Overview

Media employees world-wide face physical violence and persecution of all kinds, whether from public officials, criminals or terrorists. Assaults are daily - and often deadly - for those who challenge governments, report on conflicts or investigate corruption and crime.

99 journalists were killed in 2009 and at least 33 have been killed since the beginning of the year. Hundreds of media employees have been arrested in 2009 and at least 140 remain in jail today, most often following sham trials or without charges against them. Hundreds more have been forced into exile.

The story of each one of them is different, but all are fundamentally the same too. They were sanctioned for pursuing the human right to inform and to express ideas freely - the condition for achieving any other right.

In Latin America, media professionals face serious threats from both governments and powerful crime syndicates. Organised crime and high-level corruption remain the most sensitive subjects for journalists, in a continent where a deep-rooted culture of impunity prevails and where authoritarian and populist regimes do not tolerate scrutiny or dissent.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains a dangerous place for the media. In order to suppress the truth, journalists are subjected to harassment, violence and threats of all kinds by heads of state, elected officials, corrupt authorities and militia. Despite the widespread use of defamation and libel laws to silence critics, journalists and citizens alike continue to vigorously and courageously campaign for freedom of expression.

Those in power throughout the Middle East and North Africa continue to resort to harassment, censorship, prosecution, fining and imprisonment of news media professionals in order to control information. Their hostility toward independent and opposition media has often proven to be ruthless.

A culture of harassment, intimidation and assaults against journalists continues unabated in certain countries of Europe and Central Asia. The widespread use of insult laws and a growing number of nations proposing legislation aimed at stifling press freedom, particularly in the name of anti-terrorism, is commonplace.

Governments across Asia continue to apply a range of methods to restrict press freedom as a means of controlling their societies and limiting the spread of dissent. The region is still one of the most repressive areas in the world for independent media and reports of state interference, impunity for acts of violence against journalists and lack of protection for media professionals are widespread.

AMERICAS

Journalists killed: Mexico (5), Honduras (6), Colombia (1)
TOTAL = 12

In Latin America, media professionals face serious threats from both governments and powerful crime syndicates. Organised crime and high-level corruption remain the most sensitive subjects for journalists, in a continent where a deep-rooted culture of impunity prevails and where authoritarian and populist regimes do not tolerate scrutiny or dissent.

On 8 January, Valentín Valdéz Espinosa, a reporter for the Zócalo de Saltillo newspaper in the North of Mexico, was shot and killed. His murder was in direct retaliation to his coverage of a major military success against one of the largest drug trafficking cartels in Mexico, the Gulf Cartel. The start of the year was marked by the deaths of four more journalists in three months. Desepite recent changes at the head of both the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes against Journalists (FEADP), and the Special Parliamentary Commission for Aggressions against Journalists and Media Workers, journalists, publishers and analysts remain very sceptical towards the government’s ability and will to protect journalists. Most attacks against journalists come from authorities with perpetrators benefitting from a deep-rooted culture of impunity. The government’s war against powerful drug cartels continues to worsen, keeping Mexico as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists worldwide. In the past months, media based in the northern part of the country have refused to cover any event related to the war on drug trafficking, resulting in widespread self-censorship and major news blackouts.

With six journalists killed in Honduras in just over a month, the small Central-American republic is the deadliest place for journalists so far in 2010. On 26 March, the car of José Bayardo Mairena and Manuel Juárez, journalists for radio Excélsior and Super 10 in the city of Catacamas, was ambushed and bullet-ridden. Their deaths followed the murders of Joseph Hernández Ochoa, David Meza Montecinos and Nahúm Palacios, who were killed in a similar way. Moreover, journalists have repeatedly been victims of death threats in the past months. Ricardo Oviedo, a TV reporter for Channel 40 in the city of Tocoa, received various threats since he started covering the murder of colleague Nahúm Palacios Arteaga. TV host Jessica Johana Pavón Osorto of Canal 6 and Gerardo Chévez, a journalist for Radio Progreso, have also been targeted by similar means of intimidation. Most of the journalists targeted cover organised crime, drug trafficking and land disputes. Journalists have also been caught in the violent and escalating political polarisation between the opponents of June 2009 military coup and its supporters.

In Cuba, independent journalist Guillermo Fariñas went on a hunger strike immediately after the death of jailed dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo, calling for the release of all prisoners of conscience and jailed journalists. Zapata’s death on 23 February, after refusing food for nearly two months in protest against the very poor living conditions of prisoners, caused worldwide condemnation. On 11 April, Oscar Sánchez Madán was released. He described his detention, during which he lived with 12 other prisoners in an eight metre square cell in dangerously unhygienic conditions. With at least 24 journalists in jail, the island is the world’s third largest imprisoner of journalists and one of the most repressive environments for media.

