Reporters Without Borders

Kazakhstan - No free press means no free elections in Kazakhstan

2016-03-19T11:49:15Z

The campaign for tomorrow's parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan was marked by the lack of an alternative to the ruling party – a lack of pluralism that also characterizes the Kazakh media landscape.

The witchhunt against critical media is not letting up in Kazakhstan, which is ranked 160th out of 180 countries in the latest World Press Freedom Index. Made paranoid by the economic crisis and the advanced age of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president since independence in 1991, the authorities have been steadily reinforcing their media and information monopoly.

“Independent media are indispensible for a democratic debate and, without them, no election is credible,” said Johann Bihr, the head of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk of Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

“We urge the international community to draw the necessary conclusions from this predictable farce. It would be disgraceful if the European Union, in particular, were to ratify its Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Kazakhstan when this country is openly violating its own undertakings.”

Imprisoned journalists

Guzal Baidalinova, the editor of the independent news website Nakanune.kz, has been held for nearly three months in the southern city of Almaty on a trumped-up charge of spreading false news about the Kazkommertsbank. Her lawyer, who says he has not yet been allowed access to her case file, fears that that her provisional detention will be extended when the current period expires on 23 March.

A Nakanune.kz reporter, Yulia Kozlova, was meanwhile finally acquitted and released on 29 February after being arrested on a trumped-up drug possession charge last December.

Encouraged by the way national media outlets are persecuted, provincial strongmen do not hesitate to silence troublesome journalists either. In the northeastern city of Pavlodar, local newspaper editor Yaroslav Golyshkin's sentence to eight years in prison and confiscation of his property was upheld on appeal on 23 February.

Convicted on charges of blackmail and extortion, Golyshkin is one of the scapegoats of a spectacular scandal involving the regional governor's son. The Pavlodar court took two days to reject his appeal, which was heard in his absence. His lawyer is now preparing to appeal to a national court in the hope that it could prove more neutral and less sympathetic to the governor than the local court.

Stifled media outlets, controlled Internet

The only remaining independent, Kazakh-language national newspaper, the daily Jas Alash, was ordered to pay 40 million tenge (more than 100,000 euros) in libel damages to the director of a clinic on appeal on 4 March. This ruinous damages award, which threatens the newspaper's survival, is a method that has been used systematically against independent media outlets in recent years.

In late October, the authorities got the better of the opposition newspaper ADAM, previous versions of which had been published year after year only to be always banned. Tired of this cat-and-mouse game, owner Guljan Yergaliyeva has decided for the time being not to publish any more versions.

The Kazakh Internet has long ceased to function as space for free expression. Since 26 January, Internet users and access providers have to get a “national security certificate” from state-owned Kazakhtelecom that gives the authorities direct access to their connection data and allow them to decrypt encrypted traffic. The list of activists who have been given jail terms for their Facebook posts includes Yermek Narymbayev, Serikhan Mambetalin and Bolatbek Bialov.

The already fraught climate for the media in Kazakhstan became suffocating after the bloody crackdown on rioting in Zhanaozen in December 2011 and the closure of all the leading national opposition newspapers a year later.

(Photo: AFP photo / Stanislav Filippov)

Cuba - Letter to Obama: Make freedom of the press and access to information priorities in Cuba

2016-03-18T19:44:53Z

Next week, President Barack Obama will visit Cuba, the first sitting President of the United States to do so since 1928. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has written an open letter to President Obama asking him to consider freedom of the press and access to information top priorities during his trip.

Paris, March 18, 2016

Dear Mr. President,

While you are about to embark on a landmark visit to Cuba next week, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges you to make freedom of the press and access to information top priorities. As the first sitting American president to visit Cuba in 88 years, you have the power and the duty to positively influence its policies on these issues, by raising them both publicly and privately with Cuban President Raúl Castro, the Cuban people, and during your meetings with the press and Cuban civil society. We must stress how important it is that you meet with journalists and members of civil society to hear first hand how their rights are being restricted.

Cuba represents the Western Hemisphere's lowest position on Reporters Without Borders' 2015 World Press Freedom Index, ranking 169th out of 180 countries. The Cuban government maintains a complete monopoly on information and will not tolerate any independent voices, ensuring that there is no free media. It is almost impossible to broadcast and publish information without authorization from the government. Media sources that have not received official recognition are deemed illegal and are censored. Foreign journalists are also subject to Cuba's censorship practices and restrictions, receiving accreditation only selectively. Furthermore, when foreign journalists cover stories that portray the current regime “too negatively,” they are deported.

In addition to its tradition of censorship, Cuba has a long history of violence and harassment toward journalists. Many journalists working for independent media have received violent threats from the government. Roberto de Jesus Guerra, editor of independent news agency and free speech NGO Hablemos Press, was physically attacked by the Internal Security Department in June 2014. Another correspondent from the same publication was run down by a car that same month. In July 2015, many activists and journalists were arrested at a protest organized by the “Ladies in White” opposition movement, but were never charged. Arrests, confiscation of equipment, and short detentions continue to occur on a regular basis for journalists covering this opposition movement and other events.

While the number of journalists imprisoned in Cuba has dwindled since 2010, the independent blogger from the agency Yayabo Press Yoeni de Jesús Guerra García who was sentenced to 7 years in prison in March 2014 on charges of illegally slaughtering cattle, remains behind bars. He claimed that the charges against him were fabricated due to his reporting. Yoeni has repeatedly been the victim of violence and possible torture by prison staff. RSF advocated for his release as part of the amnesty preceding Pope Francis' visit to Cuba last September, yet Yoeni still languishes in prison.

Even after the U.S. and Cuba restored diplomatic relations last summer, the climate for free media still needs to improve. So far in 2016, the Cuban government has arrested three journalists, detained one, and banned distribution of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Authorities also found journalist and bookseller Ángel Herrera Oviedo murdered last month.

