FOcus On - International Press Institute

World Press Freedom revieW 

2008 

FOcus On 

AsiA 

www.freemedia.at

The IPI World Press Freedom Review is dedicated 

to the 66 journalists who lost their lives in 2008 

Gadzhi Abashilov 

Sarwa Abdul-Wahab 

Benefredo Acabal 

Dyar Abas Ahmed 

Jassim al-Batat 

Alaa Abdul-Karim Al-Fartoosi 

Qassim Abed El-Hussein Al-Iqbai 

Abdulla Telman Alishayev 

Haidar al-Husseini 

Mohieldin Al-Naqib 

Shihab Al-Tamimi 

Eiphraim Audu 

Chalee Boonsawat 

José Armando Rodríguez Carreón 

Athiwat Chaiyanurat 

Grigol Chikhladze 

Dennis Cuesta 

Paranirupasingham Devakumar 

Nasteh Dahir Farah 

Niko Franjic 

Pierre Fould Gerges 

Soran Mama Hama 

Hisham Mijawet Hamdan 

Hassan Kafi Hared 

Abdul Razzak Johra 

Jagat Prasad Joshi 

Trent Keegan 

Mohammed Ibrahim Khan 

Alexander Klimchuk 

Walter Lessa de Oliveira 

Musab Mahmood 

Teresa Bautista Merino 

Leo Mila 

Javed Ahmed Mir 

Rashmi Mohamed 

Ihab Mu’d 

Abdus Samad Chishti Mujahid 

Mohammed Muslimuddin 

Didace Namujimbo 

Wissam Ali Ouda 

Aristeo Padrigao 

Jorge Mérida Pérez 

Ivo Pukanic 

Carlos Quispe Quispe 

Giorgi Ramishvili 

Jaruek Rangcharoen 

Vikas Ranjan 

Normando García Reyes 

Abdul Samad Rohani 

Martin Roxas 

Jagjit Saikia 

Ahmed Salim 

Khim Sambo 

Felicitas Martínez Sánchez 

Abdul Aziz Shaheen 

Khadim Hussain Shaikh 

Fadel Shana 

Pushkar Bahadur Shrestha 

Ilyas Shurpayev 

Ashok Sodhi 

Stan Storimans 

Carsten Thomassen 

Siraj Uddin 

Miguel Angel Villagómez Valle 

Magomed Yevloyev 

Alejandro Zenon Fonseca Estrada

IPI Headquarters 

Spiegelgasse 2/29 

A-1010 Vienna, Austria 

Telephone +43 (1) 512 90 11 

Fax +43 (1) 512 90 14 

ipi@freemedia.at 

http://www.freemedia.at 

Registered in Zurich 

Janne Virkkunen David Dadge Uta Melzer 

IPI Chairman IPI Director Managing Editor 

and Publisher 

Editors Asia Africa The Americas 

Michael Kudlak Andrew Horvat Uta Melzer Michael Kudlak 

Colin Peters Naomi Hunt 

Timothy Spence Nayana Jayarajan 

Patti McCracken 

Uta Melzer 

Colin Peters 

Barbara Trionfi 

Australasia Middle East 

and Oceania The Caribbean Europe and North Africa 

Colin Peters Charles Arthur Colin Peters Naomi Hunt 

Logo and 

Researcher Layout Cover Design 

Franz Brugger Günther Bauer Elisabeth Birkhan

Content 

Global Overview..................................4 

Asia Overview ....................................6 

Death by Numbers ..............................8 

Afghanistan........................................10 

Bangladesh ........................................12 

Mission: 

Press Freedom in Bangladesh ......................13 

Justice Denied: 

The case of Mohammad 

Atiqullah Khan Masud ......................15 

Bhutan ................................................16 

Burma (Myanmar)..............................17 

Cambodia ..........................................20 

People’s Republic of China ..............22 

Hong Kong ........................................24 

India....................................................25 

Notes From the Field: India ............28 

Indonesia............................................30 

Notes From the Field: Indonesia ....32 

Balibo Revisited ................................33 

Japan ..................................................34 

Kazhakstan ........................................36 

Krgyzstan ..........................................37 

Laos ....................................................39 

Malaysia ............................................41 

Notes from the Field: Malaysia........43 

Maldives ............................................44 

Mongolia ............................................45 

Nepal ..................................................47 

Mission: Press Freedom in Nepal..............49 

Dialogue for a Free Media ................51 

North Korea........................................52 

Pakistan..............................................53 

Philippines..........................................55 

Singapore ..........................................57 

South Korea........................................59 

Sri Lanka ............................................60 

Mission: 

Press Freedom in Sri Lanka........................63 

Justice Denied: 

The case of Subramaniyam 

Sukirtharajan......................................64 

Taiwan................................................65 

Tajikistan............................................66 

Thailand ............................................68 

Notes From the Field: Thailand ......70 

Turkmenistan ....................................70 

Uzbekistan..........................................72 

Vietnam ..............................................74 

Africa Overview ................................76 

Americas Overview ..........................80 

Europe Overview ..............................83 

Middle East and 

North Africa Overview......................86 

Australasia and 

Oceania Overview ............................89 

Caribbean Overview ........................91 

IPI Death Watch ................................94 

Acknowledgments ..........................100

4 

Egyptian journalists protest in Cairo with posters showing Ibrahim Eissa, editor of the independent Al-Dustor newspaper, 

after an appeals court upheld a guilty verdict against him for stories questioning the Egyptian president's health. (AP, Amr Nabil)

By Uta Melzer Managing Editor 

How Numbers Can Lie 

Ninety-three killed in 2007, 66 in 2008. If numbers could tell full stories, 

the plunge in recor ded journalist deaths might have encouraged sighs of relief. 

But as this year’s IPI World Press Freedom Review underscores, 

these statistics mean little in light of the myriad forms of censorship available 

to those looking to suppress news and information. 

This year IPI focuses on Asia, 

which proved the region deadliest 

for journalists in 2008, lar - 

gely due to a string of killings in India, 

Pakistan and the Philippines. But journalists 

in other corners of the glo be died 

in disturbing numbers, such as in Iraq, 

Mexico, Georgia and Russia, where the 

apparent execution-style kil ling of an In - 

gushetian reporter unnerved a journalistic 

community long accustom ed to harrowing 

violence. 

Other developments showed that jour - 

nalists, a competitive bunch, have good 

reason for increased solidarity in light of 

the strikingly similar challenges they face 

worldwide. 

Judicial harassment dressed up as 

national security protection, in the past 

much criticized in the United States, 

also permitted authorities to intimidate 

outspo ken journalists in places such as 

Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, China 

and Iran. 

The European Union’s anti-terrorism 

efforts subtly encroached on the media, 

with the implementation of a directive 

requiring the retention of communications 

data for potential use in criminal 

investigations, a headache for those looking 

to protect their sources. 

Censorship in the name of tradition, 

religion, culture and national reputation 

was also widespread. In Thailand, laws 

protecting the reputation of the mon - 

arch prompted judicial proceedings and 

led to the shutdown of more than 

2.000 websites. In parts of the Middle 

East and North Africa, laws forbidding 

insults to Islam continued to carry the 

death penalty. 

Turkey’s government resisted deeper 

reform to its prohibitions on “insults to 

Turkishness”, half-heartedly rewording 

the law to forbid insults to the “Turkish 

nation”. In Slovenia, a country that held 

the EU presidency in the first half of 

2008, parties angered by media coverage 

repeatedly pushed for the prosecution of 

journalists under laws forbidding insults 

to the state. 

Global calls to rid legal systems of cri - 

minal penalties for defamation, whether 

involving the reputation of states, political 

leaders or individuals, met with little 

success. With many Western European 

nations failing to take the lead in such 

reform, it is not surprising that authoritarian 

leaders elsewhere readily relied on 

such provisions to harass journalists, particularly 

in African countries such as The 

Gambia and Zimbabwe, and Asian countries 

such as Indonesia and Singapore. 

Developments showed 

that journalists have 

good reason for increased 

solidarity in light of the 

strikingly similar challenges 

they face worldwide 

Source protection was a major issue 

not just in Europe. In the United States, 

courts squared off against journalists with 

respect to the issue, and moves for a federal 

media shield law saw some progress. 

In Australia, reticent journalists were 

threa tened with contempt proceedings, 

and had their premises and homes raided. 

But the news was not all grim. Chile 

and Guatemala approved access-to-information 

laws. Nepal created a National 

In formation Commission to implement 

the previously enacted Right to Informa - 

tion Act. Bangladesh too saw a new law 

on the right to information, though various 

insufficiencies resulted in relatively 

muted celebrations. The Cook Islands 

took the lead in Oceania, becoming the 

first nation to introduce a right to information 

law in that region. Disappoint - 

ing ly, Nigeria’s government once again 

stalled consideration of the ever-pending 

Freedom of Information Bill. 

Press freedom organizations often re - 

mind politicians that they do not have to 

love the media, but should respect journalists’ 

duty to be watchdogs and to in - 

form the public. Public leaders showed 

little resistance to the first part of that 

adage, with leaders in Sri Lanka, Turkey, 

Venezuela, Ecuador and Slovenia engaging 

in particularly hostile anti-media 

rhetoric. Fiji’s interim prime minister took 

things a step further, and, irked by their 

coverage, simply had two non-citizen 

journalists placed on a plane out of the 

country before immigration officials could 

review the legality of such a measure. 

Containing cyberspace was another 

ambitious effort into which authorities 

worldwide put much energy. In the Mid - 

dle East and Central Asia, this largely 

came in the form of new user registration 

requirements. Even the democratic government 

of South Korea said it is considering 

such measures. In China, cartoon 

police officers that popped up on computer 

screens when Internet users there 

accessed illegal content were no laughing 

matter for those all too familiar with the 

real thing. 

Silence was another chilling trend. In 

Eritrea, little information trickled out of 

the country about the dozen or more 

journalists languishing in jail since as 

early as 2001. In Mexico, eight journalists 

have simply gone missing as of 2008. 

5

6 

Asia By Barbara Trionfi 

Cyber-Censorship Finds a Home 

In a region replete with repressive governments, intolerance of dissent is only 

one of many obstacles to media freedom. Investigative journalists face wanton 

attacks, while reporters routinely find themselves in the cross-fire of ethnic, 

religious and political turf wars. Government failure, aloofness or unwillingness 

to bring the perpetrators to justice serves as encouragement for further attacks. 

Pakistani journalists and members of civil society chant slogans during a rally to mark World 

Press Freedom Day, on 3 May 2008 in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed) 

The Internet continues to be a battleground 

between journalists 

and their censors, while two 

Asian countries – China and Vietnam – 

maintain a leading role as jailers of cyber 

dissidents. 

Propelled by Internet and mobile messaging, 

news spread fast of major events, 

including the protests in Tibet, the escalation 

of violence in Sri Lanka, massive 

anti-government demonstrations in Thailand, 

and calamities such as the Sichuan 

earthquake in China and cyclone Nargis 

in Burma. Much of the more sensitive 

information related to these events would 

never have reached the public had it not 

been for the courageous efforts of repor - 

ters to uncover what governments tried 

to cloak. 

Despite China’s efforts to liberalise its 

economy, its centralised rule and intolerance 

of dissent create inherent tensions for 

both foreign and Chinese journalists. 

Attacks against journalists perceived as 

damaging China’s image have been nu m - 

erous. Foreign journalists received death 

threats after state-run media ran reports 

critical of the international coverage of the 

Tibet unrest, and Chinese journalists were 

locked up for reports deemed negative. 

Despite China’s efforts 

to liberalise its economy, 

its centralised rule and 

intolerance of dissent 

create inherent tensions 

for both foreign and 

Chinese journalists 

In semiautonomous Hong Kong, one 

magazine board decided to drop an article 

suggesting that Hong Kong-style 

autonomy might be the best solution 

for Tibet. The decision raised concerns 

about the increasing influence of pro- 

Beijing forces in the Hong Kong Special 

Administrative Region and its consequence 

on its citizens’ rights. 

Jing and Cha are the two cartoon figures of 

"virtual cops" that patrol the Internet in China 

(AP Photo/Beijing Public Security Bureau, HO) 

Meanwhile, criminal defamation and 

lack of judicial independence represent a 

serious threat to press freedom in many 

Asian countries. 

In the Philippines, a Daily Tribune 

reporter was sentenced to a prison term 

of up to two years and 10 months for an 

article she wrote alleging corruption in a 

contract-bidding deal. 

Courts in Indonesia have struck 

down laws that criminalised defamation 

of the government and insults to the pre - 

sident and vice president, calling them 

unconstitutional. However, defamation 

in general remains a criminal offence. 

Violations of the newly passed Electronic 

Information and Transaction Law, forbidding 

the distribution of insulting or 

defamatory information in electronic 

form, are punishable with a maximum of 

six years in prison and high fines. 

Thailand has witnessed a number of 

complaints and prosecutions in connection 

with draconian laws that forbid criticism 

of the monarch. The laws foster le -

gal harassment of journalists and self-censorship. 

Furthermore, the government has 

reported that it has blocked 2,300 websites 

including messages deemed insulting 

to monarchy. This year, BBC correspondent 

Jonathan Head was harassed 

by a police officer who alleged that the 

reporter had offended the king. Under 

Thai law, lèse-majesté charges can be 

brought by any citizen. 

In a separate case, Australian author 

Harry Nicolaides was jailed on 31 August 

for three sentences he wrote about the 

royal family in his 2005 novel, “Veri si - 

militude”. 

The Vietnamese government’s 

crackdown on free 

speech resulted in the arrest 

of at least 10 journalists 

Criminal defamation is not the only 

law used to jail journalists in Asia. In 

Burma, popular comedian Zarganar was 

sentenced to 45 years for violating the 

Electronics Act by videotaping cyclone 

damage and criticizing the ruling military 

junta’s lacklustre relief efforts. Three 

other journalists were sentenced to bet - 

ween 15 and 29 years under the Elec - 

tronics Act for their involvement in helping 

cyclone survivors. A blogger, Nay 

Phone Latt, was sentenced to 20 years in 

prison for posting a poem criticizing the 

country’s ruling general. 

The Vietnamese government’s crackdown 

on free speech resulted in the ar - 

rest of at least 10 journalists, five of 

whom are now serving prison terms on 

charges of abuse of power, tax evasion 

and terrorism. 

Licensing requirements for newspapers, 

a practice IPI has repeatedly condemned, 

have been used by the authorities 

in Malaysia to censor critical voices. 

In April, the Tamil-language newspaper 

Makkal Osai, known for its criticism of 

one of the ruling parties, received a letter 

from the Ministry of Home Affairs stating 

that its application for a new permit 

had been denied. 

Governments of the Central Asian 

re publics also strictly control the allocation 

of broadcasting and, in some 

cases, newspaper licenses. State control 

over printing and distribution facilities 

represents a fur ther obstacle press freedom 

in this re gion, where physical at - 

A Tibetan motorcyclist rides past closed shops with a banner demanding media freedom 

in Tibet, in Dharmsala, India, Sunday, March 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia) 

tacks and imprisonment of journalists 

are not uncommon. 

Conflicts along political, ethnic and 

religious lines in South Asia have become 

the greatest threats to journalists in the 

region. Of the 26 journalists who lost 

their lives in the line of duty in Asia in 

2008, 17 were killed in Afghanistan, 

Pakistan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. 

Of the 26 journalists who 

lost their lives in the line 

of duty in Asia in 2008, 

17 were killed in Afghan - 

istan, Pakistan, India, 

Nepal and Sri Lanka 

Investigative journalists are also in the 

line of fire. Four of the journalists killed 

in the Philippines in 2008, as well as two 

of the three journalists killed in Thai - 

land, one in Cambodian and three in 

South Asia, were known for their reports 

on corruption. 

Asian authorities have often expressed 

the need to control the Internet – a growing 

source of independent information. 

In an amusing stab at unfettered media 

access, Chinese authorities use “Jing” and 

“Cha” – two cartoon police officers that 

regularly pop up on Internet users’ 

screens warning them of illegal content. 

Illegal content includes anything deemed 

as subversive or promoting superstition. 

Efforts to censor website content and 

force registration of Internet users have be - 

come more routine in China, Singa pore, 

Vietnam, Malaysia, Burma and the Cen - 

tral Asian republics. However, this year’s 

announcement by the government in 

South Korea that it would consider new 

laws to control the spread of false information 

on the Internet came as discouraging 

news for a nation that has become one 

of the region’s steadiest de mocracies. 