On 6 April, Haiti’s oldest newspaper, Le Nouvelliste, resumed regular distribution after three months of struggle following the deadly earthquake that struck the country on 12 January. In a country where extreme poverty prevails, Haitian journalists deal with serious material challenges. The earthquake severely worsened an already critical situation - entire media premises were destroyed, most media organisations were shut down and journalists were forced to live in improvised shelters. A few radio stations have managed to resume broadcasting and newspapers are slowly circulating again.

The start of the year in Venezuela was marked by the shutting down of six TV stations on 24 January after they failed to air President Hugo Chávez’s official speeches. Large protests followed the decision, which lead to the death of a student protestor on 25 January. The government ordered cable networks to stop broadcasting these stations, threatening them with sanctions. The stations included RCTV Internacional, the most popular station in the country. The National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) obligates all national and terrestrial cable TV stations to broadcast hour-long official messages from the President, known as “cadenas”. This obligation is a breach of the media’s independence to determine their own content and clearly aims to monopolise airwaves. A month later, RCTV I agreed to broadcast the “cadenas” and was allowed back on the air. The President has continued to impose his presence in the media by launching a new radio programme, De repente... con Chávez, (Suddenly... with Chávez). This programme has no fixed time or duration.

In Colombia, despite President Alvaro Uribe’s popularity after his victory over the powerful drug cartels and guerrillas during his two terms of government, media workers continue to face serious risks whenever they cover issues like corruption and drug trafficking. Colombian editor and publisher Clodomiro Castilla Ospina started receiving death threats in 2006, in relation to his reporting on local corruption. On 19 March, he was shot and killed in front of his home in Montería, in the province Córdoba.

In February, the Attorney-General’s office directly implicated high-level figures of the government in a phone-tapping scandal, aimed at 16 journalists and various opposition figures. The Administrative Department of Security (DAS), an intelligence agency responding to the president’s office, was leading such practices, as well as intimidation, threats and smear campaigns. Claudia Julieta Duque benefitted from an interior ministry protection programme that was actually conceived to spy on her through her bodyguards. Journalist Hollman Morris, who covered Colombia’s civil war for more than 10 years and worked for daily El Espectador, was also on the list, and has been the target of harassment, threats and smears from President Uribe, calling him in 2009 “a friend of terrorism who pretends to be a journalist”.

Although the murder of journalists is rare in Peru, the country’s press freedom record remains poor. Physical violence, such as beatings and stabbings, as well as censorship, threats of imprisonment and smear campaigns, are worryingly common in the country. Moreover, many of these aggressions come from public authorities. The acquittal by a Peruvian tribunal of Luis Valdez and Solio Ramírez, two former public officials, on 2 February, will encourage an already widespread climate of impunity. Both men were the alleged masterminds in the 2004 murder of reporter Alberto Rivera Fernández, an outspoken and controversial journalist who covered local corruption scandals.

Ecuador is facing growing political polarisation, as the government is making clear efforts to control the media scene. President Rafael Correa is waiting for the approval of his government’s communication bill. If passed, it will establish a controversial new legal status for journalists, indirectly imposing compulsory membership in a journalists’ association. The bill also provides for the possible censorship of content, if it is seen to “threaten national security and public order”. Ruben Montoya, director of the state-run El Telégrafo, was dismissed after raising concerns of the government’s plan to make the newspaper a “populist-style newspaper”, serving as “propaganda” for the official political agenda.

In Ecuador, journalists can face imprisonment on charges of defamation and insult. Journalist Emilio Palacio of daily El Universo, recently appealed a sentence of three years’ imprisonment and a US$10.000 fine for an opinion editorial targeting a government official.

Reporting on high-level corruption remains a highly sensitive and often risky subject in Brazil. On 20 May, a court banned the Diario do Grande ABC newspaper from covering a case of public mismanagement involving Mayor Luiz Marinho, the former Minister for Labour under President Lula. The mayor filed a civil suit against the newspaper citing “moral damages” and requested the court prevent it from publishing further information associating his name to the case. In February, the paper reported that furniture from municipality schools was being discarded into recycling centres, while being in reportedly good condition. The newspaper is now facing a fine of US$920 per day if it continues to report on the case.

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

Journalists killed: Yemen (1), Iraq (1)
TOTAL = 2

Those in power throughout the Middle East and North Africa continue to resort to harassment, censorship, prosecution, fining and imprisonment of news media professionals in order to control information. Their hostility toward independent and opposition media has often proven to be ruthless.