Additionally, Cuba is among the worst nations in the world for Internet Access. Civilian use of the Internet has only been legal since June 2013, and even then it is regulated by the state. According to the United Nations Broadband Commission, less than five percent of households in Cuba have Internet access, which ranks 115th out of 133 countries. American aid worker Alan Gross, who you worked to free in 2014, spent five years in a Cuban prison for working on a project to help provide Cuban citizens better internet access.

In post-embargo Cuba, barriers to press freedom must be broken. Arrests of independent journalists, confiscation of material, and short detentions happen daily or weekly. The United States has the opportunity and the responsibility to facilitate a change through diplomacy. Now is the time to urge the government to allow independent media to operate without fear of violence or arrest. Now is the time to make sure all of Cuba's many voices are heard.

I thank you in advance, Mr. President, for the attention you give to this letter.

Sincerely,

Christophe Deloire Secretary-General, Reporters Without Borders

Azerbaijan - 15 political prisoners released, but dozens remain in jail

2016-03-18T17:04:52Z

We, the undersigned members of the Sport for Rights coalition, express our relief over the release of 15 political prisoners in Azerbaijan. Human rights defender Rasul Jafarov, the founder of the Sport for Rights campaign, stepped out from Baku's Prison Number 10 into freedom on 17 March after spending 593 days unjustly jailed. The same day, the European Court of Human Rights issued a judgment in Jafarov's case, acknowledging that his arrest and detention were politically motivated.

Jafarov was one of 14 political prisoners included in a presidential pardon decree signed on 17 March. The other political prisoners pardoned through that decree included journalists Parviz Hashimli, Hilal Mammadov, and Tofig Yagublu; human rights defenders Taleh Khasmammadov and Anar Mammadli; NIDA civic movement activists Rashadat Akhundov, Mahammad Azizov and Rashad Hasanov; bloggers Siraj Karimli and Omar Mammadov; former government official Akif Muradverdiyev; chairman of the National Statehood party Nemat Penahli; and Musavat party activist Yadigar Sadigov.

A further political prisoner, journalist Rauf Mirkadirov, was released on 17 March by the Baku Court of Appeals, which commuted his six-year prison sentence into a suspended five-year sentence. Mirkadirov had been unjustly jailed since April 2014 on politically motivated treason charges.

“We are incredibly relieved for those released yesterday, including Rasul Jafarov, who was arrested in August 2014 after launching our campaign to draw attention to human rights abuses taking place in Azerbaijan. But none of these 15 people ever should have been arrested in the first place, and dozens more remain unjustly jailed now, neglected by this pardon decree. They must be released, and this vicious cycle of politically motivated arrests must end”, said Rebecca Vincent, coordinator of the Sport for Rights campaign.

While the release of these political prisoners was the right step, we note that they never should have spent a single day in jail. Further, dozens of other political prisoners remain in Azerbaijani jails, including journalists Khadija Ismayilova and Seymur Hezi, human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev, youth activist Ilkin Rustemzade, and opposition REAL movement leader Ilgar Mammadov, whose release has been ordered by the European Court of Human Rights.

We reiterate our call for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, and for an end to the cycle of politically motivated arrests in Azerbaijan. We urge the international community to continue to press for the release of the remaining political prisoners as a matter of urgent priority, and for further concrete reforms to improve the country's dire human rights situation.

Supporting organisations:

ARTICLE 19
Civil Rights Defenders
Committee to Protect Journalists
Freedom Now
Front Line Defenders
Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
Human Rights House Foundation
Index on Censorship
Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
International Media Support
International Partnership for Human Rights
NESEHNUTI
Netherlands Helsinki Committee
Norwegian Helsinki Committee
PEN America
People in Need
Platform
Polish Green Network
Reporters Without Borders
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)

(Photo: https://twitter.com/UlviyyaAli/stat...)

DRC - Officials manhandle US photographer as she covers Goma street demonstration

2016-03-18T15:16:32Z

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns US award-winning photojournalist Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi's manhandling by members of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR) while she filmed a peaceful street demonstration in Goma, the capital of the eastern province of Nord-Kivu, on 15 March.

Four ANR officers used force against Alhindawi as they tried to arrest her but she managed to escape by clinging to a vehicle belonging to the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO.

Alhindawi, who works for the magazine Causette and freelances for other media such as CNN, Al Jazeera, National Geographic and The New York Times, was the only journalist covering the march, staged by a group called LUCHA (Struggle for Change).

“The fact that Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi, a foreign reporter, was one of the only journalist who dared to cover the LUCHA march is symptomatic of the unease and self-censorship that prevails today in Nord-Kivu province,” said Cléa Kahn-Sriber, the head of RSF's Africa desk. “We urge the province's authorities to allow journalists to do their work and to freely report what is going on within Congolese civil society.”

A civil society movement that defines itself as non-violent, non-partisan and peaceful, LUCHA is calling for democratic renewal in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The 47 participants in the demonstration marched with their hands tied and their mouths gagged in protest against the systematic gagging of the movement. Nineteen of them were arrested for “disturbing public order” and are still detained.

The march was held to mark the anniversary of the arrest of two LUCHA members, Fred Bauma and Yves Makuambala, during a meeting that LUCHA organized in Goma in March 2015 with representatives of similar movements in Burkina Faso (“Balais citoyen”) and Senegal (“Y'en a marre”).

The authorities portrayed the meeting as “terrorist” in nature, a description that was rejected by a parliamentary committee. Bauma and Makuambala nonetheless continue to be held in Kinshasa on a charge of conspiring against President Joseph Kabila.

During a visit last month, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon voiced concern about the restriction of political space in the DRC. The clampdown and other developments are seen as signs that Kabila, who was been president for the past 15 years, may be tempted to indefinitely postpone the presidential election due to be held at the end of this year.