Under the Korean proposal, all users of 

cyber-forums and chat rooms would be 

required to register using their real names. 

7

E R 

RIA 

ja 

Death by Numbers Asia Deadliest Region for Journalists in 2008 

BELARUS 

CZECH REP. U K R A I N E 

SLOVAKIA 

LIECH. 

MOLDOVA 

AUSTRIA 

Lake Balkhash 

HUNGARY 

ROMANIA 

Sea of 

Azov 

Aral 

SAN 

Sea 

MARINO 

SERBIA 

ITALY 

Black Sea 

GEORGIA 

Caspian 

MONT. Sea 

ALB. 

ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN 

Indian 

1972 

claim 

Line of Control 

UNISIA 

SYRIA 

CYPRUS 

Line of 

Mediterranean Sea 

IRAQ 

Actual 

LEBANON 

AFGHANISTAN 

Control 

I R A N 

Persian 

Gulf 

Gulf of Oman 

Red 

Sea 

PAKISTAN 

BAN 

KOS. 

Hamburg 

Samara 

Barnaul 

Berlin Warsaw 

Lódz Homyel 

Voronezh Saratov 

Orenburg 

ne 

Astana 

POLAND 

RMANY Prague 

Kyiv 

Kraków 

Qaraghandy 

L'viv 

rankfurt 

(Karaganda) 

ourg 

Kharkiv Volgograd 

unich Vienna Bratislava 

Donets'k 

K A Z A K H S T A N 

Budapest Chisinau 

Rostov 

Atyraü 

n 

SLOVENIA 

Odesa 

Astrakhan' 

Ljubljana 

Milan 

CROATIA 

n Zagreb Belgrade 

BOS. & Bucharest 

oa 

HER. 

Aqtaü 

Ürümqi 

Sarajevo 

(Aktau) 

Almaty 

Pristina Sofia 

VATICAN Podgorica 

BULGARIA 

Shymkent 

CITY 

Tbilisi 

Bishkek 

Rome Tirana 

Skopje 

Istanbul 

Tashkent KYRGYZSTAN 

MACEDONIA 

Naples 

Ankara 

UZBEKISTAN 

Bursa 

Yerevan 

Baku 

Kashi 

(IT.) 

GREECE . T U R K E Y 

TURKMENISTAN 

Palermo 

Izmir 

Dushanbe 

Konya 

Ashgabat 

Athens 

TAJIKISTAN 

Adana Gaziantep 

Tabriz ¯ 

(IT.) 

Mosul 

Mashhad 

unis MALTA Valletta 

Aleppo 

Tehran 

Nicosia 

Arbil 

Qom 

Herāt Kabul 

(GR.) 

Beirut 

Peshāwar 

Damascus 

Kermanshah 

Tripoli 

Es¸fahān 

Tel Aviv-Yafo 

Baghdad 

Islamabad 

Banghāzī 

ISRAEL 

Kandahār 

Alexandria 

Jerusalem Amman 

Ahvāz 

Lahore 

Faisalābād 

Cairo JORDAN 

Al Bas¸rah 

Quetta Multān Ludhiāna 

L I B Y A 

Al Jizah ¯ 

E G Y P T 

Aswān 

KUWAIT 

Kuwait 

Shirāz ¯ Zāhedān 

SAUDI BAHRAIN 

OMAN 

Manama Abu 

Medina Riyadh Doha Dhabi 

QATAR UNITED ARAB Muscat 

EMIRATES 

ARABIA 

Jiddah 

Mecca 

OMAN 

Hyderābād 

Karāchi 

New 

Delhi 

NEPAL 

Āgra Kathmandu 

Jaipur 

Kānpur 

Lucknow 

Patna 

Ahmadābād Bhopāl 

Jamshedpur 

Indore 

Ko 

Sūrat 

Nāgpur 

. 

Sardinia 

Sicily 

Crete 

no 

CAMEROON 

Douala 

CHAD 

N'Djamena 

CENTRAL 

AFRICAN REPUBLIC 

Bangui 

Afghanistan (2) 

Abdul Samad Rohani, 

8 June 

Carsten Thomassen, 

14 January 

Omdurman 

Khartoum 

S U D A N 

Nyala 

Lake 

Nyasa 

ERITREA 

Asmara 

Pakistan (6) 

Addis 

Ababa 

ETHIOPIA 

M i 

Abdul Razzak Johra, 

3 November 

Abdul Aziz Shaheen, 

29 August 

Mohammed Ibrahim Khan, 

22 May 

Khadim Hussain Shaikh, 

14 April 

Siraj Uddin, 29 February 

Abdus Samad Chishti 

Mujahid, 9 February 

YEMEN 

Sanaa 

Aden 

Gulf of Aden 

DJIBOUTI 

Djibouti 

SOMALIA 

Glorioso Islands 

(F CE) 

Socotra 

(YEMEN) 

REP. OF 

UGANDA 

KENYA 

GABON THE 

CONGO RWANDA 

Lake 

Victoria 

BURUNDI 

ANGOLA 

Cabinda) 

Lake 

Tanganyika TANZANIA 

SEYCHELLES 

DEMOCRATIC 

Yaounde 

Libreville 

Kisangani Kampala 

Mogadishu 

Nairobi 

Kigali 

REPUBLIC 

Bujumbura 

Brazzaville 

-Noire OF THE CONGO 

Mombasa 

Kinshasa 

Mbuji-Mayi 

Dodoma 

Dar es Salaam 

Luanda 

Victoria 

8 

Lubumbashi 

Juba 

Port Sudan 

Kassala 

Hargeysa 

Nepal (2) 

Arabian 

Sea 

Jagat Prasad Joshi, 

28 November 

Pushkar Bahadur Shrestha, 

12 January 

Mumbai 

LAKSHADWEEP 

(INDIA) 

MALDIVES 

British Indian 

Ocean Territory 

(U.K.) 

Pune 

Calicut 

Laccadive 

Sea 

Sri Lanka (2) 

I N D I A 

Hyderābād 

Bengaluru 

Cochin 

Male 

Diego 

Garcia 

Vijayawāda 

Rashmi Mohamed, 

6 October 

Paranirupasingham 

Devakumar, 28 May 

Coimbatore 

Madurai 

Chennai 

Vishākh 

Colombo 

SRI 

LANKA

Lhasa 

BHUTAN 

Thimpu 

GLADESH 

Dhaka 

Khulna 

kata Chittagong 

apatnam 

Irkutsk 

Bay of 

Bengal 

M O N G O L I A 

NICOBAR 

ISLANDS 

(INDIA) 

C H I N A 

BURMA 

Rangoon 

Mandalay 

Nay Pyi 

Taw 

ANDAMAN 

ISLANDS 

(INDIA) 

Andaman 

Sea 

India (5) 

Ulaanbaatar 

Hanoi 

LAOS 

THAILAND 

Phnom 

Penh 

Gulf of 

Thailand 

Vikas Ranjan, 

25 November 

Jagjit Saikia, 

20 November 

Javed Ahmed Mir, 

13 August 

Mohammed Muslimuddin, 

1 April 

Ashok Sodhi, 

11 May 

Guangzhou 

Shantou 

Nanning 

Zhanjiang 

Haiphong 

Hong Kong 

Macau S.A.R. 

S.A.R. 

Gulf of 

Tonkin 

CAMBODIA 

VIETNAM 

Christmas Island 

South China 

Sea 

Bandar Seri 

Begawan 

Medan 

Kuala 

Lumpur 

BRUNEI 

Pekanbaru 

M A L A Y S I A 

Singapore 

SINGAPORE 

Padang 

Pontianak 

Samarinda 

Thailand (3) 

Taiwan 

Kao-hsiung 

Luzon 

Strait 

Jaruek Rangcharoen, 

27 September 

Chalee Boonsawat, 

21 August 

Athiwat Chaiyanurat, 

1 August 

Celebes Sea 

Okhotsk 

Baotou 

Lanzhou 

Beijing 

NORTH KOREA Sea of 

Datong 

Tianjin 

Pyongyang Japan 

Shijiazhuang 

Dalian 

Taiyuan 

Yantai Seoul 

Zibo 

SOUTH 

Jinan 

KOREA 

Qingdao Yellow 

Zhengzhou 

Pusan 

Nagoya 

Sea 

Hiroshima 

Ōsaka 

Xi'an 

Fukuoka 

Nanjing Nantong 

Chengdu 

Wuhan 

Hefei 

Hangzhou 

Shanghai 

Chongqing 

Changsha 

Ningbo 

Nanchang 

East China 

Sea 

Chiang 

Mai 

Chita 

Vientiane 

Bangkok 

Kunming 

Palembang 

Guiyang 

Da Nang 

Hainan 

Dao 

Ho Chi Minh 

City 

SPRATLY 

ISLANDS 

Changchun 

Harbin 

Fuzhou 

Jilin 

Shenyang 

Xiamen 

PARACEL 

ISLANDS 

Banjarmasin 

Philippine 

Sea 

PHILIPPINES 

Banda Sea 

Ti 

JAPAN 

I N D O N E S I A 

Tanjungkarang- 

Java Sea 

Telukbetung Jakarta 

Makassar 

Bandung 

Semarang Surabaya 

Malang 

Denpasar 

Taipei 

Khabarovsk 

Manila 

Zamboanga 

Vladivostok 

Okinawa 

U 

R Y 

K 

U 

Y 

Cebu 

Sakhalin 

S 

I 

D 

S 

N 

A 

L 

Dili 

( JAP AN ) 

Davao 

TIMOR-LESTE 

Kupang 

Sapporo 

Tokyo 

(JAPAN) 

Melekeok 

Cambodia (1) 

Khim Sambo, 

11 July 

Yokohama 

N A M P O - S H O T O 

- 

- 

PALAU 

Arafura 

Sea 

Petropavlovsk- 

Kamchatskiy 

KURIL 

ISLANDS 

Occupied by the SOVIET UNION in 1945, 

administered by RUSSIA, claimed by JAPAN 

Northern 

Mariana 

Islands 

(U.S.) 

Jayapura 

Guam 

(U.S.) 

Saipan 

Hagåtña 

PAPUA 

NEW GUINEA 

Philippines (5) 

Leo Mila, 

2 December 

Aristeo Padrigao, 

17 November 

Dennis Cuesta, 

9 August 

Martin Roxas, 

7 August 

Benefredo Acabal, 

7 April 

N O R T H 

P A C I F I C 

O C E 

Marcus Island 

(JAPAN) 

U.S. 

Tropic 

FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA 

Port 

Moresby 

A L E U T I A N I S L A N 

Palikir 

Equato 

SOLOM 

ISL 

Honiara 

9

10 

Afghanistan by Naomi Hunt 

It has been seven years since the U.S.led 

invasion of Afghanistan, but journalism 

remains a more perilous profession 

than ever before. Three journalists were 

killed this year, fewer than in 2007, but 

that was partly because at least two additional 

attempts on journalists’ lives failed. 

In a year where two men were sentenced 

to 20 years in prison for publishing 

a Dari-language (Persian) version of 

the Quran, it is clear that fundamentalist 

Islamists in the Afghan government have 

exerted increasing control over media 

content and culture. 

Over the last year, suicide bombings 

killed one reporter and injured another. 

A Norwegian reporter for the Oslo newspaper 

Dagbladet was one of six victims in 

a 15 January suicide squad attack on a 

luxury Kabul hotel. He was shot and died 

while undergoing surgery. On 29 April, 

Australian journalist Paul Rafael was 

injured along with 32 others when a suicide 

bomber attacked members of an 

opium eradication team close to the border 

with Pakistan. Photographer Steve 

Du pont escaped unharmed. The Taliban 

claimed responsibility for both attacks. 

U.S. forces released Jawed Ahmad, al - 

so known as Javed Yazamy, of Canadian 

Television, in September, after he was 

held at Bagram Air Base for nearly a year. 

In February, Pentagon officials claimed 

Ahmad was an “unlawful enemy combatant” 

but never revealed any proof. Ah - 

mad was never charged with any crime 

and was, in his own words, “tortured and 

jailed for 11 months and 20 days for 

doing nothing.” 

A Norwegian reporter 

for the Oslo newspaper 

Dagbladet was one of 

six victims in a 15 January 

suicide squad attack 

on a luxury Kabul hotel 

Afghanistan’s media law prohibits the 

publication of anything that harms the 

“national interest” or that is an “affront to 

Islam,” provisions often used to suppress 

expression. On 22 January, an Islamic 

court sentenced journalism student 

Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh to death for 

blasphemy, although the sentence was 

commuted this October to 20 years in 

prison following mounting international 

pressure. 

Kambakhsh was first arrested in Oc - 

tober 2007 for distributing allegedly anti- 

Islamic literature. He is the brother of 

prominent journalist Sayed Zaqub Ibra - 

himi, frequently under attack for criticizing 

local officials and warlords. Kam - 

bakhsh claims that he was tortured into 

signing a confession of apostasy (rejection 

of Islam). Also, the prosecution’s key 

witness admitted in court that officials 

had threatened to detain his family unless 

he made a statement against Kambakhsh. 

The Council of Ulemas and the information 

and culture ministry took steps 

to ban“un-Islamic” television shows. In 

March, the information ministry issued a 

statement condemning a programme on 

Tolo TV that showed men and women 

dancing together, which was allegedly 

“against the beliefs and traditions of Af - 

ghanistan’s Islamic society.” The next day, 

they ordered that three TV shows be re - 

moved from programming by 14 April. 

On 31 March, the lower house of parliament 

(Wolesi Jirga) adopted a resolution 

Afghan journalists hold a poster with a picture of the late Naqshbandi during a protest in front of the Afghan parliament in Kabul. (Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

Afghans hold a demonstration against 

Perwiz Kambakhsh's death sentence 

in Kabul. (Reuters/Ahmad Masood) 

ordering that “sensual” images no longer 

appear in the media, adding that foreign 

dancers no longer be invited into the 

country. 

This move signals a distressing return 

to the repressive conditions under Tali - 

ban rule, and parallels Taliban decrees in 

areas where some of their number maintain 

authority today. In Mirali, located in 

Pakistan’s Tribal Area, vendors were or - 

dered on 12 March to stop selling two 

daily newspapers, Aaj Kal and Waqt, as 

they allegedly contained “un-Islamic and 

immoral photographs of women.” 

Taliban-era conceptions 

of gender roles incite frequent 

attacks on women 

who work alongside men 

The Taliban also killed BBC and Pajh - 

wok reporter Abdul Samad Rohani, who 

disappeared after his vehicle was stopped 

by armed men in Lashkar Gah. Rohani 

was found dead the next day, his body 

riddled with bullet holes and signs of torture. 

As head of the BBC’s Pashtu service 

in Helmand province, Rohani had repor - 

tedly received threats from a local chief 

who accused him of “boycotting” news 

put out by the Taliban. 

Taliban-era conceptions of gender ro - 

les incite frequent attacks on women who 

work alongside men. On 5 June, the family 

and friends of murdered journalist 

Zakia Zaki inaugurated a culture centre 

in her honour in Jabalussaraj. The foun - 

der of Sada-i-Sulh (Peace Radio) was shot 

to death in June 2007. Six suspects were 

detained and later released. Zaki’s family 

and colleagues believe that her killer is an 

influential local warlord. The failure to 

prosecute any suspects has been especially 

devastating for female journalists. 

On 6 and11 April, grenades were 

thrown into the home of Radio Faryad’s 

deputy editor-in-chief Khadija Ahadi. 

There were no casualties. Ahadi, whose 

talk show addresses social and political 

issues, says she was targeted for working 

with men. She has since quit her job. On 

15 May, Nilofar Habibi, a presenter for 

Heart TV, was stabbed at home but survived. 

She subsequently left her post. 

Journalist Jameela Rishteen Qadiry, of 

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, reported 

that she received numerous anonymous 

death threats over the telephone in June. 

In late September, the owner and chief 

editor of Radio Quyash, Rona Shirzai, 

received threats from Governer Abdul 

Haq Shafaq warning her that if she does 

not obey his orders, her station might be 

shut down and her life could be at risk. 

News sources report that Shafaq has as - 

signed a two-person team to monitor 

Shirzai’s station. 