Following the disputed presidential elections in June 2009, Iranian authorities instituted severe and wide-ranging measures to silence voices critical to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. At least 110 journalists were imprisoned and at least 20 news media censored following the disputed re-election. To date, about 50 journalists remain in prison in Iran, more than a third of all journalists behind bars worldwide. Over half of the cases involve journalists who were jailed on vague anti-state charges. Most trials result in lengthy prison sentences, often under harsh conditions, and bans on writing. Among them is journalist Ahmad Zeid-Abadi, laureate of the 2010 WAN-IFRA Golden Pen of Freedom, who was sentenced last November to six years imprisonment, along with a lifetime ban on practicing his profession as a journalist. Mr Zeid-Abadi is known for publicly protesting the judiciary’s treatment of imprisoned journalists. Journalists held by the intelligence ministry are reportedly being subjected to intense pressure to publicly ask the pardon of the Revolution’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, with "repentance" seemingly "one of the conditions" for their release. The extreme levels of intimidation in Iran have, moreover, forced many journalists to flee and live in exile, thereby denying them the right to inform and the people of Iran the right to be informed.

The body of journalist Sardasht Osman was found in Mosul on the morning of 6 May, two days after he was kidnapped by armed men outside Salahadin University, where he studied English, in the nearby city of Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan. Mr Osman wrote under the pseudonym Dashti Othman for the newspaper Ashtiname and for several websites, including Sbeiy.com, Awene.com, Hawlati.info and Lvinpress.com. He had recently written an article for Ashtiname about a senior member of the Kurdistan regional government and had reported receiving a number of threatening phone calls telling him to stop criticising the government and officials. Mr Osman is the second journalist in two years to be murdered in Iraqi Kurdistan. In July 2008, Soran Mama Hama, a reporter with the Sulaymaniyah-based Livin magazine, was shot outside his home in Kirkuk after writing articles critical of local politicians and security officials. Mr Mama Hama’s killers have not been found.

On 18 May, Bahrain’s Ministry of Culture and Information decided to “temporarily freeze the activities of the Bahrain bureau of the Qatari satellite news channel Al-Jazeera for having violated professional norms and for failing to observe laws and procedures regulating journalism, printing and publishing.” The ministry’s decision came just one day after Al-Jazeera broadcast a programme about poverty in Bahrain.

The government of Yemen has continued its crackdown on the independent press, which it accuses of inciting separatism. In recent months several newspapers have been closed and at least four journalists were jailed on charges of "attacking national unity" and "separatism." Two of them were released in May following a presidential pardon, whereas the other two journalists went on hunger strike at Sana’a Central Prison to protest their continued imprisonment. In late May, the Press and Publication Court sentenced five journalists to a three-month suspended jail sentence for “publishing false reports liable to incite violence.” Mohammed Shu’i Al-Rabu’i, a correspondent for several publications including the newspaper Al-Qahira, was shot dead at his home on 13 February. It is suggested that the murderers may have been gang members angered by Mr Al-Rabu’i’s coverage of gang activities. He is the first journalist to have been murdered since North and South Yemen merged in 1990.

Journalists in Palestine continue to face severe harassment and attacks from both the Israeli military and the Palestinian security forces. Dozens of journalists have been targeted in March alone for reporting on clashes and demonstrations in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

In late May, Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit filed a criminal defamation lawsuit against independent journalist Hamdi Kandil. He faces up to six months in jail and a discretionary fine if convicted. The incriminated article, published on 3 May in the daily Al-Shuruq, reported on several issues, including corruption, the recent renewal of the Emergency Law, and criticism of Aboul Gheit for issuing a statement that contradicted previous comments by Egypt’s ambassador to Israel.

Tunisian journalist Taoufik Ben Brik was released from prison on 26 April after serving a six-month prison sentence on spurious charges of assault. A staunch opponent of Tunisian President Ben Ali, Taoufik Ben Brik had been previously detained by the authorities and banned from leaving the country. His harassment continues. Fahem Boukadous, a journalist who reported on public demonstrations against unemployment and corruption in the mining town of Gafsa in 2008, is also in the firing line of the Tunisian authorities. He was sentenced to jail for four years, but is free pending another hearing on 22 June, where his lawyers fear his sentence is likely to be upheld.

One of Morocco’s sole independent publications, Le Journal Hebdomadaire, was closed in late January for bankruptcy. Since it was founded in 1997, the weekly had been a fierce critic of the government and ruling monarch and it effectively pushed the ‘red lines’. Officially the closing of the Journal was due to a towering debt in unpaid taxes and social contributions, and a 270,000 euros fine for libel, yet it is believed that the Moroccan government orchestrated both an advertising boycott and unusually speedy bankruptcy trial in a bid to silence the magazine.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Journalists killed: Angola (1), Cameroon (1), DRC (1), Nigeria (3), Somalia (1)
TOTAL: 7

Sub-Saharan Africa remains a dangerous place for the media. In order to suppress the truth, journalists are subjected to harassment, violence and threats of all kinds by heads of state, elected officials, corrupt authorities and militia. Despite the widespread use of defamation and libel laws to silence critics, journalists and citizens alike continue to vigorously and courageously campaign for freedom of expression.