The DRC is ranked 150th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2015 World Press Freedom Index.

Photo: Charly Kasereka, VOA

Iran - Press freedom violations recounted in real time January 2016

2016-03-17T16:00:00Z

17.03.2016 - Sent into exile after four years in prison

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the ruthless manner in which the judicial authorities are enforcing the sentence imposed in 2013 on journalist and researcher Said Madani. Released on 15 March, after four years in prison, Madani has been ordered to travel at once to the southern city of Bandar Abbas to begin a period of two years in exile there.

A sociologist and writer (who has written many articles for independent media outlets), Madani was freed under article 134 of the new Islamic criminal code (as amended in 2013), under which someone convicted of more than one crime serves only the main sentence.

After being arrested by plainclothesmen at his Tehran home on 7 January 2012, Madani spent a year in isolation in Section 209 of Tehran's Evin prison. The decision to sentence him to a jail term followed by exile was taken by a Tehran revolutionary court on 18 June 2013.

18.02.2016 – Four Narenji website employees returned to prison

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns yesterday's rearrest of four senior members of the Narenji (Orange) tech news website to begin serving long jail sentences that were confirmed on appeal. The four – Ali Asghar Honarmand, Hossien Nozari, Ehsan Paknejad and Abass Vahedi – are sentenced to eleven, seven, five and two and a half years in prison respectively.

Originally arrested along with seven colleagues in the southeastern city of Kerman on 3 December 2013, they were convicted by a Kerman court on 24 May 2014 on charges of “anti-government publicity,” “actions threatening national security” and “collaborating with TV stations based abroad.” Their seven colleagues received suspended sentences. All were freed in return for payment of large bail amounts. A court upheld the sentences on 30 November 2015 but the authorities did not notify them prior to the time of their rearrest.

12.02.2016 - Former BBC journalist detained in Tehran

Reporters Without Borders condemns the detention of Bahman Darolshafai, a 34-year-old former BBC journalist with British and Iranian dual nationality. Arrested at his Tehran home by plainclothesmen on 3 February, he managed to make a short phone call to his mother five days later, telling her he was “in a cell in Evin prison and under interrogation.”

After several years in London, Darolshafa left the BBC's Persian Service n 2014 and returned to Iran. Thereafter he was repeatedly interrogated by intelligence ministry officials and was forbidden to do any kind of journalistic activity. He had been translating literary and philosophical works.

2.02.2016 - Four journalists held provisionally for past two months

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the continuing provisional detention of four journalists who were the victims of a wave of arrests exactly two months ago, on 2 November 2015 .

Mahmoud Alizadeh-Tabatabaie, a lawyer representing two of the four, said: “There are differences between the investigation judge and the prosecutor as regards the charges against my clients.” He is defending Ehssan Mazndarani, the editor of the daily Farhikhteghan, and Issa Saharkhiz, a well-known independent journalist.

As well as being accused of “propaganda activities against the government,” they are also charged with “acting against national security by means of meetings” and “conspiring against and insulting government officials.”

The case has been sent to the Tehran revolutionary court, whose president, Aboughasem Salevati, has been persecuting journalists and online information providers for years. He staged the “Stalin-style” mass trials in August 2009 and alone is responsible for convicting more than 100 journalists.

The other two journalists arrested on 2 November are Afarine Chitsaz of the daily Iran and Saman Safarzai of the monthly Andisher Poya. All four continue to be denied all their rights.

14.01.2016 – Woman journalist detained for fourth time since 2009

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns journalist Rihaneh Tabtabai's detention for the fourth time since 2009. Tabtabai, who has worked for Shargh, Etemad, Bahar and other reformist newspapers, was jailed on 12 January to serve a one-year sentence on charges of endangering national security and anti-government publicity. Originally imposed by a revolutionary court in November 2014, the sentence was upheld by a Tehran appeal court two months ago. She is also sentenced to a two-year ban on political and journalistic activity in the media and online after she completes the jail term.

After being arrested on 12 December 2010, she was released on bail of 10 million toman (7,500 euros) on 16 January 2011. On 2 April 2012, she received a two-year jail sentence from a Tehran revolutionary court that was reduced to six months on appeal. She served the sentence from 21 June to 11 November 2014. She was also detained from 31 January to 26 February 2013, when she was freed on bail.

12.01.2016 – Journalist sent back to prison

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns Meisam Mohammadi's reimprisonment on 8 January. A onetime political editor of Kalameh Sabaz (a daily closed by the authorities in June 2009) and contributor to the Beheshti Foundation website, Mohammadi was arrested at his home by intelligence ministry officials on 10 February 2010 and was freed on bail two months later, pending trial. He was sentenced in May 2012 to four years in prison and a five-year ban on journalistic and political activities on charges of anti-government publicity and “meeting to conspire against national security.”

Kalameh Sabaz's owner, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, the writer Zahra Rahnavard (who is Mousavi wife) and Mehdi Karoubi, a former parliamentary speaker and owner of the closed newspaper Etemad Melli, are still illegally held under house arrest and have been detained since 24 February 2011. Mousavi and Karoubi, who were both presidential candidates in 2009, have also been stripped of all of their rights. Their state of health is very worrying.

Press freedom violations recounted in real time (January -December 2015)

Press freedom violations recounted in real time ( January-December 2014)

Press freedom violations recounted in real time ( January-December 2013)

Press freedom violations recounted in real time (January-December 2012)

Press freedom violations recounted in real time (January-December 2011)

Press freedom violations recounted in real time (July-December 2010)

Press freedom violations recounted in real time (January-July 2010)

Press freedom violations recounted in real time (June-December 2009)

Venezuela - Four-year jail term for newspaper editor who investigated corruption

2016-03-17T13:32:19Z

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the four-year jail sentence that a court in the southeastern state of Bolívar has imposed on David Natera Febres, the editor of the independent Correo del Caroní newspaper, in connection with its coverage of alleged corruption involving a state-owned company.