The year ended with a spate of abductions 

by Taliban and other insurgent 

forces, although the journalists were all 

later released. Mellissa Fung, a Canadian 

Broadcasting Corporation journalist, was 

kidnapped outside Kabul on 12 October, 

Afghanistan in Brief: 

and held blindfolded in a cave for 28 

days. Her “fixer” and her driver, brothers 

Shokoor and Qaem Feroz, were detained 

by Afghan security forces after they re - 

ported Fung’s abduction, but were later 

also released. 

Dutch reporter Joanie de Rijke was 

also abducted near Kabul in November, 

while working on a story for a Belgian 

magazine. She was freed a week later. Da - 

wa Khan Menapal of Radio Free Europe/ 

Radio Liberty and Aziz Popal, of a Kan - 

dahar television station, were abducted 

by Taliban forces on 26 November as they 

were driving toward Kandahar, and re - 

leased after three days. 

Recommendations 

Abandon use of religious legislation 

(punishing heresy, apostasy, insults 

to Islam or the Prophet, etc.) for 

repression of the press. 

Obtain a commitment from all parties 

to the conflict to respect the right of 

journalists to practice their profession. 

Protect and promote women journalists 

and their work. 

Population: 32.7 million 

Domestic Overview: Hamid Karzai, the country’s first democraticallyelected 

president, was inaugurated for a five-year term in December 

2004. The country’s National Assembly consists of the “Wolesi Jirga” 

(lower house) and the “Meshrano Jirga” (upper house), the latter of which 

is elected by provincial councils and reserved presidential appointments. 

It was inaugurated in December 2005. 

The elections followed the Taliban’s expulsion from power by U.S.-led 

NATO forces in 2001. The ultra-conservative, mainly Pashtun Taliban 

seized control of Kabul in 1996 after twenty years of armed conflict, 

first aiding in the fight against Soviet forces and later beating out other 

factions and warlords for control of the state. 

Today, lack of infrastructure and continual assaults by various groups of 

armed insurgents challenge the new government’s ability to rule beyond 

the borders of the capital. The Taliban are now regrouping and exercise 

control over some areas in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. 

Beyond Borders: Afghanistan’s diplomatic relations with the international 

community has grown since the fall of the Taliban. Its six neighbours have 

pledged to respect the country’s independence and territorial integrity, 

and it has sought increased economic cooperation with them. 

The government still relies heavily on international aid, including for 

purposes of providing social services to its citizens. Troublingly, Afghanistan 

is again the world’s largest exporter of opium and heroin. 

11

12 

Bangladesh by Barbara Trionfi 

Campaign posters hang above a street in Dhaka in the run-up to the landmark elections 

(Reuters/Andrew Biraj) 

Bangladesh in Brief: 

Population: 153 million 

Domestic Overview: Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan 

in 1971. After 15 years of military rule, democracy was restored in 1990. 

Bangladesh has a parliamentary democracy based on universal suffrage. 

The 13th amendment (1996) of the constitution provides for the organisation 

of general elections by a non-partisan caretaker government. 

In January 2007, following weeks of turmoil ahead of parliamentary 

elections, the caretaker government postponed the election and declared 

a state of emergency, which was eventually lifted in December 2008. 

Beyond Borders: Bangladesh holds good relations with India, Pakistan, 

China and other South Asian counties, as well as Russia. Bangladesh 

has been very active within the United Nations and the South Asian 

Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). 

The lifting of the state of emergency in 

Bangladesh on 17 December, ahead 

of the 29 December national elections, 

marked a hopeful development in a country 

that had been ruled by a caretaker 

administration nominated to lead the 

country to elections. The elections themselves, 

originally scheduled for January 

2007, were repeatedly postponed after 

widespread violence in the run-up to elections 

that same month led to the enforcement 

of the emergency law. 

Sheik Hasina, head of the Awami Lea - 

gue party, assured an IPI delegation that 

visited Bangladesh in early De cember that 

she was committed to media freedom. 

However, even after his party’s electoral 

victory on 29 December, concerns remain 

that the restoration of the two-party system 

in Bangladesh might in crease the an - 

tagonism between the political parties and 

the Bangladeshi media that are greatly 

polarized along political lines. 

Journalists covering 

corruption remained 

at risk of harassment 

and even torture 

Journalists covering corruption re - 

mained at risk of harassment and even 

torture. In March, Rabiul Islam, a journalist 

for The Daily Sunshine, a Banglalanguage 

newspaper, was arrested, as saul - 

ted and dragged to a police station. He 

was detained for 12 hours and accused of 

participating in a robbery, but released 

after the victim denied the journalist was 

involved in the offence. Rabiul has repeatedly 

written about corruption and other 

transgressions by the police force. In a 

show of solidarity, throughout his detention, 

a fellow journalist who happened to 

be at the police station re mained there to 

ensure his colleague was not harmed. In 

addition, senior journalists contacted the 

station to inquire about Rabiul’s arrest. 

The trial of journalist Jahangir Alam 

Akash, charged with extortion, served as 

a reminder of the real threat of such mistreatment. 

Akash, who works for both a 

daily and a television channel, was arrested 

in late 2007 after being accused of ex - 

tortion. He was detained for four weeks, 

and allegedly tortured by the Rapid Ac - 

tion Battalion (RAB) and the local police 

during this time. In 2008, his trial caused 

concern, with the prosecution accused of

guiding its witnesses and Akash’s request 

for a hearing deferment denied, even 

though the journalist’s main defence 

coun sel was unavailable. 

Akash was not the only journalist to 

allege such mistreatment. A report relea - 

sed in 2008 by Odhikar, a human rights 

organization, concluded that Noor Ah - 

med, editor-in-chief of the Dainik Sylhet 

Protidin and secretary general of the Syl - 

het Press Club, was detained by members 

of the RAB in 2007, and tortured. Ac - 

cused of extortion, Noor Ahmed alleges 

that he was repeatedly beaten with a 

stick, and ultimately signed a statement 

he could no longer read. Noor Ahmed 

had been investigating both the RAB and 

a local police inspector regarding possible 

corruption. 

Bangladeshi editors joined together 

for a unified call for the release of imprisoned 

editor Mohammad Atiqullah Khan 

Masud in September. IPI’s Justice Denied 

Campaign calls attention to the fate of 

Atiqullah Khan, editor of the daily 

Janakantha, arrested without warrant in 

March 2007 under the Emergency Po - 

wers Rules. Atiqullah Khan, an outspoken 

advocate of press freedom, faces a 

plethora of charges. The editors’ appeal 

for his release, supported by editors of the 

country’s 14 national dailies, emphasised 

Atiqullah Khan’s deteriorating health and 

the destabilizing effect of his incarceration 

on his newspaper’s already precarious 

financial situation. 

Bangladesh’s media environment this 

year was also affected by legislative developments. 

A controversial counterterrorism 

ordinance was adopted by the military-backed 

interim government in June. 

It was criticized both for being approved 

without public hearings, and for containing 

provisions susceptible to abuse. For 

example, terrorist acts were so broadly 

de fined as to include mere property cri - 

mes. In addition, the law introduced cri - 

minal penalties for speech intended to 

“support or bolster” the activities of a 

banned organization, with no requirement 

that incitement of criminal conduct 

is demonstrated. 

The new Right to Information law 

provided at least partly positive news, 

though many considered it insufficient. 

The law, approved by the advisers to the 

interim administration in September, 

was published in the official Bangladesh 

Gazette on 20 October. It was lauded for 

Bangladesh Awami League President 

and former PM Sheik Hasina 

(Reuters/Andrew Biraj) 

applying broadly to all information held 

by all public bodies, but the press freedom 

organisation Article 19 noted several 

deficiencies. In particular, the organization 

voiced concern regarding the ma - 

ny available exemptions, with as many as 

20 instances permitting request denials, 

including cases of corruption. The law al - 

so failed to protect good-faith disclosures. 

Towards the end of the year, all attention 

focussed on the landmark elections 

held on 29 December. An IPI mission 

that travelled to Dhaka from 27 Novem - 

ber to 2 December elicited commitments 

to an open media environment during 

elections from the main political parties, 

the Interim Administration and the 

Election Commission. Furthermore, representatives 

of the political parties that 

met with the IPI mission pledged to 

investigate the killings of more than a 

dozen journalists. 


End impunity in the crimes against 

journalists 

Bring Bangladeshi laws in line 

with international standards 

on press freedom 

Enact a broadcasting law including 

provisions supporting media freedom, 

as well as a suitable commitment 

to public service 

Mission 

Press Freedom in Bangladesh 

From 27 November to 2 December 

2008, IPI conducted a high-level 

mis sion to Dhaka, Bangladesh to assess 

the country’s media environment ahead 

of the 29 December National Elections, 

as well as to elicit commitments from the 

heads of the two main political parties to 

support the right of journalists to report 

on the general elections without harassment 

or interference. 

The mission included IPI Director 

David Dadge; Owais Aslam Ali, Sec re ta - 

ry General of the Pakistan Press Foun d - 

ation (PPF) and Chairman of Pakistan 

Press International (PPI), Karachi; and 

Padma Singh Karki, Chairman of the IPI 

Nepal National Committee and editor 

and publisher of the Gatibidhi Weekly in 

Kathmandu. Bulbul Monjurul Ahsan, 

Head of News and Current Affairs at 

ATN Bangla and Executive Director of 

Media Watch, Bangladesh, was the local 

coordinator for the mission. 

Perpetrators of crimes 

against journalists are 

gene rally not prosecuted 

and the authorities 

do not seem to take the 

cases seriously 

The members of the IPI mission met 

with journalists, editors and media owners 

as well as with the head of the Awami 

League, leaders of the Bangladesh Natio - 

n alist Party (BNP), the Chief Advisor to 

the Interim Government, the Directorate 

General of Forces Intelligence, the At - 

torney General, and the Chief Election 

Commissioner, among others. 

Meetings with Editors 

and Journalists 

One of the main problems highlighted by 

journalists is that media outlets in Bang - 

ladesh are politically polarized, and tend 

to favour either the Awami League or the 

BNP, the two main political parties. 

Some journalists noted that they should 

attempt to bridge this divide by agreeing 

on best practices of journalism, rather 

than focussing on supporting particular 

political parties. 

Editors expressed concern about laws 

and practices that have a chilling effect 

on their ability to report on issues of public 

interest. Criminal defamation was spe - 

cifically mentioned as a problem. 

13

14 

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina meets with the IPI Mission: IPI Director David Dadge, PPF Secretary 

General Owais Aslam Ali, IPI Nepal National Committee Chairman Padma Singh Karki (left to right)” 

It was noted that journalists are often 

ensnared in legal cases and accused of 

extortion. It is widely believed that many 

of the cases are triggered by reports that 

offend politicians and the authorities. 

Impunity was identified as a major 

prob lem. Perpetrators of crimes against 

journalists are generally not prosecuted 

and the authorities do not seem to take 

the cases seriously. Particularly in rural 

areas, some journalists complained that 

they have been harassed, intimidated and 

even tortured by the Rapid Action Batal - 

lion (RAB), the elite anti-crime force 

consisting of members of the Army, the 

Navy, the Air Force and the Police. 

The need to promote investigative 

jour nalism was also highlighted. How - 

ever, the recently passed right to information 

law does not provide enough guarantees 

for accessing information of public 

interest. 

Meeting with Sheikh Hasina, 

Head of the Awami League 

Sheikh Hasina stressed her commitment 

to press freedom during the elections. 

Sheikh Hasina acknowledged that freedom 

of expression is necessary if journalists 

are to play a vital role in supporting 

democracy and secularism, and said that 

journalists in Bangladesh enjoy full freedom 

of expression. She recognized, however, 

that the murder of journalists is a 

problem that affects the whole society. 

She also said that the Awami League was 

prepared to review the cases of murdered 

journalists as well as the case of imprisoned 

journalist Atiqullah Khan. 

Finally, Sheikh Hasina also highlighted 

the importance of professional training 

for journalists. 

Meeting with representatives 

of the Bangladesh National Party 

(BNP) 

BNP representatives also expressed concern 

about the media’s ability to report on 

the elections, given the Election Com - 

mission’s efforts to ensure that the commission 

is the only body allowed to re port 

the results after they are communicated 

by the returning officers in the districts. 

BNP representatives condemned the 

use of torture by the army. They also 

noted that they want “all murders to be 

properly investigated”, including those of 

journalists. 

Meeting with Dr. Fakhruddin 

Ahmad, Chief Advisor of the 

Interim Administration 

Responding to IPI’s concerns about the 

Emergency Power Rules (EPR), the Chief 

Adviser said that, while these include regulations 

that might affect the media, 

these laws have not been applied to limit 

media freedom. (This view was actually 

shared by some of the editors and journalists 

with whom the IPI delegation 

met). The Interim Administration has 

received no complaints from representatives 

of the media in this regard. He also 

indicated that the EPR will be lifted 

within a reasonable time. 

Meeting with Major General 

Golam Kader, Director General 

of the Directorate General 

of Forces Intelligence 

Addressing IPI’s concerns about attacks 

against journalists at the hands of the 

RAB and army, Major General Golam 

Kader responded that he could not vouch 

for the entire army, but stated that where 

cases of journalists tortured by the army 

have “surfaced”, the responsible individuals 

have been punished. 


Based on its findings during the mission, 

IPI issued preliminary recommendations 

aimed at improving Bangladesh’s 

media environment. These called for: 

Investigating all attacks on journalists 

and continuing investigations into all 

cases of murdered journalists 

Ensuring all Bangladeshi laws meet 

international standards on press 

freedom and are in line with the 

spirit and intent of Article 39 of the 

Bangladeshi Constitution 

Enactment of a broadcasting law in 

line with international standards and 

containing provisions supporting freedom 

of the press, as well as a suitable 

commitment to public service 

The immediate release of imprisoned 

Janakantha editor and publisher 

Mohammad Atiqullah Khan Masud 

Allowing the media to report free of 

all attempts to influence this reporting 

Expressions of solidarity among the 

media in condemning press freedom 

violations.

Mohammad Atiqullah Khan Masud, 

editor and publisher of the national 

Bengali-language daily, Janakantha 

(“The People’s Voice”), was arrested on 

7 March 2007 without warrant under 

section 16 of Bangladesh’s Emergency 

Powers Rules 2007. 

Troops stormed Atiqullah Khan’s of - 

fice and, after arresting him, searched his 

office and his home. Two days later, 

police brought charges of “corruption”, 

“criminal activities”, and “tarnishing the 

image of the country” against him. Ati - 

qullah Khan, who requested but was de - 

nied bail, has been held in Dhaka Central 

Prison ever since. 

Atiqullah Khan was 

one of several journalists 

and editors who, in January 

2007, urged the newlyappointed 

interim government 

to take a clear stand 

in favour of press freedom 

and against censorship 

Atiqullah Khan was one of several 

jour nalists and editors who, in January 

2007, urged the newly-appointed interim 

government to take a clear stand in fa - 

vour of press freedom and against censorship. 

The daily Janakantha, one of Bang - 

ladesh’s leading newspapers, is known for 

its uncompromising stance on press freedom 

and has always tried to expose press 

freedom violations. During the past 

Justice Denied 

The Case of 

Mohammad Atiqullah 

Khan Masud 

Mohammad Atiqullah Khan Masud 

editor and publisher of the national daily Janakantha 

years, multiple physical attacks and other 

forms of harassment have been carried 

out against Janakantha’s journalists. 

As of October 2008, Atiqullah Khan 

has faced a litany of charges, and has been 

sentenced to a total of 48 years of imprisonment 

in six separate cases. Sentences of 

seven years were imposed on Atiqullah 

Khan on five separate occasions between 

March and May of 2008, all based on 

similar charges of fraud. In addition, on 3 

April, he was sentenced to 13 years in 

prison for amassing illegal wealth and 

hiding assets in his wealth statement submitted 

to the Anti-Corruption Commis - 

sion (ACC). 

On 19 September 2008, the editors of 

Bangladesh’s 14 national dailies issued a 

statement, widely reported on by the 

country’s media, calling for Atiqullah 

Khan’s release. In the meantime, dismal 

prison conditions have strongly affected 

his health, and he has been suffering 

from neurological problems, heart disease, 

intestinal disorder, kidney trouble, 

and eye problems. Atiqullah Khan is currently 

under treatment at Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospi - 

tal. His continued imprisonment has also 

put Janakantha in peril by further destabilising 

the newspaper’s already precarious 

financial situation. 