Self-censorship continues to be prevalent in Angola, where the authorities regularly target journalists who report on politically sensitive issues or who criticise the government. In January, Angolan separatist rebels killed a Togolese sports journalist in a lethal attack on a bus carrying a soccer team.

Pre-election violence in Burundi continues and the threats to freedom of expression were exacerbated by the expulsion of Human Rights Watch observer Neela Ghoshal in May, sending a clear message to journalists and other observers that criticism of the government in the lead up to elections will not be tolerated.

The media situation remains critical in Cameroon. On 22 April, Ngota Ngota Germain, editor of the weekly Cameroun Express died in jail after six weeks’ detention, due to a lack of essential medical treatment. Journalists Simon Herve Nko’o, from the weekly Bebela, and Serge Sabouang of the bi-monthly La Nation, were detained in February for allegedly possessing a document that could expose disturbing information about the head of the state-run oil company.

In March, Lucien Pungu, a journalist from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was sentenced in absentia to one year in prison and fined more than US$12,000 on the charge of libel, following a publication on the website, Congo Blog, which he was erroneously attributed. Gunmen killed a freelance cameraman, Patient Chebeya, in the eastern city of Beni in April for motives that remain unclear. Only 12 days later, a military court condemned two soldiers to death in relation to the killing, without a full investigation.

There are growing concerns about restrictions on the media in Ethiopia. In January Al-Quds editor Ezedin Mohamed was sentenced to one year in prison for his column criticising Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s statements about religious affairs in Ethiopia. During May a new Anti-Terrorism law was proclaimed, citing definitions of terrorism so vague they could apply to many legitimate forms of expression, including criminalising public debate that “encourages terrorism” or allowing journalists to be put under surveillance in order to identify their sources.

Eritrea remains a country with no press freedoms, which now extends across borders. In May, expatriate journalist Tedros Menghistu Wondefrash, publisher and editor of Selam was attacked in Houston, Texas, by supporters of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. Wondefrash is well known for his critical reporting on the Eritrean government. A group of nine journalists imprisoned for speaking out against the government prior to elections in 2001 remain in jail, including Eritrean-Swedish journalist Dawit Isaac. The 2001 elections were cancelled, independent press remains anathema and the health of the imprisoned journalists is believed to be poor.

In Ghana, journalists have been subjected to regular threats and harassment, particularly from political militants. In late December, ruling party supporters attacked five journalists, accusing them of biased reporting. In March 2010, a media company was threatened by a group of young Ashanti men, which demanded that a journalist Ato Kwamena be sacked for allegedly insulting their king.

Kenya, reversing the trend by governments to oppress freedom of expression, will take a new constitution to the polls in August 2010. All indications for the new constitution, which includes the right to freedom of expression and information, points to a majority Yes vote by its citizens.

A month after a military coup in Niger, a three-day national conference was held in March to discuss the goal of putting an end to the criminalisation of press offences. Since the junta took over, the draft law has been approved; the Niamey Press Club reopened and prison sentences for journalists repealed.

Nigeria remains a dangerous place for journalists where sectarian violence tragically claimed the lives of three journalists in two separate incidents on 24 April. Edo Sule Ugbagwu, a court reporter for daily newspaper The Nation, was gunned down in his Lagos home and deputy editor Nathan Dabak along with his reporter Sunday Gyang Bwede from the Light Bearer were hacked to death in the city of Jos. Authorities in the north of the country continue to suppress freedom of expression shutting down a blog and social networking sites which allowed the community to debate the use of Sharia law in a case where a convicted criminal would have his hand amputated.

The first five months of 2010 faired no better than the horrendous conditions faced by Somalian journalists in 2009. Sheik Nur Mohamed Abkey, a radio journalist from Mogadishu, was murdered in May, his most likely killers being the Al-Shabaab militia. His murder follows open threats by the militia that journalists who criticise them will be killed. The militia continued their reign of media suppression when in April, they banned the radio broadcasts of the BBC and Voice of America, considering their content to be “Christian propaganda”. A month earlier, the same militants arrested three journalists - the manager of Markabley radio Ahmed Omar Salihi and two of the station’s reporters, for broadcasting reports critical of the militia.

The media environment in Sudan seriously worsened before and during the elections in April, when two radio stations were attacked in March and their directors arrested after one of them interviewed a political candidate. The harassment of the press continued after the elections. In May, the opposition newspaper, Rai al-Shaab, was closed and four of its journalists arrested on grounds of false news.