In RSF's view, this iniquitous sentence, passed on 11 March, is designed to gag investigative journalism and reinforce the climate of censorship in Venezuela.

As well as giving Natera a four-year jail term on a defamation charge, the court fined him more than 200,000 bolívares (20,000 dollars) and banned the newspaper from publishing any information about the case.

Natera and his newspaper were convicted in connection with their coverage in 2013 of a case of alleged corruption and extortion involving army officers and the Ferrominera Orinoco company, which mines iron ore. The newspaper's reporting led to the arrest of several of the company's managers, but they were later released.

“We question the real motives of the court's decision and suspect another attempt by the authorities to censor and intimidate the independent press,” said Emmanuel Colombié, the head of RSF's Latin America desk. “Venezuela's independent media are the victims of institutional persecution. The authorities must respect the fundamental principle of a right to information.”

One of the few independent newspapers in Venezuela, the Correo del Caroní has been subjected to many different forms of harassment by the authorities in Bolívar state in recent years.

It has been denied state advertising, pressure has been put on private-sector companies not to place advertising with the newspaper, newsstand owners have been bribed not to sell it, and it has been threatened with seizure of its headquarters.

This defamation case is not the first of its kind in Venezuela. In May 2015, RSF issued a press release condemning a judge's decision to ban 22 editors and executives of three independent media outlets from leaving the country when a suit was brought against them accusing them of “aggravated and continuing defamation.”

Journalists who cover corruption involving government officials or cases of violence by state agents are often the targets of harassment or physical violence, especially during elections.

Venezuela is ranked 137th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2015 World Press Freedom Index.

Syria - Renewed calls for Bassel Khartabil's release on 4th anniversary of detention

2016-03-17T11:13:54Z

Syria's authorities should reveal the whereabouts of Bassel Khartabil, a software developer and free speech activist, and release him immediately, 32 organizations said on the fourth anniversary of his detention

On 15 March 2012, Military Intelligence arrested Khartabil and held him in incommunicado detention for eight months before moving him to ‘Adra prison in Damascus in December 2012. During this time he was subjected to torture and ill-treatment. He remained in ‘Adra until 03 October 2015, when he managed to inform his family that he was being transferred to an undisclosed location. Since then his whereabouts remain unknown and there are serious concerns for his life.

Based on unconfirmed information that the family received from some local sources, there are fears that he may have been tried and sentenced to death by a Military Field Court in the Military Police headquarters in Al-Qaboun, Damascus. These courts are notorious for conducting closed-door proceedings that do not meet minimum international standards for a fair trial.

Since his detention, many human rights groups have campaigned for his release. On 21 April 2015, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared his detention a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and called for his release, yet the Syrian authorities refuse to free him.

A Syrian of Palestinian parents, Khartabil is a 34-year-old computer engineer who worked to build a career in software and web development. Before his arrest, Khartabil used his technical expertise to help advance freedom of speech and access to information via the internet. He has won many awards, including the 2013 Index on Censorship Digital Freedom Award for using technology to promote an open and free internet, and was named one of Foreign Policy magazine's Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2012 “for insisting, against all odds, on a peaceful Syrian revolution.”

The signatory organizations express concern at his on-going arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance and believe that it is a direct result of his peaceful and legitimate work for the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of expression.

The groups call on the authorities in Syria to:

Immediately disclose the whereabouts of Bassel Khartabil and grant him access to a lawyer of his choice and to his family;
Ensure that he is protected from torture and other ill-treatment;
Immediately and unconditionally release him;
Release all detainees in Syria held for exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of expression and association.

Co-signed:

Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
Amnesty International
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
English PEN
Euromed Rights (EMRHN)
Front Line Defenders (FLD)
Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR)
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (HIVOS)
Iraqi Network for Social Media (INSM)
International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
Iraqi Association for the Defence of Journalists' Rights (IJRDA)
International Media Support (IMS)
Index on Censorship
Jordan Open Source Association (JOSA)
Lawyers Rights Watch Canada
Metro Centre to Defend Journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan
No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ)
PAX for Peace
PEN International
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Samir Kassir Foundation
Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF)
Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression
The Day After
Tunisian Initiative for Freedom of Expression
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Violations Documentations Center (VDC)

DRC - Radio station director wins court case after decree protecting journalists

2016-03-16T14:41:26Z

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomes this week's decision by a court in Bukavu, in the eastern province of Sud-Kivu, to pass a jail sentence on a regional government employee for threatening Donat Musema, the director of Bukavu-based community radio station Iriba FM, in June 2015.

Coming in the wake of a decree ratified by Sud-Kivu's governor a month ago on the protection of journalists, the ruling is a victory for freedom of information.

On 14 March, the court sentenced Vianey Shamamba, an official in the provincial administration, to eight days in prison and a fine equivalent to 2,500 dollars. The case was heard in response to the complaint that Musema filed in June 2015 about Shamamba's death threats against him.

Shamamba threatened Musema after the radio station broadcast a speech delivered in Bukavu by Vital Kamerhe, a former supporter of President Joseph Kabila turned political opponent. RSF issued a press release at the time condemning the threats against Musema and the harassment to which he and colleagues were subjected.

“We hail the Bukavu court's decision,” said Cléa Kahn-Sriber, the head of RSF's Africa desk. “We also welcome the positive effect of the decree protecting journalists, which seems to have had an impact on the court, and we encourage the Congolese courts to continue on this path so that journalists can do their job without having to fear abuse of authority.”