Timeline 

November 2008 

IPI launches campaign against 

imprisonment of Atiqullah Khan 

19 September 2008 

The editors of Bangladesh’s 

14 national dailies issue a 

statement calling for Atiqullah 

Khan’s release 

27 April, 14 May 2007 

In two different cases, Atiqullah 

Khan is sentenced to 14 years 

imprisonment based on fraud 

convictions 

3 April 2007 

Atiqullah Khan is sentenced 

to 13 years imprisonment for 

amassing illegal wealth and 

hiding assets in his wealth 

statement, which he had to 

submit to the Anti-Corruption 

Commission (ACC) from prison 

6, 9, 20 March 2007 

Atiqullah Khan is sentenced 

by the “Special Tribunal” to 

imprisonment of seven years 

each in three different cases 

involving charges of fraud 

7 March 2007 

Atiqullah Khan is arrested 

without warrant under Section 

16 of Bangla-desh’s Emergency 

Powers Rules 2007 

15

16 

Bhutan by Naomi Hunt 

People walk down a street beside a portrait of 

Wangchuck in Thimphu. (Reuters/Desmond Boylan) 

Bhutan in Brief 

Population: 682,000 

Domestic Overview: For centuries, Bhutan was culturally isolated by 

geographical chance and by choice. As a result, the tiny mountain country 

managed to preserve a thousand-year-old Tantric Buddhist tradition 

and a medieval social structure well into the Atomic Age. 

Bhutan has been united under the Wangchuck dynasty since 1885, 

and the monarchy is trusted and respected – Bhutan’s recent democratization 

was ordered by royal decree. King Jigme Singye Wangchuck 

created the guiding principle of “Gross National Happiness,” equating 

cultural protection with economic development. 

The King abdicated in favour of his son Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wang chuck 

in 2006. A draft constitution was published in 2005, and mock elections 

were held in 2007 so that the new electorate could practice voting. 

In the 1980s, thousands of ethnically Nepali Southern Bhutanese were 

harassed for practicing Hinduism and expressing their own culture. 

Ethnic violence erupted. Around 105,000 Southern Bhutanese have been 

living in UNHCR refugee camps in Nepal since that time, victims of one of 

the world’s most intractable and enduring refugee situations. 

Beyond Borders: As per the 1949 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Bhutan’s 

foreign policy was “guided” by India until February 2007. Relations between 

the two nations remain close. Bhutan maintains friendly relations with the 

“Friends of Bhutan,” which include seven European countries and Japan, 

all of whom donate to social and development programmes. Bhutan is 

a member of the United Nations, but does not have diplomatic relations 

with any of the countries on the Security Council. Bhutan and Nepal are 

negotiating a solution to the refugee situation. 

Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck walks with Prime Minister Thinley during 

his coronation ceremony in Thimphu. (Reuters/Desmond Boylan) 

In March, Bhutan held its first ever legislative 

elections. The Bhutan Har mo - 

ny Party swept to power with 44 of 47 

seats, and the country’s first constitution 

was adopted by the new parliament in 

July. Bhutan is now a democracy, or ra - 

ther, a constitutional monarchy. The king 

and the Je Khempo, the spiritual head of 

Bhutan, are retained as sacrosanct leaders 

and guiding lights in a Buddhist country. 

The new constitution guarantees Bhu - 

tanese citizens freedom of speech, opinion 

and expression (Article 7.2), freedom 

of the press, radio and television and 

other forms of electronic dissemination 

of information (7.4), and the right to 

information. These broad rights were 

welcomed by observers; however, they are 

mitigated by the stipulation that the State 

can restrict these rights by law under certain 

circumstances. These circumstances 

are equally broad, and include “the interests 

of the sovereignty, security, unity and 

integrity of Bhutan” and “the interests of 

peace, stability and well-being of the na - 

tion,” amongst others. 

This year, journalists reporting from 

refugee camps in Nepal reportedly re - 

ceived death threats from members of the 

Communist Party of Bhutan Marxist- 

Leninist-Maoist (CPB-MLM), which is

anned in Bhutan and also works from 

the Nepal camps. Members of the Bhu - 

tan News Service, which is run by the 

Association of Press Freedom Activists 

(APFA), a Bhutanese exile organisation, 

were accused of recording speeches and 

taking photographs at a CPB-MLM 

event. According to reports, reporters 

Ichha Poudel and Arjun Pradhan were 

threatened with death, expelled from the 

meeting, and followed home. 

The refugee situation 

is politically sensitive 

in Bhutan, and major 

media outlets tend to 

take a pro-government 

position on the issue 

The refugee situation is politically sensitive 

in Bhutan, and major media outlets 

reportedly tend to take a pro-government 

position on the issue. According to ob - 

servers, dissent and criticism are also pre - 

sent in the state-run and major media. 

However, the new constitution seems to 

encourage self-censorship, as the government 

is able to strip rights when it comes 

to matters of state “integrity.” 

Inside Bhutan, although media control 

remains tight, there have been positive 

signs that the press is beginning to 

diversify and strengthen. The first priva - 

tely-owned newspaper, the Bhutan Times, 

was launched in 2006, and followed 

shortly by the Bhutan Observer. The 

country’s first daily, Bhutan Today, hit the 

stands on 31 October. This year, the 

government, in conjunction with the 

Uni ted Nations Development Program - 

me (UNDP), ran a series of training sessions 

for journalists on the role of media 

in a free society and on how to cover 

women’s and children’s issues. 

Although media control 

remains tight, there have 

been positive signs that the 

press is beginning to diversify 

and strengthen 

Television, which only arrived in 1999 

(along with the Internet), can now be 

found in 28% of all households, over half 

of which have satellite access. After TV 

was introduced, the stations MTV and 

Fashion TV were removed, along with a 

channel called Ten Sports, which carries 

professional wrestling and was reportedly 

encouraging fighting among Bhutanese. 

Only 3% of households own a computer, 

but access is generally unlimited, al - 

though, according to Freedom House, 

the Bhutan Times website was blocked for 

two months last year due to anti-government 

comments. Also according to Free - 

dom House, state-run broadcast media 

never carry opposition views, and access 

to cable television, which is uncensored, 

is limited by a high sales tax and other 

bureaucratic hurdles. 

This year, according to the press freedom 

blog, Media in Bhutan, private me - 

dia were denied access to a high-level 

meeting between Indian Prime Minister 

Dr. Manmohan Singh and the Bhutanese 

premier, Jigme Thinley. Reports say that 

while the state-run newspaper Kuensel 

and the state-run Bhutan Broadcasting 

Service (BBS) were permitted entry, along 

with a retinue of Indian journalists, re - 

porters from the private Bhutanese media 

were left out. The Bhutanese journalists 

reportedly issued a press release to the BBS 

and Kuensel about what had happen ed, 

but neither publication ran the story. 

In a state that has controlled, at every 

step, the modernization of Bhutanese so - 

ciety, it remains to be seen whether an 

unruly and outspoken press will be al low - 

ed to flourish. If so, Bhutan will be well 

on its way to achieving true democracy. 


Remove laws that threaten free 

speech and the free press 

Stop censorship in all forms 

Train journalists in media account - 

ability and the role of media in 

democracies 

Burma (Myanmar) 

by Naomi Hunt 

A man stands beside a dead body found at a 

Cyclone Nargis-hit village in Bogalay. (Reuters) 

Increased censorship and repression 

spar ked by the failed Saffron Revo lu - 

tion of 2007 persisted into 2008 as the 

Burmese junta sought to avoid a repetition 

of the Buddist-led movement for 

greater freedom. 

Journalists Thet Zin and Sein Win 

Aung of the Myanmar Nation were arrested 

in February in connection with 

reporting they were doing on the government 

crackdown during the revolution. 

The ruling State Peace and Develop - 

ment Council (SPDC), headed by Gene - 

ral Than Shwe, called a 10 May referendum 

on a planned national constitution 

that human rights organisations derided 

as a sham, arguing that it would effectively 

entrench military control over Bur - 

mese government and society. 

Reporters Without Borders and the 

Burma Media Association reported that 

no Burmese media were allowed to publish 

dissenting views on the constitution. 

Instead, boilerplate articles drafted by 

officials were forced into state and private 

newspapers. Editors were also compelled 

to print pro-constitution campaign logos 

in prime advertising spots. 

Just days before the vote was scheduled, 

cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy 

delta region, making international headlines 

and leaving tens of thousands dead 

17

18 

Protester from Burma holds portrait of democracy icon Aung as he takes part in peace march in New Delhi. (Reuters/Danish Ishmail) 

or missing. It was later reported that the 

Burmese authorities had received 48hour 

advance warning of the cyclone 

from Indian meteorologists, but didn’t 

transmit this information to residents. 

The disaster resulted in a near-total 

news blackout. Local reporters were al - 

lowed to travel to the affected regions, but 

could not publish photographs of dead 

bodies or recount that survivors were 

starving and not receiving aid. Pe op le carrying 

cameras were reportedly questioned, 

and their equipment occasionally confis- 

cated. Authorities refused entry to international 

aid organizations at the border, and 

foreign journalists also faced restrictions. 

The Press Scrutiny Board only permitted 

stories that dealt with government re - 

construction efforts, which were largely 

fictional. On 30 May, the Committee to 

Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged Prime 

Mi nis ter Thein Sein to open Burma to 

foreign journalists. Journalists were de - 

nied visas in the aftermath of the cyclone 

or de ported if they filed reports from the 

country. 

Major Tint Swe was replaced as chairman 

of the Press Scrutiny Board after 

permitting photos and descriptions of the 

disaster to be printed on the first day 

after the storm. Burmese journalists say 

his interim replacement, Major Kyaw Oo, 

exercised even tighter control on pub - 

lications, reportedly removing a full half 

of all domestic news items from every 

publication. As a result, circulation of 

Rangoon’s numerous papers plummeted. 

One of the few ways that Burmese 

people access foreign news is through

satellite television, and Burmese must 

purchase a license to buy a satellite dish. 

After the 2007 demonstrations, authorities 

raised license fees to prohibitively 

expensive levels to restrict access. After 

the cyclone, stores selling satellite dishes 

were raided and searched, and shop owners 

were forced to pledge not to sell 

equipment to unlicensed customers. Of 

48 million Burmese, only around 60,000 

have satellite licenses. 

Several journalists, and even one pro - 

minent comedian, were arrested over the 

summer while trying to take food and 

other aid to the Irrawaddy delta, or after 

reporting on the plight or storm victims. 

Journalist Zaw Thet Htwe was arrested 

and detained without official explanation. 

Reporter Eint Khaing Oo of the 

weekly magazine Ecovision and colleague 

Kyaw Kyaw Thant were also arrested. 

The International Press Institute (IPI) 

issued a statement in June reminding “all 

governments of the importance and 

fragility of the right to report freely on 

both natural catastrophes and the un - 

comfortable realities that they sometimes 

reveal.” 

Burmese authorities continue to avoid 

close public scrutiny whenever possible, 

with hypersensitivity to negative press 

extending to fiction and poetry. In June, 

Htay Aung, editor of Cherry magazine, 

was forced to resign after publishing a 

poem that made reference to the town of 

Depayin, where the Nobel Peace Prizewinning 

opposition leader Aung San Suu 

Kyi was ambushed in 2003, as a place 

that “has also given birth to thugs.” His 

replacement will have to pass muster in 

front of the Censor Board before taking 

office. 

The Press Scrutiny Board 

only permitted stories that 

dealt with government re - 

construction efforts, which 

were largely fictional 

In a separate incident, Saw Wai, the 

author of a Valentine’s Day poem that 

formed the acrostic “General Than Shwe 

is power crazy,” was arrested. 

Two editors were taken into custody 

in July for possessing a copy of a human 

right report by the UN Special Rap - 

porteur and footage from the Saffron 

Revolution. 

In September former journalist and 

National League for Democracy (NLD) 

icon Win Tin was released after 19 years 

in prison. Authorities permitted a further 

9,000 detainees to be freed, including 

a handful of political prisoners, 

according to Reporters Without Borders 

and the Burma Media Association. 

IPI issued a statement in 

June reminding “all governments 

of the importance 

and fragility of the right to 

report freely on both 

natural catastrophes and the 

un comfortable realities that 

they sometimes reveal” 

Setbacks to free speech and democracy 

have come in equal measure. NLD 

leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s house detention 

was extended. She has spent 10 of 

the last 12 years under house arrest, and 

is not permitted to communicate with the 

outside world. Twenty NLD party mem - 

bers who marched peacefully to Aung 

San’s home in May to protest the proposed 

constitution were swiftly arrested. 

Journalist and NLD member Ohn 

Kyaing was arrested on 1 October. No 

reason for his arrest was given; however, 

an NLD spokesperson said Ohn was 

heavily involved in efforts to help cyclone 

Burma in Brief 

survivors. Ohn, 64, has already spent 15 

years in prison for writing “seditious 

pamphlets”; he was released in 2005. 

Websites of Burmese news agencies 

working in exile were also targeted – on 

the anniversary of the failed Saffron Re - 

volution, three were brought down temporarily 

by pro-military hackers. 

In November, the government handed 

out prison sentences to journalists jailed 

over their coverage of the Irrawaddy delta 

calamity, sparking an international outcry. 

The comedian known as Zarganar, 

who had given interviews on the tragedy 

and who organized private relief efforts, 

was sentenced to 45 years in jail. Jour - 

nalists Zaw Thet Htwe and Thant Zin 

Aung received 15 years each. Another 

journalist, Tin Maung Aye, received a 29year 

sentence as a result of his efforts to 

help cyclone survivors. Human Rights 

Watch described the jailings as “a cruel 

joke on the Burmese people.” 


Enact legislation protecting press 

freedom and free speech. 

Stop using national security 

legislation to harass and imprison 

journalists and writers. 

Permit free travel within the country 

for foreign and local journalists. 


Domestic Overview: Burma, ranked second-to-last in Transparency 

International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2008, is a dark spot 

for human rights. Although resource-rich, most major industries are 

controlled directly by the military junta. 

Opinions diverging from the authoritarian regime’s have been limited 

in the Burmese media since a 1962 coup d’etat, and almost entirely 

suppressed since the Rangoon riots in 1988 were violently crushed. 

The so-called Saffron Revolution of 2007 was a response to repression 

and poverty, kindled by high fuel prices. Led by Buddhist monks, citizens 

began peaceful demonstrations in Rangoon. Junta leaders reacted forcefully, 

and the burgeoning democratic movement was quickly suppressed 

by armed forces. Dozens were killed and thousands imprisoned. 

Beyond Borders: Burma is a member of ASEAN and a few other regional 

initiatives, although its poor human rights record is a point of contention. 

There are 150,000 Burmese living in refugee camps in Thailand, and over 

a million living outside the camps. Thailand and Burma maintain relatively 

good relations, while China is becoming Burma’s most important partner. 

19

20 

Cambodia by Nayana Jayarajan 

On 11 July, journalist Khim Sambo 

and his son, Khat Sarinpheata, were 

leaving the Olympic Stadium in central 

Phnom Penh, where they had been exercising. 

Sambo, a journalist with the 

Khmer-language newspaper Moneaksekar 

Khmer (Khmer Conscience), was shot twice 

in the back by a man riding a motorcycle. 

His son was shot a few minutes later as he 

cradled his dying father. Sambo died at 

the scene of the crime. His son died in 

hospital the following day. 

The investigation into their deaths has 

stretched over months, with police in 

Cambodia still maintaining they have no 

suspects. Meanwhile, allegations that 

Cam bodia’s chief of police is tied to the 

murders continue to grow. An article in 

the South China Morning Post refers to an 

article written by Sambo days before his 

murder, regarding losses run up by the 

police chief, Hok Lundy, at a casino near 

the Vietnamese border. It also quotes an 

independent investigator who suggests 

that the fact that the killers did not cover 

their faces during the attack indicates 

that they had no fear of reprisal. FBI 

investigators who were assisting Cambo - 

dian police in their inquiries left the 

country a few days after the South China 

Morning Post article was published, and 

have not made their findings public. 

Even though Khim Sambo wrote 

under a pseudonym and did not name 

the official involved in his article, journalists 

and civil society organisations in 

Cambodia fear that his opposition to the 

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen gestures as the media try to ask him questions after he 

cast his ballot at a polling station during general elections in Takmoa town in Kandal 

province on the outskirts of Phnom Penh 27 July, 2008. (Reuters/Chor Sokunthea) 

ruling CPP party (Moneaksekar Khmer is 

allied to the opposition party, the SRP), 

and his critical articles may have been the 

reason for his killing. A month before 

Sambo’s murder, military police arrested 

the editor of Moneaksekar Khmer, Dam 

Sith, who also ran as an SRP candidate in 

the general elections in July, after the 

paper reported on allegations about the 

current foreign minister’s role during the 

Khmer Rouge regime. Although Sith was 

released after several days in detention 

and the foreign minister dropped his lawsuit 

against the editor, criminal charges of 

defamation and disinformation are still 

pending against Sith. 