In February, two journalists from Uganda’s Sunday Monitor were charged with libel by President Museveni on the grounds that they “defamed him” after comparing him to former Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos. The climate in Uganda for journalists remains difficult, with increasing reports from human rights groups suggesting there is a concerted campaign by the ruling party threatening, harassing and intimidating journalists who are critical of their government.

After years of a repressive media climate in Zimbabwe, some good news emerged from the country in May as the Zimbabwe Media Commission granted publishing licences, allowing for the first time in seven years, independent newspapers to commence publishing local news. As a result, The Daily newspaper will resume publishing under its previous editor, Geoffrey Nyarota. Additional licences were also granted to a number of other newspapers, hopefully hailing a new era for the independent press in Zimbabwe.

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

Journalists killed: Bulgaria (1) Cyprus (1) Russia (1)
Total: 3

A culture of harassment, intimidation and assaults against journalists continues unabated in certain countries of Europe and Central Asia. The widespread use of insult laws and a growing number of nations proposing legislation aimed at stifling press freedom, particularly in the name of anti-terrorism, is commonplace.

The murders of journalists in Bulgaria and Cyprus remain unsolved. A Bulgarian radio presenter and author Bobi Tsankov was shot dead in the capital Sofia on 5 January with his murder believed to be connected to his investigations into organised crime. The killing of Andy Hadjicostis, Managing Director of the Cypriot Dias Media Group, by unidentified gunmen took place on 11 January in Nicosia. Investigators believe that, beside personal revenge, there was also a commercial motive. The two suspects, including a prominent news anchor who had been fired, are alleged to have tried to buy up a majority of the company in the days after Mr Hadjicostis was gunned down.

The murder of a journalist, organised crime, assaults, death threats and broken promises makes Bulgaria a difficult country for journalists to report freely and safely. An assault on TV reporter Dimitar Varbanov and death threats against news agency reporter Ivan Yanev in the city of Stara Zagora in February show that a climate of intimidation continues. Promises by the new government for a more independent press have not materialized, with the Communications Regulation Commission’s refusal to approve a licence for independent Bulgarian Radio K2.

The situation regarding independent media outlets has significantly worsened since Viktor Yanukovych became Ukraine’s president earlier this year. A campaign of harassment against the independent newspaper Express has included their General Director Andrey Vey being forcibly removed from his home for questioning; a suspected arson attack on Editor-in-Chief Igor Pochynok’s home; a public smear campaign; the threat of criminal prosecution against the editor and the shooting out of windows at Express’s office. Prior to these incidents, Express reported on the misuse of public funds and alleged corruption of local officials and police.

Russia remains among the world’s most repressive and dangerous media environments. As recently as 12 May, in the Dagestan district, local TV producer Sayid Ibragimo died when his car was ambushed by gunmen on his way to repair a TV aerial damaged by militants. Four others died in the incident. In April, legislation was introduced to counteract terrorism activities that broadened the definition of extremism to include criticism of officials. The legislation gives the Federal Security Service (FSB) powers to order editors to remove articles that “aid extremists” or “appear undesirable”. The penalties include 15 days’ jail or fines of up to US$ 1,710. The brutal beating of Arkady Lander, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Mestnaya in April, remains unsolved. His newspaper covered 14 local municipal elections from a pro-opposition angle.

In March, six leading newspapers in Estonia, published blank pages in protest against a proposed law that if introduced, would significantly reduce the protection afforded to journalists’ sources. The new law would also allow for fines to be imposed on newspapers solely on the suspicion that they intend to publish “potentially harmful information”.

Montenegro’s independent daily Vijesti, its journalists and director Zeljko Ivanovic, have been subjected to a combination of punitive libel claims, state-supported unfair competition, broadcast licensing limitations and even physical attacks. There is serious concern that this intimidation is sending a clear message to all journalists that criticism of President Filip Vujanović’s government will not be tolerated.

There was some good news from the National Assembly of Armenia, when it approved in its second reading the decriminalisation of defamation, including libel and insult. If signed into law, the amendments to Armenia’s penal and administrative code will remove imprisonment from the list of penalties for defamation; individuals found guilty of the offense would face a monetary fine as maximum punishment.

Insult laws remain a real and present danger for journalists and publishers in Uzbekistan, Belarus and Turkey. In January, charges were laid against Umida Akhmedova, a prominent photojournalist and documentary filmmaker for insulting and libeling the Uzbek people and its traditions through her work on gender, ethnic and cultural issues. February saw the Belarus parliament pass a law which speeds up procedures for closing down media and allows for journalists to be prosecuted for reporting statements, whether from political parties or NGOs, if they ’discredit the Republic of Belarus’. In March, the Turkish publisher and editor of Gerger Firat, Haci Bogatekin, was sentenced to 5 years in prison on various “insult” charges. He was convicted on charges of “insulting” state prosecutors and “offending the authorities”.