The decree protecting Sud-Kivu's human rights defenders and journalists was ratified by provincial governor Marcellin Cishambo on 10 February, two years after having been voted. It guarantees the confidentiality of journalists' sources and the right to inform and be informed. It also says the authorities have a duty to protect journalists.

Musema's right to file a complaint was guaranteed by article 7 of the decree, which says: “In the event that their rights are violated in connection with their activities, human rights defenders and journalists can refer the matter to the competent judicial authorities.”

The Democratic Republic of Congo is ranked 150th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2015 World Press Freedom Index.

Photo: Donat Musema (in blue) on his way to file his complaint (Kivu reporters, juin 2016)

Iran - On eve of Iranian New Year, concern about fate of imprisoned journalists

2016-03-16T14:36:33Z

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reiterates its concern about the conditions in which journalists are being detained in Iran, especially Afarine Chitsaz of the daily newspaper Iran, a young woman arrested at the same time as three other journalists on 2 November.

She was able to make a short phone call after her arrest but the authorities have provided no official information about her detention.

According to the information obtained by RSF, she is now being held in isolation in Section 2A of Tehran's Evin prison. The Revolutionary Guards control this section and subject detainees to a great deal of pressure, often with the aim of extracting confessions to be used at their trials.

Iran is the world's biggest prison for women journalists, with four others currently held. The other four – Rihaneh Tabatabai, Roya Saberi Negad Nobakht, Narges Mohammadi and Atena Ferghdani – are serving jail terms ranging from one to twelve years and some some are in poor health.

There is also concern about the state of health of Issa Saharkhiz, a well-known independent journalist who is being tried along with Ehssan Mazndarani and Saman Safarzai by a Tehran revolutionary court on charges of “activities threatening national security” and anti-government propaganda. After going on hunger strike and suffering a heart attack, Saharkhiz has been in a Tehran hospital since 10 March.

“On the eve of the Iranian New Year on 20 March, many journalists and citizen- journalists are separated from their families,” said Reza Moini, the head of RSF's Iran/Afghanistan desk. “The Iranian authorities – including President Hassan Rouhani, whose silence facilitates this persecution – could display clemency towards these detainees, who have been arrested arbitrarily and convicted unjustly. We call for their immediate and unconditional release.”

RSF has meanwhile learned that Saraj Mirdamadi, a journalist who worked for various media outlets including Hayat-é-No (a daily closed in January 2003) and Zamaneh (a radio station based in the Netherlands), was released conditionally on 13 March. He was freed under article 58 of the Islamic criminal code (as amended in 2013), under which detainees who have served a third of their sentence can be released for good behaviour. Arrested on 10 May 2014, he was convicted on 21 July 2015 on charges of “meeting and plotting against the Islamic Republic” and “anti-government publicity.”

With a total of 36 journalists and citizen-journalists currently detained, Iran is still one of the world's five biggest prisons for media personnel and is ranked 173rd out of 180 countriesin the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

Burma - RSF calls for thorough investigation of bombing at journalist's home

2016-03-16T09:45:15Z

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Burmese authorities to do everything possible to arrest and prosecute all those who had anything to do with last week's bomb explosion at the home of Min Min, the chief editor of the Root Investigative Agency (RIA), in the troubled western state of Arakan.

It was the first time that a media professional has been the target of an act of violence of this kind in Burma.

“We are very concerned so see media freedom's enemies crossing this threshold,” said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk.

“We take note of the initial measures adopted by the security forces and we urge them to redouble efforts to identify and catch this attack's perpetrators and instigators. A strong message must be sent to those who target news providers, in order to prevent a climate of impunity and an ensuing climate of violence and self-censorship.”

Based in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan, RIA has often been the target of threats, especially on social networks, ever since its creation in August 2015. RIA's journalists have been warned on Facebook that “your time is near.”

A message posted after the explosion said: “This was only a warning and more attacks are coming.” In Viber and Facebook discussion groups, a price of “20 lakhs” (27,000 euros) has been put on the heads of RIA's two leading journalists.

The bomb went off in the garden of Min Min's home at around 11:20 p.m. on 10 March. No one was hurt, but only by chance. The police protected the house until the next morning.

The local authorities said the Arakan Army, an armed separatist group, may have been behind the bombing even if it has not claimed responsibility. RIA said it thought its investigative reported prompted the attack.

Ever since the clashes between the local Buddhists and Muslims groups in Arakan state in June 2012, many Burmese and foreign journalists have been subjected to intimidation and even prevented from working freely.

After discussing the problems resulting from the lack of information about the violence, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in June 2013 calling for journalists to be given unrestricted access to sensitive regions of Burma such as Arakan state, where people of Rohingya origin are in the majority.

Read the report entitled “Crisis in Arakan state and new threats to freedom of information” that RSF published in June 2012.

Burma is ranked 144th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2015 World Press Freedom Index.

Malaysia - RSF calls on prime minister to respect media freedom

2016-03-14T16:17:15Z

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is concerned about the government's growing readiness to resort to censorship amid continuing political scandals. Two Australian TV journalists were briefly arrested for approaching the prime minister and could be prosecuted, while a news website has announced that it is closing after being blocked.

It was if they had committed an act of lèse-majesté. Reporter Linton Besser and camera operator Louie Eroglu, who work for Australian TV broadcaster ABC, were arrested on a street in Kuching, on the island of Borneo, on 12 March shortly after approaching Prime Minister Najib Razak.

When they were released the next day, their passports were briefly confiscated and they were told not to leave the country pending a decision as to whether they would be prosecuted. The police said they had crossed a “security line and aggressively tried to approach the prime minister.”

The two journalists had wanted to interview Razak for the ABC investigative programme Four Corners about the “Althantuya affair,” a highly sensitive case of alleged corruption that has been the subject of repeated acts of censorship in the past. (See the arrest of blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin in 2011)

The Malaysian Insider, a news website owned by the Edge Media Group, meanwhile announced today that it was closing as a result of a loss of income caused by the government's decision to block it.