The Cambodian government recently 

abolished prison sentences for defamation 

and libel, penalties that were once 

used to harass journalists. But disinformation 

convictions still carry three-year 

jail terms. 

Sith’s arrest came only days after the 

Ministry of Information ordered the closing 

of a provincial radio station, Angkor 

Ratha FM105.25, shortly after it leased 

air time to four political parties, but not 

the governing CPP. 

The murder of Khim Sambo and the 

other incidents of media intimidation 

took place in the months leading up to 

the general elections. The Cambodian 

As sociation for the Protection of Jour na - 

lists (CAPJ) said the attacks were timed 

to create a “climate of fear” among journalists 

and opposition members prior to 

the election. 

The attacks were timed 

to create a “climate of fear” 

among journalists and 

opposition members prior 

to the election 

The ruling party and its leader, Hun 

Sun, have been in control of Cambodia 

since 1997. Almost exclusive control over 

the state infrastructure and over the 

broadcast media ensured that the CPP 

would once again hold on to its majority 

in the 2008 elections. While it was widely 

expected that the CPP would retain 

control of the government, and levels of 

violence in this election were considerably 

lower than in previous years, the EU 

observer mission during the election nevertheless 

pointed out that thousands of 

voters were disenfranchised, and accused 

the ruling party of resorting to political 

intimidation. The freedom of the press 

was one of the first civil liberties to suffer 

in the hostile political climate that led up 

to the elections. The 11 political parties 

were not granted equal access to the 

media, with most of the electronic media 

outlets in Cambodia controlled by the 

CPP or other ruling forces. On 10 July, 

the National Election Commission 

(NEC) issued a warning to 13 television 

and radio stations for broadcasting biased 

coverage of the elections. Ten of those 

stations were dominated by pro-CPP 

coverage, according to the NEC. 

On April 29, Meas Asi, a reporter for 

Panhavorn Khmer (Khmer Intellectual), 

based in Koh Kong province, was allegedly 

stopped by police and beaten uncon-

A Cambodian boy listens to the radio after his family fled their home to take refuge in the disputed Preah Vihear temple. (Reuters/Chor Sokunthea) 

scious before being taken to Koh Kong 

prison. According to the Cambodian As - 

sociation for the Protection of Journal - 

ists, the assault may have been related to 

investigations carried out by Asi into a 

land dispute between 75 families in a village 

and a wealthy land owner. Asi’s wife, 

Sles Mass, was not allowed to visit her 

detained husband in prison. 

Freedom of the press 

was one of the first civil 

liberties to suffer in the 

hostile political climate that 

led up to the elections 

According to the International Fede - 

ration of Journalists (IFJ), land disputes 

and forced evictions are common in 

Cam bodia, and often accompanied by 

violence. The authorities often attempt 

to restrain the media from reporting on 

these evictions. 

Cambodia has been ranked the third 

most corrupt country in South East Asia, 

with millions of dollars of foreign aid 

never reaching the people for whom it 

was intended. Official interference in all 

aspects of civil society, and a thriving culture 

of impunity, continue to hinder 

Cambodia’s progress towards developing 

a free press. 

Cambodia in Brief 


Bring to justice perpetrators 

of crimes against journalists 

Restrict government interference 

in the media 

Decriminalize defamation and 

disinformation 


Domestic Overview: Following the brutality of the Khmer Rouge regime 

in the 1970s and 1980s, Cambodia has struggled to regain some political 

stability. In recent years, reconstruction efforts have progressed and some 

political stability has finally returned to Cambodia. This new-found stability 

was shaken in 1997 by a coup d’état, but has otherwise largely been 

sustained. Cambodia is reputed to be one of the countries with the 

highest rates of corruption in the region, which has contributed to a 

widening economic disparity. 

Beyond Borders: The Cambodian government is working with bilateral and 

multilateral donors, including the World Bank and the IMF, to address the 

country’s many pressing needs. Cambodia and Thailand dispute boundary 

sections with missing boundary makers and claims of Thai encroachments 

into Cambodian territory. The maritime boundary with Vietnam is hampered 

by an unresolved dispute over sovereignty of offshore islands. 

21

22 

People’s Republic of China by Barbara Trionfi 

Security forces detain a journalist after they caught him filming the scene where a bomb 

attack took place. (Reuters/Nir Elias) 

China was a magnet for journalists 

who were drawn to cover the Beijing 

Olympics, widespread protests against 

Chinese rule of Tibet, scandals over dod - 

gy foods and goods sold by Chinese companies, 

and the earthquake that hit the 

Sichuan province killing almost 70,000 

people. 

But covering the events wasn’t an easy 

job. The government imposed restrictions 

on the media to prevent reporting that 

could harm the golden image the government 

was trying to portray for the summer 

Olympics. Even after the Games en - 

d ed in a blaze of glory and widespread 

praise, Chinese journalists were pressured 

to refrain from reporting about the 

impact of another major story of the year 

– the global financial contagion. Journal - 

ists who defied the rules faced arrest, 

detention, harassment, and other forms 

of intimidation. 

Under pressure from the International 

Olympic Committee (IOC) and the in - 

ternational community, China had adop - 

ted regulations granting foreign journalists 

freedom of movement and freedom 

to interview whomever they wanted. 

These regulations were followed, however, 

by a spate of attacks against foreign 

journalists (338 cases between 1 January 

2007 and the end of 2008, according to 

the Foreign Correspondents Club of 

China, or FCCC); and restrictions on 

Chinese citizens from having contact 

with foreign journalists. Families of Chi - 

n ese human rights victims were forbidden 

to talk to media. 

The government imposed 

restrictions on the media 

to prevent reporting that 

could harm the golden 

image the government was 

trying to portray for the 

summer Olympics 

The FCCC reported that at least 10 

foreign journalists received anonymous 

death threats “during a campaign on the 

web and in state-run media, against a l - 

leged bias in Western media coverage of 

the Tibetan unrest and its aftermath.” 

If the situation for foreign journalists 

was bleak, Chinese journalists encountered 

far greater challenges. Among other 

things, they faced detention and other 

forms of officially sanctioned retaliation 

for such things as reporting on the devastation 

following the earthquake. 

In China, “to be a good journalist, one 

does not only need wisdom but needs moral 

courage even more,” said Li Chong - 

qing, who spent three years in prison for 

reporting on an outbreak of dengue fever 

before the authorities announced it. He 

received an award for his work from the 

World Association of Newspapers for his 

work. 

In a year in which China had promised 

to respect freedom of expression, at 

least 17 journalists and writers were de - 

tained, jailed, or charged with crimes 

such as “inciting subversion” in connection 

with their work. 

Among those jailed was Huang Qi, 

founder of the website www.64tianwang 

.com. Huang was charged on 16 June 

with illegally obtaining state secrets after 

he published articles critical of the government’s 

response to the devastating 

Sichuan earthquake. In 2000, Huang was 

imprisoned for five years under subversion 

charges in connection with other 

articles published on line. He later said 

he was severely beaten during his time in 

prison. 

On 9 June, Zheng Hongling, a former 

university professor who wrote articles 

published on Huang’s site, was arrested 

and charged with “divulging information 

abroad”. 

Another prominent writer and acti v - 

ist, Hu Jia, was sentenced to three and a 

half years in prison on 3 April on charges 

of “inciting subversion of state power.” 

Hu, known for his writings about the 

Chinese democracy movement, and as 

environmental and HIV/AIDS activist, 

had criticised restrictions imposed before 

the Olympics in articles published on 

Boxun.com and other websites. His wife, 

who is also a human rights activist, and 

child were placed under house arrest in 

Beijing. 

China Legal News journalist Qi Chonghuai 

and freelancer He Yanjie received 

prison sentences in May of four and two 

years, respectively, for publishing photographs 

of a luxurious Tengzhou government 

building on the Xinhuanet website, 

alleging official corruption in the Teng - 

zhou branch of the Communist Party. 

Qi is known for his news reports on corruption 

and social injustice and had 

received several warnings about his 

reporting prior to his arrest in 2007 

Another rights activist and contributor 

to the Boxun.com website, Sun Lin, was

condemned on 26 June to four years in 

prison for “disturbing the social order.” 

Sun and his wife He Fang had been arrested 

in May 2007. According to Bo xun 

.com, Sun had been warned to stop repor - 

ting for Boxun.com. His wife re ceived a 

suspended sentence in a June trial. 

Chinese authorities barred 

foreign journalists from 

covering the unrest in Tibet 

Protests in Tibet that began in March 

to mark the anniversary of the failed 

1959 uprising against Chinese rule also 

brought retribution from the authorities. 

Paljor Norbu, 81, was sentenced to 

seven years in prison in November for 

printing the Tibetan flag and other prohibited 

material, according to Human 

Rights Watch. Details of the sentence 

were sketchy and the traditional printer’s 

family were not told of his whereabouts. 

Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wang - 

chen and cameraman Jigme Gyatso were 

detained in March after making a documentary 

about Tibet. The film, “Leaving 

Fear Behind,” includes interviews with 

Tibetan people on sensitive issues such as 

the Dalai Lama, the Beijing Olympic 

Games and Chinese rule over Tibet. The 

two sent their film abroad before being 

detained. 

Tibetan writer, singer and television 

presenter Rangjung was detained on 11 

September without charges. It is believed 

that his detention is in connection with 

his pro-Tibetan views expressed on his 

blog. 

Chinese authorities barred foreign 

journalists from covering the unrest in 

Tibet. Following international condemnation 

of the limits on foreign reporting, 

the Chinese government organised trips 

to the administrative capital of Lhasa for 

foreign correspondents. However, journalists 

who joined these trips were closely 

controlled. International radio stations 

broadcasting to Tibet were jammed and 

the Chinese authorities stepped up the 

censorship of incoming and outgoing 

Internet traffic. 

On 16 March, police prevented journalists 

with the US television network 

ABC from filming in a Tibetan district. 

Two days earlier, the American documentary 

filmmaker Spence Palermo was held 

in his hotel room to prevent him from 

A newspaper vendor sorts dailies featuring 

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on 

their front pages at as news stand in 

Beijing, China, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008. 

(AP Photo/Elizabeth Dalziel) 

seeing Tibetan protests, according to 

Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Jour - 

nalists were also barred from freely covering 

a small demonstration by Tibetan 

students held at Beijing University on 17 

March. Dozens of the demonstrators were 

arrested. 

Chastened by international criticism, 

Chinese authorities eased restrictions on 

foreign journalists covering the Olympics 

and on 17 October announced that the 

greater freedom granted ahead of the 

summer athletic events would continue. 

In practice, however, both foreign and do - 

mestic journalists continue to face steep 

hurdles – sometimes at their own peril. 

P.R. China in Brief 

Population: 1.3 billion 


Release jailed journalists, cyber dissidents 

and other citizens imprisoned 

for distributing information or 

expressing their opinion. 

Bring Chinese laws and administrative 

practices in line with Article 35 

of the constitution, which states that 

“Citizens of the People’s Republic 

of China enjoy freedom of speech, of 

the press, of assembly, of association, 

of procession and of demonstration.” 

Respect journalists’ freedom to 

report on natural catastrophes and 

their aftermath as expressed in the 

resolution adopted by the 57th 

IPI General Assembly in Belgrade, 

Serbia, on 16 June 2008. 

Domestic Overview: China is a single-party socialist republic. Economic 

reforms called Socialism with Chinese Characteristics were started in 

1978 by pragmatists within the Communist Party led by Deng Xiaoping. 

These reforms eventually turned China into a global economic power 

and brought poverty down from 53% of the population in the Mao era 

to 12% in 1981 and only 6% of the population by 2001, according to the 

World Bank. 

Beyond Borders: China has worked hard to burnish its international relations 

and image since the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989. Its economic 

power makes it an indispensable partner despite its human rights policies, 

while its economic influence is expanding rapidly in Africa and Latin America. 

23

24 

Hong Kong by Barbara Trionfi 

Hong Kong skyline, seen from the Peak tourist spot (Reuters/Victor Fraile) 

While the media in Hong Kong en - 

joy far greater freedom than in the 

rest of China, concerns were raised this 

year about the negative effects of Chinese 

nationalism on media freedom in Hong 

Kong and the fact that Hong Kong’s 

journalists have not been able to benefit 

from the freedoms granted by the Chi - 

nese government to foreign journalists 

ahead of the Beijing Olympics. 

Furthermore, discussions about the 

in dependence of Hong Kong’s radio li - 

censing system and the creation of a truly 

public service broadcaster also highlighted 

the constraints on media freedom in 

Hong Kong. 

Beijing failed to 

extend to Hong Kong’s 

journalists the greater 

freedom to cover news in 

mainland China granted 

to foreign journalists 

Beijing’s failure to extend to Hong 

Kong’s journalists the greater freedom to 

cover news in mainland China that is 

granted to foreign journalists under the 

“Regulations Concerning Foreign Jour - 

nalists and Permanent Offices of Foreign 

News Agencies” represented a setback to 

the media’s ability to report freely. This, 

together with the recent three-year detention 

in China of journalist Ching Che - 

ong of Hong Kong’s The Straits Times 

newspaper and episodes of harassment 

and censorship of Hong Kong journalists 

either reporting on the mainland’s events 

or criticising its politics, caused an in - 

crease in self-censorship among Hong 

Kong media outlets. 

The Hong Kong Journalists Associa - 

tion (HKJA) has registered a “growing 

reluctance on the part of many media 

outlets to tackle issues that are sensitive 

to the government in Beijing. These in - 

clude matters of national security, including 

dissident and separatist activities, as 

well as human rights issues, corruption 

and illegal land grabs.” 

The last minute decision taken at an 

extraordinary meeting of the editorial 

board of the Hong Kong Lawyer magazine 

not to publish an article, which its editor 

had commissioned for the magazine’s 

May edition, is a good example of this 

trend. Commenting on this incident, hu - 

man rights lawyer Paul Harris, author of 

the article in question, “Is Tibet entitled 

to self-determination?”, said: “I think 

there is a growing atmosphere of unwillingness 

to allow activities, publications, 

publicity for points of view that the 

mainland disapproves of.” 

In his article, Harris focuses on the 

legal aspects of the Tibet situation and, 

after an examination of the relevant international 

law on self-determination, concludes 

that a Hong Kong-style autonomy 

might be the best answer for Tibet. Al - 

though the editorial board of Hong Kong 

Lawyer did not provide an explanation 

Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang ad - 

dressing the Legislative Council in Hong Kong 

(Reuters/Bobby Yip) 

for dropping the piece, it is widely belie - 

ved that political factors played a significant 

role in the board’s decision. 

Indeed, the flourishing of Chinese 

nationalism, further mobilised by Bei - 

jing’s propaganda in connection with the 

Olympic Games, led to an increased in - 

fluence of pro-Beijing elements within 

the Hong Kong government. Observers 

registering a “definite trend towards conformity 

on sensitive issues” (in the words 

of the HKJA), have raised concerns about 

a potential demonization of dissenting 

voices as a consequence of the Hong 

Kong government’s intolerance toward 

views disagreeing with those of Beijing. 

Observers have raised 

concerns about a 

potential demonization 

of dissenting voices 

In a political climate potentially tending 

toward greater repression, Article 23 

of Hong Kong’s Basic Law, which stipulates 

that the Hong Kong government 

shall enact its own national security law, 

might again become a threat to media 

freedom. While Hong Kong has put its 

2002 proposed anti-subversion law on 

the back burner as a consequence of 

widespread protests, pro-Beijing forces 

within the Hong Kong government 

might push for the implementation of 

such legislation, which continues to be a 

Sword of Damocles hanging over the

head of the Special Administrative Re - 

gion’s (SAR) civil society. 

Questions about the independence of 

Hong Kong’s radio licensing system were 

raised following a ruling issued on 8 

January by Magistrate Douglas Yau Takhong. 

The ruling, issued in connection 

with the case of the pro-democracy community 

radio station Citizens’ Radio, 

basically declared sections of the Tele - 

com munications Ordinance to be un - 

con stitutional because they curbed freedom 

of expression provisions in Hong 

Kong’s Basic Law and Bill of Rights. 