The climate for journalists and news publishers in Turkey remains oppressive. Vedat Kursun, the biggest shareholder in Turkey’s only Kurdish-language daily, Azadiya Welat (Free Country), was sentenced to three years in prison by a court in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir in March on a charge of propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). As in Russia, anti-terrorism laws are being used to stifle press freedom. Photographer Nurettin Kurt of the daily Hürriyet faces a possible three-year jail sentence under article 6-1 of the anti-terrorism law for photographing an army colonel who was giving evidence in an investigation into an alleged plot against the prime minister.

In May, radio journalist Khayrullo Hamidov and 19 others were accused of inciting extremism by the Uzbekistan authorities and six of them, including Hamidov, were sentenced to between four and 6 years’ jail. In addition to his broadcasts on Islam, Hamidov has written about the harsh conditions faced by Uzbek migrant workers in Russia and Kazahkstan, criticizing the Uzbek authorities for their silence.

Turkmenistan, with no independent press and censored Internet search engines, remains the number one press freedom pariah of Central Aisa. Two journalists, Annakurban Amanklychev and Sapardurdy Khadjiyev, remain in prison after serving half of the 8-year jail sentences they were given for helping a French TV journalist make a report about Turkmenistan for France 2. Journalists continue to work in a climate of fear and harassment, being regularly brought in for questioning by the authorities.

The Respublika newspaper, an independent voice in Kazakhstan, was hit on a number of fronts by the Kazakh authorities. In March, an appeal court upheld a ban on Respublika’s distribution, ordering it to remain in place until the newspaper paid damages to the BTA Bank of US$400,000. The damages resulted from an article published by Respublika the previous year that the bank claimed led to clients withdrawing funds. During April, in a second blow to the newspaper, the state owned internet provider, Kazakhtelecomm, shut down access to their website and that of their sister publication, the Respublika-Delovoye Obozreniye. Other newspapers were also targeted. In March, a brutal attack in the city of Aktobe left Igor Larra, a journalist for the independent weekly Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech), with head injuries due to his coverage of a protest action by workers at a state run oil refinery.

The blocking of Internet sites extended to the blocking of airwaves in Kyrgyzstan, when in March there was a wave of intimidation leveled at private broadcasters by authorities demanding they drop critical programming. Stations were threatened with removal of their broadcast licences and to have their content approved before going online or on air. Internal access to independent news websites and the suspension of three independent newspapers - Forum; Achyk Sayasat (Open Politics) and Nazar (Viewpoint) - came in retaliation for their coverage of anti-government protests and alleged corruption.

In March, three independent weeklies in Tajikistan were handed defamation lawsuits for damage amounts that would bankrupt them. Ozodagon, Farazh and Asia-Plus were charged with insulting members of Tajikistan’s Supreme Court when they published reports questioning the decisions and the fairness of various trials heard in the Supreme Courts.

ASIA

Journalists killed: Afghanistan (1), Nepal (2), Pakistan (4), Thailand (2)
TOTAL: 9

Governments across Asia continue to apply a range of methods to restrict press freedom as a means of controlling their societies and limiting the spread of dissent. The region is still one of the most repressive areas in the world for independent media and reports of state interference, impunity for acts of violence against journalists and lack of protection for media professionals are widespread.

Journalists working in Afghanistan continue to face serious dangers. French TV journalists Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier, translator Mohammed Reza, and the group’s driver were kidnapped in the northeastern province of Kapisa on 29 December 2009. The two journalists remain in captivity.

British journalist Rupert Hamer was killed by a roadside bomb on 9 January while travelling with a U.S. Marine Corps unit. Hamer, who worked for the London-based Sunday Mirror, is the first British journalist to be killed in Afghanistan. His colleague, photographer Philip Coburn, was seriously injured in the same attack. In a separate instance, freelance Japanese journalist Kosuke Tsuneoka was kidnapped in northern Afghanistan at the beginning of April.

2010 will see the first elections in Burma for 20 years, but the military junta has further tightened its grip on power by applying new election laws based in the controversial 2008 constitution that bans the majority of opposition parties, notably the National League for Democracy.

Many NLD offices have closed and its members face the constant threat of arrest and abuse. As a result, pre-election reporting has been severely limited, with opinions and comments by political parties being censored. Any party literature that makes it through the notorious ’Literary Kempetai’ censorship board cannot criticise the military or the present regime.

The junta continues its clampdown against opposition media, with long-term prison sentences handed down to journalists who release information to foreign sources. Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reporter Hla Hla Win was sentenced to a 27-year prison term in December, while DVB reporter Ngwe Soe Lin was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment on 28 January. Journalist and artist Maung Zeya was arrested on 17 April for taking photos of the aftermath of explosions that killed 10 people at a water festival celebration near Rangoon.