“The Malaysian Insider suffered from the block and an already softening advertising market in Malaysia,” Jahabar Sadiq, Chief Executive Officer/Editor told RSF. “It's a sad day as Malaysia needs more news portals to provide an unvarnished view of the nation.”

Anyone trying to access the site since 25 February has found a notice announcing that it is being blocked for violating Section 233 of the 1998 Communications and Multimedia Act, penalizing “improper use of network services.”

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission issued a statement the same day announcing that the decision to block the website was “based on complaints and information received from the public.” The statement added a reminder to news sites “not to distribute or publish articles that have not been verified.”

“ We caution the authorities against any attempt to prosecute the two journalists,” said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk. “It is an understatement to say that censorship is growing in Malaysia. What with Sarawak Report, Asia Sentinel and Medium, and other news sites that are sometimes subject too temporary censorship, it is the entire independent and critical press that is being targeted.

“This cannot continue forever. The international community must react in a concrete way and not just limit itself to statements. The United States must condition implementation of the Trans Pacific Partnership on respect for democratic freedoms, starting with freedom of the media and information.”

In response to Malaysian government censorship, RSF recently created a “mirror” copy of the Sarawak Report news website, which is blocked in Malaysia because of its coverage of an alleged corruption case involving the prime minister.

To deter the government from blocking access to the mirror, RSF is using the “Collateral Freedom” method pioneered by Greatfire.org as a way of unblocking access to sites censored in China. Internet users in Malaysia can now access the Sarawak Report at https://swk.global.ssl.fastly.net/.

RSF plans to add to the list of sites that is it unblocking under Operation Collateral Freedom and will continue the operation for as long as the resources are available to cover the cost of the servers and the bandwidth consumed by the visitors to the mirror sites.

To learn more about Operation Collateral Freedom and to see the list of sites that were unblocked to mark World Day Against Cyber-Censorship, go to: https://12mars.rsf.org/2016-en/#sites

Malaysia is ranked 147th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2015 World Press Freedom Index.

DRC - Government offensive against opposition media outlets

2016-03-14T13:50:24Z

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the closure of La Voix du Katanga, the third broadcaster to be shut down by the authorities in the strategic southeastern city of Lubumbashi since the start of the year.

The authorities of the newly-formed province of Haut-Katanga announced the closure on 11 March. “This station has not paid its annual dues and does not even have a broadcasting licence,” a senior Haut-Katanga official told Agence France-Presse.

This was denied by the head of La Voix du Katanga, who insisted that its papers were up to date and that the closure was politically motivated. The radio and TV station belongs to Gabriel Kyungu wa Kumwanza, one of the leaders of G7, a coalition formed last September to oppose any attempt by President Joseph Kabila to run for a third term.

“For the third time in six weeks, Katanga has seen the closure of a media outlet that does not toe the government line,” said Cléa Kahn-Sriber, the head of RSF's Africa desk.

“This seems to be becoming the systematic method for preventing any criticism from being broadcast in this very rich province, which is highly strategic for the government in Kinshasa. We call on the authorities to prove the allegations made against La Voix du Katanga or, failing that, to reopen the station at once.”

RSF previous condemned the 28 January closure of two opposition TV station owned by Moïse Katumbi, Katanga's former governor, who used to be a leading member of the ruling party but recently changed sides.

During a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo last month, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon voiced concern about the restriction of political space in the country.

The DRC is ranked 150th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2015 World Press Freedom Index.

Eritrea - Reporters without borders gives a statement on Eritrea before the UN Human Rights Council

2016-03-14T11:41:52Z

In a joint oral statement today to the UN Human Rights Council, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project urged the Council to pay close attention to human right violations in Eritrea. Large numbers of Eritreans are fleeing the country to escape lifelong military service and denial of their fundamental rights. The authorities tolerate no independent media outlets and have been holding dozens of journalists and activists incommunicado for years.

RSF took the opportunity to stress the importance of renewing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and the Commission of Enquiry on Eritrea, which has been gathering valuable information on the situation in the country. The two NGOs urged the Council to demand that the Eritrean government provide proof of life of those detained and that it free all journalists, political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.

"Human Rights Council 31st Session Individual Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea (Oral Update) 14 March

Joint Oral Statement The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project Reporters Without Borders

Read by: Hélène Sackstein

Mr President,

On March 1st, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Eritrea assured the Council of his country's commitment to human rights and human dignity as a "top priority" and of its full engagement in the UPR process.

Reporters Without Borders and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project are concerned by the gap between His Excellency's description of the situation in his country and the systemic, widespread and grave human rights violations documented by the Special Rapporteur and the Commission of Enquiry on Eritrea.

We sincerely thank the Special Rapporteur for her continued attention to the plight of ordinary Eritreans who continue to flee in droves, including unaccompanied minors, as noted in this year's oral update. They flee to avoid endless military service in a country where fundamental rights are inexistent, where there is no independent media and where the UPR recommendations are repeatedly ignored, a country where civil society activists and journalists are held incommunicado for years with no access to lawyers.

2 cases are emblematic: Dawit Isaak, a Swedish-Eritrean journalist, arrested and held incommunicado since 2001, and Seyoum Tsehaye, former head of national television, whose films on the independence struggle continue to be screened regularly on independence day while he languishes in jail. Their families and the families many others have not heard anything from their loved ones, nor do they know whether they are alive or dead.

We would like to ask the Special Rapporteur what, given her findings, are the priority issues she believes the international community and the government of Eritrea need to address to tackle the country's damning human rights record.

We also urge the Council to renew the Special Rapporteur's mandate, and to demand that the Government provide proof of life of those arrested and release all journalists, political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.

I thank you."

To learn more about freedom of information in Eritrea, click here.