Citizens’ Radio has been broadcasting 

illegally since its 2005 application for a 

broadcasting license was rejected by the 

Television and Entertainment Licensing 

Authority. The HKJA reported that “in 

his judgment, Yau argued that the existing 

radio licensing system fails to provide 

legal certainty to applicants for radio 

licenses.” Yau’s judgment noted that “the 

unfettered discretionary power” given to 

the Chief Executive in Council (Execu - 

tive Council) under the Telecommuni ca - 

tions Ordinance basically fails to guarantee 

the independence of the body deciding 

about the allocation of radio licenses. 

On 12 December, in a great blow to 

media freedom, the Court of Appeal 

handed down a judgment upholding the 

relevant sections of the Telecommu ni ca - 

tions Ordinance as constitutional. 

A week later, on 19 December, officers 

of the Office of the Telecommunications 

Authority (OFTA) entered the premises 

of Citizen’s Radio in Chai Wan and 

seized a set of radio transmitters. An 

OFTA spokesperson stated, “It is unlawful 

for any person to establish or maintain 

any means of telecommunications 

without an appropriate licence under the 

Telecommunications Ordinance.” 


Ensure the political and commercial 

independence of the body supervising 

the allocation of broadcasting frequencies, 

as well as the transparency 

of the allocation process 

Ensure the independence of 

Hong Kong’s public broadcaster 

Take positive steps in protecting 

Hong Kong’s media against any 

restrictions in their freedom to 

report as a consequence of China’s 

influence on Hong Kong 

India by Nayana Jayarajan 

Despite India’s recent economic 

growth and longstanding democratic 

government, the country remained a 

dangerous place for journalists. While 

journalists in the conflict-ridden north 

and northeast continue to practice their 

professions in the line of fire, their colleagues 

in the rest of the country are frequently 

faced with intimidation and at - 

tacks from political parties and religious 

extremists. 

Kashmir, India’s bone of contention 

with its neighbour, Pakistan, continued 

to see the largest number of attacks 

against press freedom. On 13 May, Ashok 

Sodhi, a photojournalist for the Srinagarbased 

Daily Excelsior, was killed in crossfire 

between Indian security forces and 

Kashmiri separatists. Sodhi, a 25-year 

veteran of the newspaper industry, had 

been covering the encounter between 

India In Brief 

Population: 1.1 billion 

Hong Kong in Brief 


Indian security forces and militants who 

had allegedly infiltrated India-controlled 

Kashmir from Pakistani territory. 

The state saw a wave of protests in 

August, set off by a decision by the gov - 

ernment to sell a piece of land to a Hin - 

du temple. Protests by Muslim communities 

led to the decision being repealed, 

but clashes continued as the protests 

fuel led anti-India sentiment in the valley. 

More than 30 people have been killed 

by the police since the protests began 

in August. Javed Ahmed Mir, a cameraman 

with local television channel 9TV, 

was shot and killed by Indian security 

forces on 13 August as he attempted 

to cover a de mon stration. According to 

Reporters With out Borders, at least 32 

journalists have been assaulted by members 

of the security forces since the start 

of the protests. 

Domestic Overview: A parliamentary democracy, and the world’s second 

most populous country, India has emerged as a major power. However, 

large parts of the country remain in poverty. Communal, caste and regional 

tensions continue to haunt politics. The Constitution does not specifically 

mention the freedom of the press, but provides the fundamental right to 

free speech to all its citizens (Article 19 (1) a). This commitment and the 

economic liberalisation of the media in the 1990s has led to the rise of a 

critical and diverse media in many parts of the country. 

Beyond Borders: India is battling a longstanding feud with neighbouring 

Pakistan over the northern state of Kashmir, which remains heavily 

militarized, and a Maoist insurgency in as much as 55% of the country 

(according to one estimate). In addition, separatist movements in the northeast 

continue to engage the military. 

Domestic Overview: After 156 years of British rule, Hong Kong became a 

Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on 1 July 1997. Under the 

principle, “one country, two systems”, agreed between Britain and Beijing, 

China has granted Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy on political and 

economic issues for 50 years. Hong Kong’s Basic Law is the territory’s constitution. 

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive is elected by the Election Committee, 

made up of approximately 800 Hong Kong residents. Universal suffrage, as 

prescribed by the Basic Law, is expected to be granted by 2017. 

Beyond Borders: Under the principle, “one country, two systems”, China 

is fully responsible for Hong Kong’s foreign relations and defence. However, 

as a separate economic entity, Hong Kong can participate, independently 

from China, in numerous international economic organisations, such as the 

World Trade Organisation. 

25

26 

A curfew imposed on the valley in the 

wake of demonstrations has hampered 

journalists’ ability to gather news. In the 

course of the intensifying security crackdown, 

15 journalists and media workers 

were injured on 24 August in attacks by 

personnel of the Central Reserve Police 

Force (CRPF), a paramilitary force. Ac - 

cording to the International Federation 

of Journalists (IFJ), armed CRPF personnel 

were reportedly remarked that they 

had orders to prevent journalists from 

going to work. Newspapers in Srinagar, 

the state capital, were not able to print 

for two consecutive days as a result of 

these restrictions. Reports of intimidation 

of the press persisted through Septem - 

ber, with journalists saying security forces 

had disregarded or even destroyed media 

accreditation cards. 

In the northeast of the country, escalating 

violence culminated in the deaths of 

75 people in a series of coordinated blasts 

on 30 October. The separatist United 

Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) has, 

for decades, been fighting for an independent 

Assam. In addition, the state has 

seen clashes between indigenous tribes 

and Muslims that have killed at least 47 

people. 

On 1 April, veteran Assamese journalist 

and Morajhar Press Club President 

Mohammed Muslimuddin was brutally 

attacked while on his way home. The 

assailants, who have not been identified, 

beat him with sharp instruments. Mus - 

limuddin died on the way to the hospital. 

On 22 November, journalist Jagajit 

Sa i kia was shot dead by armed men. 

Saikia, a correspondent for the Assamese 

daily Amar Asom suffered five bullet 

wounds to the chest and one to the head. 

According to IFJ, Saikia maintained 

contacts with the National Democratic 

Front of Bodoland (NDFB), one of ma - 

ny armed outfits fighting for the political 

autonomy of the Bodo tribal group in 

Assam, as part of his professional work. 

Violations of press freedom in Assam 

Colleagues carry injured Bilal Bhat, bureau chief of an Indian TV channel, 

towards an ambulance in Srinagar (Reuters/Fayaz Kabli) 

were not limited to attacks on individual 

journalists. Vigilantes belonging to the 

Bodo People’s Front (BPF) intercepted a 

delivery van belonging to the Assamese 

daily Asamiya Pratidin on 25 February, 

and destroyed its cargo of the day’s paper, 

then set the van ablaze. 

The BPF is a former insurgent group 

that now forms the principal constituent 

of the Bodoland Territorial Council, a 

body created under the Indian Constitu - 

tion to safeguard the cultural identity of 

the Bodo people in Assam. The BPF are 

said to have been reacting to a report in 

the newspaper on an extravagant wedding 

ceremony held for its leader, Hag - 

rama Mohilary. 

In the eastern coastal state of Orissa, 

which is in the grip of a Maoist insurgency, 

police on 17 July launched an unprovoked 

attack on journalists gathered to 

cover the guard of honour for police of - 

ficers killed by a landmine blamed on 

Maoists. 

The attack seemed to be targeted 

towards journalists from other states. 

Cameras were seized and damaged and 

vehicles ransacked. Three journalists, two 

from the neighbouring state of Andhra 

Pradesh and one from the state of Chat - 

tisgarh, were hospitalised as a result of 

their injuries. 

On 25 November, Vikas Ranjan, a 

part-time correspondent for the Hin du - 

stan daily was shot dead by armed assailants 

as he left his office in the Samas ti - 

pur district of the state of Bihar. Ranjan 

reported extensively on crime and corruption, 

and there is reason to believe 

that his murder may have been connected 

to his work, which included articles 

on counterfeit merchandise, stolen goods 

trafficking, and the local drug trade. He 

had been receiving threats for some time. 

Reports of intimidation 

of the press persisted 

through September, with 

journalists saying security 

forces had disregarded or 

even destroyed media 

accreditation cards 

Even in parts of the country not directly 

affected by military action or political 

conflict, several cases of media harassment 

were reported, with prevailing 

political or religious factions often using 

force, intimidation or legal loopholes to 

infringe on media freedoms. In Andhra 

Pradesh, three staff members of the 

Telugu-language daily Andhra Jyothi were 

arrested under a law designed to punish 

insults against those of lower ritual status. 

On 25 May, the paper printed an editorial 

which criticised recent political stances 

and statements of the leader of the Ma - 

diga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS), 

a community-based organisation. A day 

later, activists from the MRPS attacked 

the premises of the Andhra Jyothi in three 

cities in Andhra Pradesh. Employees of 

the publication, along with various journalists’ 

unions, staged a demonstration 

on 27 May to protest the attack. Fol - 

lowing a complaint from the MRPS leader 

that the journalists had violated the 

law under the Prevention of Atrocities

Act, police arrested the editor of the 

news paper, K. Srinivas, and two journalists, 

N. Vamsi Krishna and N. Srinivas 

on 24 June. The journalists were released 

on bail two days later, but in a further 

development, 51 journalists were taken 

into preventive detention in the town of 

Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh on 27 June 

when they attempted to present the state 

chief minister with a memorandum of 

protest against the arrests. 

In the neighbouring state of Karna - 

taka, on 6 January, authorities arrested 

B.V. Seetaram, chairman and chief editor 

of Chitra Publications, on charges of 

defamation. Seetaram, whose principal 

pub lication is the evening newspaper 

Kara vali Ale, has said political forces are 

intent on causing him harm. Defamation 

remains a criminal offence in India, and 

carries a maximum sentence of two years. 

Even in parts of the 

country not directly affected 

by military action or 

political conflict, several 

cases of media harassment 

were reported 

In the south Indian state of Kerala on 

26 June, a team of reporters from the 

daily Malayala Manorama and the Ma - 

norama News Channel were attacked 

during a demonstration by the Students 

Federation of India (SFI), which is politically 

linked to the ruling Communist 

Marxist Party. Pradeep Joseph, Nishad 

Kurien and Arun John, reporters with the 

Malayala Manorama, were beaten and 

kicked by the demonstrators. 

In the western state of Maharashtra, 

another critical editorial again prompted 

violence. The 4 June editorial in the 

Marathi daily Loksatta criticised the state 

government’s decision to install a statue 

of Chhatrapati Shivaji, ruler of a me di - 

eval kingdom based in the Marathi cultural 

region and a mythic figure in the 

area, as a ploy to gain political clout. On 

5 June, several activists belonging to a 

political group called the Shiv Sangram 

attacked the home of editor Kumar 

Ketkar. Ketkar and his wife were not harmed, 

but there was considerable damage 

to their property. 

In the state of Gujarat, a perceived 

insult to religion motivated an attack on 

the studios of NDTV, a national news 

A journalist takes part in a sit-in protest against the killing of his colleague in Imphal. 

(Reuters/Jinendra Maibam) 

channel. Hindu fundamentalists attacked 

the NDTV studios on 19 January, smashing 

doors, windows, phones and studio 

equipment. The attackers also plastered 

the studios with posters accusing the staff 

of being “traitors,” and injured two em - 

ployees. The attack is said to have been 

prompted by an opinion poll that the 

channel had carried out on who should 

receive India’s highest civilian award for 

national service, wherein one of the proposed 

candidates was the artist M.F 

Hussein, who has lived in self-imposed 

exile in Dubai for several years after receiving 

threats from Hindu fundamentalists 

for showing religious figures in what they 

considered disrespectful poses. 

In another incident involving religion, 

Lenin Kumar Roy, author and editor of 

the quarterly review Nishan, was arrested 

on 8 December after he accused Hindu 

extremists of waging a campaign of violence 

against minorities in the Kandha - 

mal district of Orissa. Kumar Roy has 

been charged with violating laws punishing 

“provocative literature likely to dis - 

turb peace and communal harmony.“ 


An apparent lack of political will 

to protect journalists needs to be 

addressed, especially in areas plagued 

by political conflict. 

The state must commit to prosecute 

those who compromise the freedom 

of the media. 

Enact legislation to preserve the 

diversity of the media and to prevent 

monopolies from developing. 

27

28 

NOTES FROM THE FIELD : INDIA : NOTES FROM THE FIELD 

Caught in the Crossfire 

By Irengbam Arun 

On 17 November 2008, young journalist Konsam Rishikanta Singh was 

found shot dead on a lonely road within the Greater Imphal area in the 

northeast Indian state of Manipur. The local press fraternity, suspecting 

state involvement, demanded an independent inquiry. Newspapers 

went off the stands for 13 days, until the government agreed to hand over 

the case to the New Delhi-based Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). 

Twenty-two year old Rishikanta was 

a junior sub-editor working for the 

Imphal Free Press. The spot where Rishi - 

kanta was found had seen other “fake” 

encounters in the past and is situated in a 

security zone: any person entering or de - 

parting the area has to clear at least three 

security gates manned by state forces. 

Taking into account the mysterious circumstances 

surrounding the death of the 

young journalist and the spate of “silent 

killings” by state and central security for - 

ces, the All Manipur Working Journalists 

Union (AMWJU) demanded a judicial 

inquiry. 

The state government refused to react 

even as the newspapers suspended publication. 

But when AMWJU announced a 

protest rally involving the general public 

on 26 November, the state government 

offered a compromise, which AMWJU 

refused. 

The general public has long been a 

mute spectator to the daily killings, due 

both to the overbearing attitude of the 

state and the air of impunity created by 

the prolonged imposition of the Armed 

Forces Special Powers Act 1958 (AFSPA), 

and intimidation by insurgent groups. 

The AFSPA has been in operation in Ma - 

nipur since 1980. Under this Act, mere 

suspicion by a non-commissioned officer 

of the Indian armed forces is justification 

enough for arrests without warrant and 

even shooting-to-kill. 

It took a movement of unprecedented 

proportions in 2004 to wake up the state 

from its deep slumber. Although the 

operation of the Act was ultimately withdrawn 

from the Imphal Municipal area, 

the state police commandos and paramilitary 

forces continued to operate with 

impunity. 

Konsam Rishikanta was caught in this 

volatile situation. 

On 10 October 2008, the state head 

of police threatened the editors of three 

local dailies, Sangai Express, Poknapham 

and Naharolgi Thoudang, for publishing 

an expose of the nexus between the police 

and the urea smugglers active in the state. 

Earlier in June, the state Chief Sec - 

retary along with the head of police 

attempted to censor the publication of 

handouts of banned organizations with 

a threat that refusal to comply would 

lead to the cancellation of registration of 

news papers. 

It took a movement of 

unprecedented proportions 

in 2004 to wake up the 

state from its deep slumber 

The government move came when the 

press community was grappling with a 

threat from a splinter group of the ban - 

ned Kangleipak Communist Party for 

refusing to publish one of their pressnotes. 

When the press had found itself in 

a similar predicament the previous year 

the government proposed a memorandum 

restricting “liberal” publication of 

underground press-notes, which they 

said might help in thwarting pressure 

from the underground. AMWJU had 

refused then. 

In June 2008, the AMWJU delegation 

challenged a government allegation that 

the local press was not adhering to the 

Press Council of India guidelines. The 

government was forced to back down 

with a threat that they would be closely 

monitoring the media. 

While the state and the forces under 

its command exert undue pressure upon 

the press, the non-state actors and their 

factions continue to pressure the local 

press to carry their handout and propaganda 

material verbatim. 

Besides the 13-day suspension of publication 

in the wake of Rishikanta’s kil - 

ling, newspapers went off the stands in 

Imphal for another 8 days in protest 

against the dictates and threats from nonstate 

actors, mainly the splinter groups 

of the banned Peoples United Liberation 

Front and the Kangleipak Communist 

Party. 

The pressure from non-state actors 

comes mostly from small factions in their 

bid to gain legitimacy through the media 

(seen by some of them as a notice board) 

for posting their threats and summons to 

their victims, and mud-slinging between 

these factions. 

Irengbam Arun 

is a senior journalist based in the 

northeast Indian state of Manipur. 

He edits a local vernacular daily 

newspaper named IREIBAK, published 

from the capital city of Imphal.