Surveillance of the Internet in China continues to worsen, with the government announcing new legislation that requires website operators to meet with regulators in person. The authorities have also proposed a secrecy amendment that would outlaw the leaking of information through the Internet.

Months after serious rioting in Xinjiang, Internet access is still blocked. Google’s decision to stop censoring its Chinese search engine has at the very least launched debate in China on the issue of the ‘Great Firewall’. Previously, only 5% of Chinese Internet users were aware that the Web they saw was censored. Liu Xiaobo, a human rights activist, was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment on a charge of “subverting state authority” for his online publications, while Tibetan Netizen Dasher was given 10 years for sending information on the March 2008 protests.

The Indonesian government rejected a controversial draft regulation on multimedia content that had sparked protests by both journalists and online users. On 19 February, Minister for Communication and Information, Tifatul Sembiring, said he would "erase it", acknowledging that the law "threatened freedom of the press."

On 7 May, SCTV correspondent Juhry Samaner was attacked by an official at the district court of Ambon, Moluccas, for questioning a decision to prevent journalists from covering a trial. Eight media organisations face a multi-million dollar civil defamation case after they reported on an arrest made during a police raid on a suspected gambling den in Jakarta. After referring to the accused as the "boss of gamblers", the defendant, Raymond Teddy, has sued the media outlets for damages ranging from US$10 million to US$30 million.

In February, The Star newspaper in Malaysia resorted to self-censorship after a show-cause letter was issued over the publication of a column questioning the caning of three Muslim women. In March, the government was accused of interfering in the running of The China Press after the Ministry of Home Affairs called for disciplinary action to be taken against editor-in-chief, Teoh Yong Khoon, who was subsequently suspended for a report alleging the resignation of a senior police official.

Assassinations and death threats have blighted journalists and media owners in Nepal throughout the first half of the year, as the aftermath of the 2009 political fragmentation continues to unsettle the country.

On 1 January, Abdesh Kumar Jha, a local correspondent for Kantipur Daily, received a death threat from four unnamed individuals. The head of satellite TV station Channel Nepal and cable TV company Space Time Network, Jamim Shah, was shot dead in the centre of Kathmandu on 7 February, while on 12 February the chairman and managing director of Kantipur Publications, Kailash Sirohiya, received an email message telling him to cease coverage of the Shah murder case or else “face the consequences”.

On 11 and 12 February, Kathmandu Post editor Akhilesh Upadhyay and Kantipur editor Sudheer Sharma received telephone threats related to the same case. On 1 March, Arun Singhaniya, publisher of Janakpur Today and chairman of the Today Group, was shot at point blank range. The paper’s editor, Brij Kumar Yadav, received a death threat the next day.

On 18 April, activists of the Hindu Yuva Sangh Party torched copies of leading Nepali national dailies Kantipur and Annapurna Post in Birgunj. On 9 May a group of Maoist cadres assaulted and injured Prabin Maharjan of Associated News Agency and Rabindra Shrestha, a camera operator with the private channel Avenues Television. The Maoist cadres also harassed Shruti Niraula, a journalist with the private channel Sagarmatha Television. The incident came a day after Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal publicly threatened Kathmandu-based journalists and intellectuals for not supporting the indefinite strike called by his party.

Kidnapping and the deliberate targeting of journalists continue to make Pakistan one of the most dangerous countries for media professionals.

Eight print and electronic media professionals were injured in the second of two bomb explosions in Karachi on 5 February. Four media employees were also injured by an angry mob directly after the explosion.

Journalist Ashiq Ali Mangi, a reporter for Mehran TV, was shot dead outside the Khairpur Press Club by an unidentified gunman on 17 February. Din news channel and NNI news agency reporter Imran Khan sustained bullet wounds when unidentified armed militants in army and Frontier Corps uniforms made an attempt to kidnap the journalist near his house in Khar, the headquarters of the Bajaur tribal region, on 14 April.

On 16 April Samaa TV senior cameraman, Malik Arif, was killed in a suicide bombing at a hospital in Quetta. Five other journalists were injured. On 17 April, Pakistan Television, Samaa TV and Associated Press of Pakistan news agency reporter Azmat Ali Bangash was killed along with 41 other people when two suicide bombers blew themselves up amidst a crowd of displaced persons collecting relief supplies in Kohat district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provence.

Mustafa Tarin, bureau chief of the ARY News TV channel was detained and beaten by the police in Quetta on 23 April for allegedly reporting on a police rally in a "negative way". Two days later police detained 20 journalists who were protesting the manhandling of Tarin.

A large number of news organisations received a threatening email message from the Taliban Media Centre, dated 23 April, warning them to be more independent in their coverage of the conflict with Pakistan’s armed forces. Asad Qureshi, a journalist who was kidnapped along with two former Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence operatives in the Kohat region of Pakistan in April, was released on 6 May.