Singapore - RSF calls for end to harassment of The Online Citizen

2016-03-14T09:14:35Z

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Singapore's authorities to stop trying to intimidate The Online Citizen (TOC), a community news website that is being harassed by the interior minister over its coverage of a Singaporean teenager's suicide in January after interrogation by the police.

RSF is very concerned about the procedures initiated against this participative site, which could result in its permanent closure.

Benjamin Lim, 14, took his own life on 26 January, a few hours after being interrogated by police officers on suspicion of having sexually molested an 11-year-old girl. The Online Citizen has being covering the case in detail from the outset, posting a new story almost every day.

TOC has repeatedly asked the police and interior minister M. K Shanmugam why five police officers questioned the 14-year-old in the absence of a parent or guardian and why they refused to let his mother see him during the interrogation.

In a statement in parliament on 1 March, Shanmugam (who is also justice minster) accused TOC of “a planned, orchestrated campaign, using falsehoods” and of suggesting that “the police were lying to Singaporeans.”

“We firmly condemn the baseless accusations that the interior minister made before Singapore's parliamentarians,” said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk.

“How can you talk of a planned campaign when this collaborative website has just tried to shed light on this case and, in so doing, has reflected the diverse and spontaneous opinions of members of the public? If the officials contacted by The Online Citizen had answered its questions, it could have reported how they view the case. We caution the authorities against any attempt to prosecute the website.”

In a public statement on 29 February, Lim's father thanked The Online Citizen for its constant coverage of the case. “If not for social media, especially TOC, the case would have died down a long time ago,” he said. This show of support came after TOC was targeted by several procedures designed to persuade it to stop criticizing the authorities.

After an article was posted on the site in January 2015 in which an inventor accused the defence ministry of violating a patent, TOC was ordered to withdraw the article under the Protection from Harassment Act. A Singapore court ruled in December that recourse to this law by a government department was invalid. The defence ministry has appealed against the ruling.

On 4 March, the Media Development Authority (MDA) ordered The Opinion Collaborative Ltd (TOCL), under which TOC was previously operating, to return the 5,000 dollars (3,200 euros) it received from a foreign organization, the Monsoons Book Club, in April 2015. The MDA said TOCL was only allowed to take money from commercial advertisers. However, as its name suggests, the Monsoons Book Club is a non-profit organization.

The Online Citizen is one of the last refuges for citizen reporting in this island-state dominated by self-censorship.

Singapore is ranked 153rd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2015 World Press Freedom Index.

DRC - Journalist held arbitrarily, Nord-Kivu authorities impose reporting blackout

2016-03-11T16:12:28Z

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is extremely concerned about radio journalist Mapendo King's detention for the past six days in Rutshuru Territory, a troubled region in the eastern province of Nord-Kivu, and calls for his immediate release.

King has been held since 5 March, when members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) based in the locality of Tongo stormed into his radio station, La Voix de Rutshuru, with the aim of arresting him.

A few days later, he was placed in the custody of the military authorities in the town of Rutshuru, where he is currently held in a very basic cell pending transfer to Goma, 70 km away. In Goma he will be far from his family in a prison system where inmates depend on relatives to provide food and blankets.

King is accused of spreading false information because he reported the presence of a Mai-Mai armed group (regarded as members of the Hunde ethnic group) near Tongo, where Hutus are in the majority. The chief of the locality ordered him to retract the report but he refused, insisting that he had verified it with a local source. It was because of this refusal that his arrest was ordered by the local security committee, which is headed by the same chief.

“We call for Mapendo King's immediate release,” said Cléa Kahn-Sriber, the head of RSF's Africa desk. “He is being held simply for doing his job as a journalist. He put out a report that he had verified and he refused to submit to political pressure.

“Regardless of the accusations, he must be tried under the media law, and certainly not by a military court. His detention in these conditions is completely illegal and is designed to impose a blackout on coverage of security issues in Rutshuru Territory.”

During a meeting yesterday, the Rutshuru Territory administrator issued an order banning the media from reporting any information involving the activities of the police, army or National Intelligence Agency (ANR). Since then, the territory's six radio stations have ceased to broadcast any news for fear of reprisals.

“We cannot work in such conditions,” a Rutshuru journalist told RSF on condition of anonymity. “We are constantly threatened. It is on the basis of what is reported on the radio that measures can be taken to protect civilians. If we don't report exactions, the population will suffer.”

There has been a great deal of tension in recent months in Rutshuru Territory, which is riven by inter-ethnic discord. On 3 March, Nord-Kivu governor Julien Paluku urged the media not to stir up hatred between the communities and said anyone responsible would be prosecuted. His speech was regarded as intimidatory by most journalists, who now have opted for self-censorship rather than cover this kind of story.

DRC is ranked 150th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2015 World Press Freedom Index.

People fleeing Rutshuru, July 2012

Libya - RSF condemns attack on Libyan journalists by Italian special forces

2016-03-11T11:08:49Z

Reporters Without Borders condemns the use of violence by members of the Italian special forces against two Libyan journalists on 9 March at Tripoli's Mitiga airport, where the reporters were covering the repatriation of the bodies of two Italian hostages killed in northwestern Libya.

Members of an Italian special unit attacked Associated Press reporter Mohamad Ben Khalifa and Reuters reporter Hani Amara verbally and physically. Amara was hit with great force in the face while Khalifa was repeatedly insulted.

“It is unacceptable that these Italian officials attacked Khalifa and Amara and blocked access to information,” said Yasmine Kacha, the head of RSF's North Africa desk. “Libyan journalists continue to be victims of the violence reigning in Libya although they have a key role to play in restoring peace.”