NOTES FROM THE FIELD : INDIA : NOTES FROM THE FIELD 

The response of the Centre and the 

state government has been to enforce 

restrictive laws like the controversial Ar - 

med Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) 

of 1958. The conflict is thus heightened 

instead of being resolved. 

Interestingly, the first resistance movement 

in Manipur also gave birth to its 

media industry. Hijam Irabot - who led a 

Communist movement in the 1930s asking 

the British to quit Manipur – also 

handstencilled Manipur’s first journal 

Meitei Chanu. Today Manipur is considered 

one of the top states in eastern India 

regarding media presence, with around 

30 news dailies and journals, a remarkable 

number of home cable networks, 

correspondents and stringers for various 

national and international news agencies. 

Ironically, it is this growing awareness 

of the media as a powerful platform that 

is now threatening press freedom in the 

state. Underground insurgent groups 

operating in the state, which earlier relied 

on pamphlets and word-of-mouth as the 

major means of spreading their ideas and 

diktats, are now turning to newspapers 

and news channels to carry their statements 

to a larger audience. 

This strategy is also used by the army 

and the government, who use the media 

to highlight their achievements, such as 

with press tours of areas “cleared of insurgents.” 

Trapped in between are small teams of 

underpaid, overworked and semi-skilled 

professionals trying to perform the role 

of society’s watchdog, frequently at risk 

to their lives. Since 1993, as many as six 

jour nalists have been shot dead, the most 

Conflict, Censorship 

and Media in Manipur 

By Thingnam Anjulika Samom 

For the 2.4 million people living in the Indian state of Manipur – where more 

than 40 underground groups and nearly 50,000 central security forces are 

waging an armed war – violent death is part of daily life. 

recent case being that of Konsam Rishi - 

kanta, a junior sub-editor at Imphal Free 

Press on 17 September 2008. There have 

also been several other cases of physical 

and mental harassment and assault. 

The media fraternity has responded 

with dharnas (strikes), suspension of pub - 

lication, blank editorials and appeals to 

the government to provide a safe working 

atmosphere. 

However, instead of making attempts 

to protect journalists, the state government 

has tried to curb the freedom of the 

press from time to time, ostensibly to 

stamp out insurgency movements. 

Ironically, it is this growing 

awareness of the media 

as a powerful platform that 

is now threatening press 

freedom in the state 

On 2 August 2007, while media representatives 

were on strike to protest the 

sending of a bomb to the Sangai Express, 

the state government passed an order ban - 

ning the publishing of all items “di rectly 

attributed to Unlawful Organiza tions, 

organized gangs, organizations, terrorists 

and terrorists-related organizations considered 

to be subversive and a threat to the 

integrity of the state and the country.” 

When the media community protested 

and urged for the withdrawal of the 

order, the State Cabinet met and, instead 

of withdrawal, amended the order with a 

clause entitled “Publication of seditious, 

subversive literature affecting integrity of 

the Nation.” 

More recently, it was only after 13 

days of strikes and protest rallies by the 

journalist fraternity here that the state 

government conceded to the demand for 

a CBI inquiry into the killing. Instead 

of an early response to the journalists’ 

demand, the state government tried to 

make the journalists call off their proposed 

rally on 26 November 2008. When 

the rally proceeded, the state government 

banned the local cable network ISTV 

from broadcasting the public meeting 

following the rally. 

This was not the first time ISTV was 

forced to blackout. In August 2004, the 

government imposed a ban on ISTV in 

the “public interest”, apparently angered 

by images of thousands of people taking 

to the streets to protest against the AFSPA. 

In Manipur, the ongoing armed conflict, 

job insecurity and precarious working 

conditions are some of the crucial factors 

which directly impact press freedom. 

In the face of these challenges, the media 

community has continued to remain uni - 

ted in their stand that the sanctity of the 

profession should not be compromised. 

Thingnam Anjulika Samom 

is a freelance journalist based in the 

northeastern Indian state of Manipur. 

She writes primarily on issues related 

to gender, development and conflict. 

29

30 

Indonesia by Naomi Hunt 

Indonesia has a large independent me - 

dia presence, although the media are 

hampered by criminal defamation laws 

and strict broadcast licensing procedures. 

With wide viewership and ten independent 

stations, television is the dominant 

medium. There are also hundreds of 

radio stations; the capital Jakarta alone 

boasts 60. Nearly 20 million Indonesians 

– about 8 percent of the population – 

have access to the Internet. 

While there is no outright censorship 

of the web, on 31 March, the Infor ma - 

tion Ministry tried to force YouTube to 

remove a video from its website. It told 

YouTube it had a week to remove Fitna, 

arguing that the short film “could disturb 

relations between the faiths.” The film 

shows a mash-up of Quranic verses with 

clips from terror acts, and was created 

by Geert Wilders, an anti-immigration 

Dutch politician. YouTube refused, and 

several Internet service providers in 

Indonesia began denying access to the 

site, as well as to MySpace and Google 

Video, although over 150 ISPs reportedly 

ignored the order. 

On 19 November, the Alliance of 

Independent Journalists Indonesia (AJI) 

reported another government attempt to 

block controversial themes. AJI reported 

that local officials in Surakarta, a city in 

Central Java, have refused to allow filmmaker 

Eros Djarot to shoot a movie. 

According to the AJI, the authorities 

threatened the crew with accusations that 

the movie’s script contains communist 

ideas. 

Press freedom has improved 

overall since long-time ruler 

Suharto left office in 1998 

Djarot reportedly had already obtai - 

ned the necessary permit: Police Senior 

Commissioner Edy Janto signed a letter 

granting the production team permission 

to film in Surakarta, but city authorities 

didn’t issue a permit, allegedly because of 

the film’s supposed communist content. 

The director has said that the film, called 

Lastri and based on a book by Ita F. Na - 

dia, is about an Indonesian woman living 

in the 1960s, not about communism. 

Press freedom has improved overall 

since long-time ruler Suharto left office 

in 1998, but several developments since 

have been criticised by rights groups. In 

the restive province of Papua, for example, 

foreign journalists have been barred 

from entry since 2003. A set of broadcasting 

regulations in 2006 puts the In - 

for mation Ministry in charge of licenses, 

which Southeast Asian Press Alliance 

(SEAPA) said could potentially politicize 

licensing procedures. The law sets rules 

on acceptable program content, and prevents 

local stations from directly relaying 

foreign news agency reports. 

In Indonesia, defamation charges are 

frequently used to punish critics. In Sep - 

tember 2007, the Indonesian Supreme 

Court ruled that Time magazine had de - 

famed Suharto, and ordered the Ameri - 

can newsweekly to pay US$106 million. 

The article in question was published 

in 1999, and alleged that the former president 

and his family had saved billions 

of ill-gotten dollars in foreign bank ac - 

counts. Time appealed the ruling. 

In 2006 and 2007, Indonesia’s Con - 

stitutional Court had struck down laws 

that criminalized defamation of the government 

and insults to the president and 

vice president, calling them unconstitutional. 

However, defamation in general 

remains a criminal offence. 

In June, Radar Yogya general manager 

and journalist Risang Bima Wijaya was 

released after spending six months in 

prison in Sleman. He had lost a defamation 

case brought against him by Sumadi 

M. Wonohito, the general manager of 

another newspaper in Yogyakarta. Wi ja ya 

had published articles covering a scandal 

at Wonohito’s newspaper, the Kedaulatan 

Rakzat Daily, which involved a female 

employee who had brought sexual harassment 

charges against the general manager. 

In May, the Legal Aid Centre for the 

Press filed a petition on behalf of Risang 

Bima Wijaya and another columnist, 

Bersihar Lubis, who has also previously 

served jail time for defaming the attorney 

general. 

The petition called for the abolishment 

of laws that criminalise defamation 

and insults; however, the Constitutional 

Court upheld their constitutionality in 

August. 

On 25 March, the Indonesian Press 

Council and other observers criticised the 

newly passed Electronic Information and 

Transaction Law (ITE) for failing to meet 

international standards. The ITE is meant 

to address, among other things, online 

pornography, gambling, threats and ra - 

cism. Under international standards, laws 

should protect citizens’ and journalists’ 

rights to free expression and access to 

information. Instead, Indonesians are 

pro hibited from distributing insulting or 

defamatory information in electronic 

form, and could be penalized with a maximum 

of six years in prison or a fine of 

US$109,000 for violations. The ITE also 

forbids the spread of information intended 

to propagate hatred or enmity. The 

Press Council expressed concern that 

jour nalists covering politically sensitive 

issues online may face charges for “sprea - 

ding hatred” or defamation. 

Journalist concerns over misuse of the 

new ITE were substantiated when blogger 

and Tempo magazine journalist Nar lis - 

wandi Piliang was named as a suspect in a 

defamation case under the new ITE law. 

Piliang published a story in which he al - 

leged that a coal mining company bribed 

a political party in order to protect themselves 

from a negative outcome in an on - 

going investigation into firm practices. 

The Press Council ex - 

pressed concern that journalists 

covering politically 

sensitive issues online may 

face charges for “spreading 

hatred” or defamation 

The case was filed by legislator Alvin 

Lie after the story was circulated to a 

readers’ forum mailing list. Piliang agreed 

to cooperate with the investigation, but 

could face up to six years in prison and be 

forced to pay US$90,000 if found guilty. 

On 10 November, AJI reported that 

freedom of expression advocate Upi As - 

maradana, who coordinates the Coalition 

for Journalists against Criminalisation of 

the Press, was charged with libel and 

defamation. The charges were brought by 

the Inspector General Sisno Adiwinoto, 

who alleges that Upi “provoked journalists 

to resist the head of the South Sula - 

wesi Regional Police Office.” The inspector 

reportedly told the public that, if they 

take umbrage at something in the media, 

they should simply sue the journalists 

rather than using procedures set out in 

the Press Law. 

In West Papua province, there have 

been numerous outbreaks of violence 

over the last 45 years despite a large In do -

Former Indonesian President Suharto 

(REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni) 

nesian military presence. Papuans were 

granted greater autonomy in 2001, but 

those pushing for independence are targeted 

by Indonesian authorities. Jour na - 

lists covering the unrest are reportedly 

threatened and harassed by local officials. 

Between 14 and 16 October, according 

to the East Timor Action Network, 

Papuans held rallies in several cities across 

Indonesia to welcome the formation of 

the International Parliamentarian Caucus 

for West Papua (IPWP) in London. In 

the Papuan capital Jayapura, IPWP committee 

chairman Buchtar Tabuni was 

taken into custody by the police for questioning. 

According to reports, he and 17 

others were beaten in public and then 

forced into police cars at gunpoint. On or 

around 17 October, one protest organizer 

was killed; the an autopsy of Yosias 

Syet Sentani concluded that he died of 

torture. 

Sources say the local deputy police 

chief told journalists not to report the 

case, warning that those who cover this 

story may be “victims of an accident on 

their way home.” TV journalists in the 

Papuan police office were also told not to 

investigate the local police force and its 

interrogation of suspects linked to the 

demonstrations. Deputy Director Borent 

reportedly added, “Your motorcycle could 

end up having a crash.” 

Chozin, eldest brother of Bali bombers Amrozi and Mukhlas, talks to journalists at Tenggulun 

village near Lamongan. (REUTERS/Beawiharta Beawiharta) 


Decriminalize defamation 

Give journalists in Papua and other 

provinces the same rights to free 

speech accorded to journalists elsewhere 

in Indonesia 

Abolish the ITE law 

Indonesia In Brief 


Domestic Overview: Since Suharto stepped down a decade ago, 

Indonesia has slowly moved toward greater transparency and democracy. 

However, corruption remains endemic, and may even be on the rise. 

A World Bank report says Indonesia’s rapid post-Suharto decentralization 

exacerbated the problem. While powers mandated to local officials have 

increased, there has not always been a sufficient expansion of oversight, 

encouraging graft and “money politics,” the World Bank says. 

A secular state, 86% of all Indonesians are Muslims. 

In some parts of the archipelago, inter-ethnic and inter-religious tensions, 

as well as violent separatist movements, are simmering. Heavy-handed 

military and police efforts to combat Islamist terrorist threats, as well 

as maintain central control over restive provinces, have led to numerous 

documented human rights abuses. 

Beyond Borders: Indonesia is an active member of ASEAN and other 

regional efforts, and pursues an active foreign policy commensurate with its 

status as the world’s fourth most populous country, and as the most populous 

Muslim-majority country. Although conducting a generally internationalist 

foreign policy, the violent secession of East Timor after the 1999 independence 

referendum strained Indonesia’s relations with many countries. 

31

32 

NOTES FROM THE FIELD : INDONESIA : NOTES FROM THE FIELD 

IPI: In 1995, you and Ahmad Taufik 

were sentenced for publishing the 

magazine Independen without a li - 

cense. Have licensing procedures 

and conditions generally improved 

since that time? 

ITEM: There was a time under the Su - 

harto regime when every publication had 

to have a special permit, issued by the 

Ministry of Information. Ahmad Taufik 

and I were sentenced to three years in 

prison for violating the old press law, and 

were also tried under the criminal code 

for “insulting the president” (article 134) 

and for “showing hatred against the government” 

(article 154). 

After the fall of Suharto in 1998, 

Indo nesia entered an era of press freedom, 

as the new Press Law Number 40/ 

1999 was implemented. The Press Law 

basically guaranteed our basic rights and 

abolished the press license policy. Cur - 

rently, the Indonesian press is free to publish, 

free to write, and free to criticize. 

But the defamation articles in our 

crim inal code are still there and these can 

be used against journalists anytime. In 

2006, the Constitutional Court abolish - 

ed articles 134, 135 and 136 (on insulting 

the president), and later, articles 154 

and 155 (showing hatred against the government), 

but other articles carrying 

criminal penalties still exist. 

At the moment, we are also facing 

charges based on new laws passed over 

the past few years, such as the ITE and 

the Election Law. 

IPI: This summer, the Constitutional 

Court upheld as constitutional several 

penal code provisions carrying jail 

time and heavy fines for defamation. 

Is there a sense that Indonesians find 

these laws unfair, and do you think 

that a similar petition in the future 

might lead to a change in the law? 

Interview with Indonesian 

Journalist and Press Freedom 

Advocate Eko Maryadi By Naomi Hunt 

Eko Maryadi, aka Item, is the Coordinator of the Advocacy Division at the Alliance 

of Independent Journalists (AJI), Indonesia, and a freelance journalist. Item was an editor 

for AJI’s magazine, Independen, until it was banned on 28 March 1995, two weeks 

after he and AJI president Ahmad Taufik were arrested. They were ultimately sentenced 

to three years in prison, but released in September 1997. 

ITEM: For various reasons, many Indo - 

nesians see the decision regarding the 

code provisions as unfair and disappointing, 

as this puts a continuous threat on 

journalists and civil society members who 

express their opinion. We do respect the 

court’s decision, but we can file a similar 

petition in the future for different reasons 

and from a different angle to push for 

change in our legal system. 

IPI: In September 2007, Time magazine 

was found to have defamed 

ex-President Suharto, and ordered to 

pay US$106 million. This February, 

Time filed an appeal. What is the status 

of the appeal? 

ITEM: The appeal is still in progress. I 

don’t know when the result will be delivered 

by the Supreme Court, but it usually 

takes months, sometimes years, to de - 

cide, depending on its urgency. AJI belie - 

ves that if the punishment is upheld, and 

Time magazine has to pay Suharto’s 

family that huge amount, it will have a 

huge impact on how Indonesian courts 

ap proach press cases. We have to convince 

the legal apparatus that the impact 

of an extraordinary fine is similar to that 

of banning the press, as it may force me - 

dia companies into bankruptcy. 

IPI: The Electronic Information and 

Transaction Law (ITE) was passed 

earlier this year, and has already 

been used against journalist Narlis - 

wandi Piliang. How concerned are 

the media and press freedom advocacy 

groups about this new law? 

ITEM: We put a high priority on this 

case. We must work hard to stop the proceedings 

against Piliang, and to abolish 

the article at issue. AJI and other advocacy 

groups are now filing a petition to 

the Constitutional Court against Article 

27 of the ITE. There is legal uncertainty 

when several criminal defamation articles 

exist simultaneously. We already have the 

Indonesian Criminal Code (articles 310, 

311), which carries less jail time (one 

year), and now also Article 27 of the ITE, 

which stipulates a longer sentence (up to 

six years). 