Unidentified gunmen fired at the residence of Azaz Syed, an investigative reporter for the English-language private television channel Dawn News, on 7 May in Islamabad. On 10 May police found the scarred body of journalist Ghulam Rasool Birhamani, a reporter for the daily Sindhu Hyderabad, who had been tortured before his death. Birhamani had received threats from members of the Lashari tribe before reporting on the marriage of an underage girl.

On 23 May, activists of the Sindh National Party attacked the offices of Jang Group, Pakistan’s leading media group, accusing it of bias against the Sindh culture. On 25 May, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority embarked on large-scale partial and complete blockage of websites including YouTube and Flickr after many posted caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

Over 200 people were indicted on 9 February in the Philippines for involvement in the November 2009 Ampatuan massacre of 57 people, including 30 journalists.

Authorities have been urged to act swiftly to protect eyewitnesses who fear a second massacre after the killings of two relatives and the involvement of numerous local police, military and political personnel.

On the six-month anniversary of the massacre, 23 May, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility released a statement calling on the new President-elect to end impunity for the accused.

On 9 February, Malu Cadelina Manar, chairwoman of the Philippines Journalists Union Kidapawan City chapter in Mindanao, received a series of death threats after conducting an interview about motorcycle thefts with a local police director on Kidapwatan’s dxND radio network.

An associate justice of the Philippine Supreme Court filed libel charges on 12 March against a journalist from Newsbreak magazine, who had also received death threats connected to a recently published book on the judiciary.

Radio station Magic 103 FM was bombed on 5 April in a politically motivated attack, while Hot FM radio journalist Rolando Gono went missing on 9 May after reporting to police that a provincial governor and his followers had mauled two members of a TV news crew.

Kalinga-based radio broadcaster Jerome Tabanganay was shot four times in the legs by unidentified assailants on 15 May.

The media situation has further deteriorated after the conclusion of Sri Lanka’s Presidential elections on 26 January, while a general climate of impunity prevails.

Well-known Lanka eNews political commentator, Prageeth Eknaligoda, disappeared two days before the poll, while the website was temporarily blocked. On 30 January Lanka weekly newspaper editor Chandana Sirimalwatte was detained by police and the paper’s offices were temporarily sealed off. The general deterioration of the country’s human rights situation was underlined by the move to arrest the chairperson of Transparency International, while Mervyn Silva, a politician notorious for insulting and physically attacking journalists, was appointed Deputy Minister of Media and Information.

Over recent months, Thailand has been dominated by renewed political tensions between the government and supporters of the opposition ‘Red Shirts’ movement, leading to a genuine fear of a repeat of the targeting of media workers that was seen during disturbances in 2008.

At the very least, the deterioration severely impacted the flow of news across the country. A grenade attack against two army-run broadcast stations in Bangkok on 27 March injured 11 people. On 8 April, a day after a state of emergency was declared in Bangkok and nearby provinces, the government blocked broadcasts by opposition satellite TV People’s Channel and an independent online news portal operated by the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship.

Reuters TV cameraman Hiro Muramoto was killed and ABC News freelance photographer Winnai Ditthajorn injured when protesters and police-military units battled in Bangkok on 10 April. On 14 May three journalists - Nelson Rand, a Canadian working for broadcaster France 24, a local journalist working for Thai newspaper Matichon, and a cameraman working for Thai broadcaster Voice TV - were injured in separate outbreaks of violent clashes between government forces and protesters in Bangkok.

Veteran photojournalist, Chaiwat Poompuang, was shot in the leg on 15 May as he covered fighting between some 300 Red Shirt protesters and government soldiers. Freelance Italian photojournalist Fabio Polenghi was killed and three international journalists were among dozens of people injured on 19 May during clashes in Bangkok.

Freelance Vietnamese writer Pham Thanh Nghien was sentenced on 29 January to four years in prison and a further three years house arrest on charges of spreading anti-state propaganda in an online article published in 2008.

Prominent writer and democracy activist Tran Khai Thanh Thuy was put on trial on 5 February on assault charges after thugs attacked and beat her in front of her home as undercover police looked on. Two critical opposition blogs, Blogosin and Bauxite Vietnam, were closed down by the government on 12 February and forced to seek hosting abroad. Human rights lawyer and blogger Le Thi Cong Nhan was detained by police for three hours on 9 March for violating the terms of her house arrest just days after completing a three-year jail sentence.

This report has been compiled using media alerts and articles from the IFEX information network of which WAN-IFRA is an active member. IFEX, the International Freedom of Expression eXchange, is a global network of freedom of expression organisations based in Toronto, Canada.