The security situation in Libya has been worsening since the fall of the Gaddafi regime in 2011, creating a climate of tension and violence that makes it extremely difficult for journalists to operate. The situation has been further complicated by the existence two rival governments, one based in Tobruk and the other Tripoli. As a result of negotiations under UN aegis, a new single government was announced on 17 December but this attempt to resolve the political crisis has not as yet been successful.

Libya is ranked 154th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2015 press freedom index.

South Sudan - Reporter kidnapped and tortured two weeks after release

2016-03-08T16:49:12Z

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the appalling torture to which newspaper reporter Joseph Afandi was subjected just two weeks after his release from a long period of detention, and calls on the government to guarantee the safety of journalists in South Sudan.

It has only just been reported that Afandi was found badly beaten and burned near a cemetery in the capital, Juba, four days ago, and is now hospitalized. A colleague, Ibrahim Awuol, said he has serious leg injuries caused by burning plastic.

Afandi said he was abducted on 4 March by unidentified men in a white vehicle with tinted windows and no number plate. The authorities recently held him incommunicado for two months for criticizing the government's handling of the civil war, which has dragged on for more than two years.

He was finally freed on 19 February without being notified of any charge.

“We condemn this cruel act of violence against Joseph Afandi with the utmost energy and we call for an immediate investigation with the aim of identifying those responsible,” said Cléa Kahn-Sriber, the head of RSF's Africa desk.

“In the absence of such an investigation, we remind the South Sudanese authorities that those who make such human rights violations possible will one day be called to account before an international court.”

Local observers have reported an increase in attacks on journalists in recent weeks. In most cases, the terrified victims have asked not to be identified.

Freedom of information has declined steadily since the start of the deadly civil war in South Sudan, the world's newest state. Six journalists were killed in connection with their work in 2015, while the government has closed at least five media outlets including journalist Niah Bohl's historic Citizen Newspaper.

South Sudan is ranked 125th out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

Photo : Joseph Afandi, http://www.jubatv.net/

Turkey - Will the EU let itself be humiliated over media freedom in Turkey?

2016-03-06T13:45:30Z

On the eve of another European Union-Turkey summit about migration, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges the EU to show all the necessary firmness in response to the attacks on media freedom in Turkey.

“The European Union must not settle for just reminding the Turkish authorities of the principles of media freedom,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. “It must exercise all of its potential leverage. There can be no question of resuming EU accession talks while Ankara visibly tramples on basic European values. If the EU continues to yield to blackmail regarding migrants, it will give the impression of abandoning the principles on which it was founded.

“Until now, the European Union has demonstrated culpable weakness in response to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's attacks on the media. But ‘business as usual' would be incomprehensible after he seized control of the main opposition media group in such a brutal manner while Donald Tusk was in Ankara. Is the EU determined to let itself be humiliated?”

After a court issued an order for the authorities to take control of the opposition Zaman media group, the police stormed its headquarters on the night of 4 March and used teargas and water cannon against the hundreds of protesters outside. Zaman's management was then dismissed and the Zaman daily newspaper is now taking a pro-government line that borders on caricature.

Turkey is ranked 149th out of 180 countries in RSF's latest World Press Freedom Index.

Turkey - Despotic Erdoğan seizes control of leading daily

2016-03-04T17:58:33Z

True to form, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan today orchestrated an Istanbul court decision to place Zaman, a leading daily newspaper that supports the opposition Gülen movement, under state control.

“The Turkish presidential office's interference in the media has reached a new level,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. “It is absolutely illegitimate and intolerable that Erdoğan has used the judicial system to take control of a great newspaper in order to eliminate the Gülen community's political base. “This ideological and unlawful operation shows how Erdoğan is now moving from authoritarianism to all-out despotism. Not content with throwing journalists in prison for ‘supporting terrorism' or having them sentenced to pay heavy fines for ‘insulting the ‘head of state,' he is now going further by taking control of Turkey's biggest opposition newspaper.”

With a print run of more than 600,000, Zaman supports the religious movement led by Fethullah Gülen, who was closely allied with Erdoğan until they fell out in 2012. Since then, the authorities have been suspending the licences of pro-Gülen media outlets and have been bringing charges against their journalists.

Turkey is ranked 149th out of 180 countries inthe 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

Europe & ex-USSR - “President Erdogan, we hold you responsible for their safety”

2016-03-02T15:38:50Z

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) today organized the first news conference to be given by Cumhuriyet editor Can Dündar since his release from Silivri prison on 26 February, ending 92 days in pre-trial detention.

Addressing a room packed with journalists in Istanbul's Elite World Hotel, Dündar denounced “the climate of fear that the Erdogan regime has spread among journalists.”

“We are journalists, not functionaries working for the state,” he said. “It is our duty to provide the public with information, including information about the government's illegal actions. Right from the very first hearing in our trial, on 25 March, we are going to fully expose the state's crimes. We are not going to defend ourselves. We are going to put the state's crimes on trial.”

RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire, who also took part in the news conference, hailed the courage of Turkey's constitutional court for ruling that the prolonged pre-trial detention of Dündar and Cumhuriyet's Ankara bureau chief, Erdem Gül, was illegal.

“Yes, international pressure is effective,” Deloire said. “For millions of people in Turkey and elsewhere, Can Dündar now symbolizes the very essence of journalism.” Deloire also underlined the danger of President Erdogan's public statement that he does not respect the constitutional court's decision.

“Mr. Erdogan, we hold you responsible for the safety of Can Dündar and Erdem Gül,” he said, reiterating RSF's commitment to stand by the two journalists, who continue to face the possibility of being sentenced to life imprisonment. “We will not rest until the absurd charges have been dropped. We will be there at the opening of the trial on 25 March.”

RSF announced its intention of submitting the cases of arbitrarily detained Turkish journalists to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Turkey is ranked 149th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2015 World Press Index.

Sign the petition: Can Dündar faces life imprisonment for wanting to inform us.