez Zogo, whose mutilated body was found five days later.
The groups’ submission highlights that the killing, physical attacks, abduction, torture, and harassment of journalists by Cameroonian police, intelligence agencies, military, and non-state actors continue to have a severe chilling effect. Several journalists have been forced into exile, two journalists have died in government custody under suspicious circumstances since 2010, and, most recently, prominent journalist Martinez Zogo was murdered in January 2023. In addition, two other journalist deaths are being investigated by CPJ.
“President Paul Biya’s government routinely claims that the plethora of media outlets in the country proves that the right to media freedom is enjoyed in Cameroon, but the reality is the polar opposite as laid bare in this joint report,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator. “The arbitrary detention of journalists labeled terrorists, the killings with impunity and the widespread censorship tactics fostered by the government, must be reversed for democracy to overcome Cameroon’s protracted conflict.”
The arbitrary imprisonment of journalists coupled with incommunicado and lengthy pre-trial detention has made Cameroon the second worst jailer of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa after Eritrea. Cameroon also detains journalists the longest after Eritrea. Five journalists are currently being detained there, four of whom are being held on anti-state charges in connection with the ongoing Anglophone conflict that has pitted separatists in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon against the forces of the majority French-speaking government.
The Cameroonian government uses anti-terror, anti-state, “false news” charges, and criminal defamation legislation to detain and convict journalists. It also prosecutes journalists by military tribunals rather than impartial civilian courts and consistently denies them the right to a fair trial and appeals process.
“The politically motivated detention of journalists in Cameroon is of serious concern,” said Margaux Ewen, Director of Freedom House’s Political Prisoners Initiative. “Through this submission, we remind Cameroon of its obligations under domestic and international law. We also show solidarity with the five journalists currently behind bars, who will not be forgotten.”
The Cameroonian government frequently suspends broadcasts and broadcast permissions, orders internet shutdowns, and blocks access to social media, communication platforms, and journalism offices and studios.
Cameroon is rated “Not Free” in Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2023 report. The country has an overall score of 15/100, with a score of 0/4 for media freedom (since 2018). The country has consistently appeared on CPJ’s annual prison census since 2014, with press freedom and journalist safety in decline for more than a decade. The American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights has documented multiple due process violations in trials of journalists reporting on the Anglophone crisis.
“This submission conclusively shows that the Cameroonian justice system continues to fail to protect journalists and other human rights defenders,” said Ginna Anderson, Associate Director of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Center for Human Rights. “The significant fair trial violations that the ABA Center for Human Rights has documented show an escalating breakdown in the rule of law and the protection of fundamental freedoms. It is vital that the UN Human Rights Committee engage the government of Cameroon on the specific violations and recommendations contained in this report.”
“Through Covington’s Kurt Wimmer Media Freedom Pro Bono Initiative, our lawyers provide pro bono support on media freedom matters, seeking to protect and advance media freedom and the safety of journalists,” said Peter Lichtenbaum, a partner at Covington & Burling LLP. “Our work on the joint submission to the United Nations UPR Review process assessing Cameroon’s actions with respect to press freedom supports these objectives.”
Among the recommendations in the report, CPJ, Freedom House and the ABA urged President Paul Biya’s government to finally account for the death in custody of Samuel Wazizi, to free the journalists it has arbitrarily detained, including those falsely accused of terrorism, and to ensure that the murder of Martinez Zogo and the killing of Jean-Jacques Ola Bebe do not go unpunished. They also called for Cameroon’s overly broad anti-terror law to be reviewed and to include a public interest defense.
Cameroon will undergo its UPR in November 2023 as part of the 44th session of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group in Geneva. To read the full submission, please click here.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director.This post was originally published on Radio Free.