IPI: According to reports, journalists 

in West Papua were warned by a 

local deputy police chief not to cover 

a particular story, or else they might 

end up “victims of an accident on 

their way home.” Is there a sense that 

journalists in West Papua, Aceh or 

Sulawesi work under more dangerous 

conditions than elsewhere, and 

do you see the situation improving or 

worsening? 

ITEM: It is sad to say, but the situation 

in West Papua is worsening rather than 

improving with respect to freedom of 

expression. Every journalist, national or 

international, who wants to visit West 

Papua must get a special permit from the 

Indonesian National Military (TNI), and 

also from the West Papua governor. The 

requirements are even more complex for 

TV journalists or filming. And it’s entirely 

up to these authorities to decide whe - 

ther the permission letter can be given or 

be held. 

It has been said that the government 

has to protect the province from different 

influences, as well as from bad news from 

the international community regarding 

the issue of separatism. The other reason 

we know of is that there is a giant U.S. 

mining company, Freeport Inc., which 

has been operating in part of the province 

for 30 years, and has recently been in disputes 

with local communities over the 

issues of prosperity and economic distribution. 

Aceh province and Central Sulawesi 

are improving, as journalists are free to 

visit and to make reports.

Balibo Revisitedby Colin Peters 

The release of the film “Balibo” in the summer of 2009 will bring a tragic, 

true story of murder and injustice to a wider public. The story of the brutal 

killing of six journalists in East Timor in 1975 is one familiar to members of IPI, 

as IPI has long pushed for justice in the matter. Taking its name from the tiny 

village that witnessed the killing of five of the journalists, “Balibo” retraces 

the events leading up to their deaths and that of a sixth reporter, Roger East. 

Footage shot just days before his death 

on 16 October 1975 shows Austral - 

ian newsman Greg Shackleton painting a 

crude Australian flag onto the exterior 

wall of the Balibo hut in which he was 

lodging. Shackleton and four other journalists 

were in Balibo to report on evidence 

of an upcoming Indonesian invasion 

of what was then still the Portuguese 

territory of East Timor. 

The reporters had recently observed 

Indonesian warships amassing along the 

island’s coast, and heard stories of armed 

Indonesian incursions across the border. 

Shackleton’s flag should signal to any 

invader that Australians – Indonesia’s re - 

gional allies – were housed here. When 

Indonesian troops finally arrived in Bali - 

bo, eyewitness accounts describe the 

Australia-based journalists leaving their 

hut, arms aloft and unarmed, to ap proach 

the soldiers, only to be brutally cut down 

by machine-gun fire. 

At the time of the murder of these 

journalists, who we now know collectively 

as the “Balibo Five”, the Indonesian 

invasion of East Timor had not officially 

begun. It was well underway, however, 

when Roger East, another Australia-based 

reporter, was last seen, his hands bound 

behind his back, being dragged across the 

main square of East Timor’s capital, Dili. 

East had travelled to the island to 

investigate the deaths of the “Balibo Five” 

and had remained there despite the 

Indonesian offensive. Ultimately he suffered 

the same gruesome fate as those 

whose story he was trying to tell, allegedly 

executed along with a crowd of East 

Timorese by Indonesian soldiers on Dili’s 

wharf. A body fitting his description 

washed up on the shore some days later. 

For many years after their deaths, the 

“Balibo Five” were officially, although 

con troversially, considered victims of 

cross fire in the heat of battle. This would 

Shirley Shackleton (R), wife of Australian journalist Greg Shackleton allegedly killed by the 

Indonesian military, is flanked by a member of Melbourne's East Timorese community (L) 

during a rally outside the Indonesian Consulate August 17, 1998. (REUTERS/Will Burgess) 

have remained the case, had it not been 

for the determination of relatives and 

campaigners to learn the exact details of 

the killings. 

This determination culminated in a 

2007 coronial inquiry in Australia into 

the death of one of the five, British-born 

cameraman Brian Peters. The coroner in 

charge of the inquiry, Dorelle Pinch, 

found that the “Balibo Five” were singled 

out and murdered by Indonesian Special 

Forces, possibly on the orders of highranking 

military officers. She also recommended 

that the case be considered a 

breach of the Geneva Convention. 

In 2008, a reply from the Australian 

Attorney General to an IPI letter calling 

for action confirmed that the Federal 

Police are currently assessing the matter. 

The true circumstances surrounding the 

killing of Roger East, however, remain 

unclear. East’s death has always had a 

lower profile than that of the “Balibo 

Five”, and, as yet, no official inquiry has 

been conducted. 

The arrival of the film “Balibo” will no 

doubt do much to bring the injustice surrounding 

the “Balibo Five” to a wider au - 

dience, but will hopefully also help raise 

awareness of the near-forgotten murder 

of Roger East, the first man to seek justice 

in their case. 

“Balibo”, an Arenafilm production, is 

produced and directed by the critically 

acclaimed team of John Maynard and 

Robert Connolly. IPI members will have 

the opportunity to preview clips from 

the feature film, and to talk to those 

involved in its production, at a specially 

organised event at IPI’s 2009 World 

Congress in June in Helsinki. 

33

34 

Japan by Andrew Horvat 

Almost all incidents which touched on 

freedom of speech in Japan in 2008 

were connected in some way to unresolved 

issues left over from World War II. 

Japanese politics and society today is 

divided into two mutually hostile camps. 

On one side stands the “pride” group, 

which seeks to minimize and on occasion 

deny negative aspects of Japan’s history. 

Members of the “shame” group, on the 

other hand, are bent on memorializing 

and from time to time exaggerating and 

distorting the excesses of the Japanese 

military prior to 1945. 

Although the topics of discussion are 

linked to the past, the debate is not so 

much about history but the present day. 

Unlike in Europe, where since the early 

1950s increasing integration leading to 

the formation of the EU required a coming 

to terms with the past, the Cold War 

effectively isolated Japan from countries 

once occupied by the Japanese military 

and therefore made impossible the carrying 

on of dialogue between perpetrators 

and victims. The United States, relying 

on the assistance of Japan’s pre-war political 

and business elite in order to turn 

Japan into a viable Cold War ally, often 

chose to ignore the past record of Japa - 

nese leaders, at least one of whom, a war - 

time minister of defense supply, became a 

postwar prime minister. The result has 

been to politicize the history debate and 

to turn it into a permanent discussion 

not so much about what Japan was like in 

the past but rather about the values that 

the Japanese should adhere to today. 

For example, the descendants of journalists 

arrested in 1943 and convicted the 

following year on charges of taking part 

in a communist plot were still fighting 

the case in court last year, demanding a 

verdict exonerating their long-deceased 

relatives. The absence of a clear-cut consensus 

on negative aspects of the past pla - 

ces an enormous burden on the Japa nese 

justice system since plaintiffs continue to 

demand that courts make decisions which 

Japanese society as a whole has sought to 

avoid. In what can only be described as a 

pyrrhic victory, the fourth attempt on the 

Japanese men dressed in the uniforms of former zero fighter pilots and imperial army 

soldiers march in the precinct of the Yasukuni Shinto Shrine in Tokyo, marking the 

57th anniversary of the end of World War II in this 2002 photo (AP/Tsugufumi Matsumoto) 

part of the aging descendants of the long 

deceased plaintiffs to have the court re - 

open the so-called “Yokohama Incident” 

case was finally successful. In November, 

a district court judge ruled that new evidence 

had come to light indicating that 

the 60 persons rounded up under the 

now defunct Peace Preservation Law of 

1925 were “probably not guilty.” When if 

ever the final verdict will be read out is 

anybody’s guess. 

In June, the Japanese Supreme Court 

handed down a ruling which on the surface 

protected the media but which in 

another context could be seen as sidestepping 

the still heated debate over of - 

ficial involvement in the recruitment of 

the so-called “comfort women,” who provided 

sexual services to Japanese military 

personnel in occupied territories during 

World War II. The court ruled in favor of 

NHK, the Japanese public broadcasting 

network, which aired in 2001 a program 

on its educational channel about a mock 

war crimes trial organized the year before 

by an NGO in which the late Emperor 

Hirohito was found guilty of having been 

responsible for the recruitment of military 

sex-slaves. Members of the NGO 

took NHK to court, arguing that the 

broadcaster had failed to live up to what 

it argued were “expectant rights of interviewees.” 

Lower courts had ruled in favor 

of the NGO, finding that the public 

broadcaster had allowed itself to be influenced 

politically when they solicited the 

advice of a senior cabinet official about 

the program and had subsequently 

Taro Aso became President in 

September 2008 (Reuters, Toru Hanai) 

altered its contents by inserting an interview 

with a scholar whose views were 

opposed to those of the NGO. 

The descendants of jour - 

nalists arrested in 1943 and 

convicted the following year 

on charges of taking part in 

a communist plot were still 

fighting the case in court 

last year, demanding a verdict 

exonerating their longdeceased 

relatives 

In siding with NHK, the court ruled 

that the NGO’s demand that the program 

be made according to its expectations 

was not reasonable, since there 

could be many reasons why the broadcast 

content might differ from what was originally 

planned. In ruling for the broad-

caster, the court went a long way to protect 

the media from unreasonable lawsuits 

by dissatisfied interviewees. At the 

same time, however, the failure of judges 

to comment on NHK’s decision to seek 

the involvement of a politician in determining 

the outcome of a news program 

was a clear indication that judges were 

not keen to become involved in the na - 

tional debate about Japan’s complicated 

past. Incidentally, the politician whose 

views NHK staff sought about the comfort 

women program happened to be the 

grandson of the above-mentioned prime 

minister who had been a wartime cabinet 

member. 

Right wing pressure 

groups composed mostly 

of athletic young men 

wearing World War II lookalike 

uniforms, threatened 

to descend on any film 

theater that dared to show 

an “anti-Japanese” film 

No doubt the most serious media 

rights issue concerned the showing in 

May of the documentary film “Yasukuni” 

made by a Japan-resident Chinese director 

about the controversial shrine where 

souls of 2.7 million Japanese, including 

many former colonial subjects, are consecrated. 

The debate followed certain predictable 

patterns in issues related to 

World War II. The controversy began 

with the demand by members of a 

nationalist coalition of politicians to preview 

the film. The group argued that 

since the documentary was partially 

funded by a government arts grant the 

politicians had the right to make certain 

that tax funds had been spent properly. 

Almost immediately, right wing pressure 

groups composed mostly of athletic 

young men wearing World War II lookalike 

uniforms, threatened to descend on 

any film theater that dared to show an 

“anti-Japanese” film. It was more or less 

assumed that since the director was a 

Chinese national, the film would be critical 

of Yasukuni. 

The expectations of the “pride” group, 

however, were betrayed when it turned 

out that the film was both impartial and 

difficult for most viewers to follow. The 

documentary contained no narration and 

simply provided a day to day portrait of 

the shrine as it was, showing both its followers 

and its opponents. Encouraged by 

the support of almost all of Japan’s media, 

most distributors and theater owners 

ignored the threats of right wing groups 

and showed the film, which attracted a 

large number of viewers. 

The “Yasukuni” controversy coincided 

with the twentieth anniversary of the 

shooting of a 29-year old Asahi Shimbun 

reporter, which was recalled in detail on 

the pages of that paper. Members of a 

right wing group, demanding that the 

newspaper “return to what it was like 50 

years ago” – in other words, to the prewar 

militaristic era – claimed credit for 

this and other attacks on the publication, 

which used the anniversary as an opportunity 

to list the far too many instances 

of political violence in Japan since the 

end of World War II, especially those 

aimed at muzzling free debate. 

The success of right wing pressure 

groups to force the Japan Teachers Union 

to cancel its annual convention at a major 

hotel in Tokyo can be seen as just one of 

many examples of the muzzling of debate 

on the past through intimidation. The 

modus operandi of these ultra-nationalist 

organizations is to use truck-mounted 

loudspeakers and to blare World War II 

military marches and nationalist slogans 

while driving past events or meetings or - 

ganized by groups whose aims the natio - 

Japan in brief 


n alists (or their political backers) oppose. 

Such shows of force are sufficiently 

disruptive of day-to-day business in overcrowded 

Japanese cities that hotels or 

film theaters, frightened by the negative 

impact on their business, cave in to the 

demands of the rightists. When such me - 

thods fail, they are invariably followed by 

anonymous threats, and when those are 

not heeded, a home made bomb will be 

thrown, or a house burned down. Assassi - 

nations are rare because those being targeted 

often get the message quite early. 

The truly disturbing aspect of such 

activity, however, is the seeming failure – 

or possibly unwillingness – of authorities 

to do very much to stop it. Anti-noise 

ordinances are rarely applied to the truckmounted 

loudspeakers of the right wing 

groups, even when long rows of the vehicles 

painted in khaki or navy blue wind 

slowly through rush hour traffic. As for 

the assassin of the Asahi Shimbun 

reporter, he has nothing to fear; the 15year 

statute of limitations on murder ex - 

pired in 2003. 


Discourage harassment and in - 

timidation of individuals, including 

journalists, who espouse politically 

unpopular views 

Vigorously prosecute crimes against 

journalists 

Improve transparency by ensuring fair 

access to figures of public interest 

Domestic Overview: Japan is comprised of an island chain running along 

the Pacific coast of Asia. Its four main islands are Hokkaido, Shikoku, 

Kyushu and Honshu, on which Tokyo, the capital, is located. 

After World War II, Japan enjoyed enormous economic growth, and has 

become a major regional and global power. Japan has a developed 

industrial economy, and is competitive in sectors associated with international 

trade. It is a world leader in scientific research, especially with regard 

to new technologies. It has the second largest economy in the world. 

Taro Aso of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has dominated 

politics since the end of the Second World War, became Prime Minister 

in September 2008. 

Beyond Borders: Japan is a member of the G7, has been a member 

of the U.N. since 1956, and maintains close ties with the West, as well as 

with neighbouring countries. In recent years, it has pursued a more active 

foreign policy and expanded relations with countries in Latin and South 

America, as well as in the Middle East. 

35

36 

Kazakhstan by Patti McCracken 

Kazakh President Nazarbayev meets U.S. Secretary of State 

Condoleezza Rice in Astana. (Reuters / Ho New) 

Kazakhstan’s press is relatively stable 

when compared to some of its Cen - 

tral Asian neighbours. However, considerable 

problems with censorship, oppressive 

media law, and routine attacks on 

journalists are at the core of the media 

struggles. 

Much of print and broadcast media 

are controlled by President Nursultan 

Na zarbayev’s associates, most notably his 

daughter, and content is largely “managed” 

by forbidding operating licenses to 

many opposition media outlets. For the 

opposition media that does exist, editorial 

content is controlled and suppressed 

through various fear tactics, threats, 

physical attack and worse. 

A bullet was 

embedded in a wall 

When the reporters for Taszhargan 

newspaper came into work on 1 April, 

they noted shattered windows and rocks 

scattered on the floor. Dispersed amid 

the rocks were bullets, and a bullet was 

embedded in a wall. This was not the first 

time the newspaper – Kazakhstan’s oldest 

opposition paper – was targeted. In the 

past it has been torched and robbed, and 

its reporters are sometimes beaten. 

In September, a driver for Aygak me - 

dia group pulled his car into a carwash. 

Unidentified assailants attacked him as 

he stepped out of the vehicle, dousing the 

car with gasoline and setting it on fire. 

Independent journalist Ramazan Eser - 

gepov sought refuge at a United States 

consulate in December from members of 

Kazakh’s National Security Committee 

(KNB). They had tried to force him into 

a car, allegedly to take him for questioning. 

The KNB was hounding Esergepov 

after his 21 November article headlined 

“Who really runs the country: the president 

or KNB?” appeared in Esergepov’s 

weekly Alma Ata Info. The article was 

based on a leaked KNB memo, resulting 

in KNB operatives raiding Esergepov’s 

house and confiscating several computers, 

mobile phones and documents, in an 

effort to track down the source of the 

leak. 

RSF condemned the aggressive intimidation 

of the journalist. “The pressure 

applied to Esergepov was all out of proportion. 

The confidentiality of a repor - 

ter’s sources is one of the pillars of investigative 

journalism. Protection is vital.” 

The print edition of Alma Ata Info was 

shut down for two weeks by the KNB, 

although the online edition continued its 

news service. 

Kazakhstan places 125th of 169 countries 

in the RSF Press Freedom index. 

Despite the low ranking, the nation is 

still in line to chair the OSCE in 2010. 

Kazakhstan will be the first ex-Soviet 

country to assume the rotating chairmanship, 

and won the right by promising a 

package of reforms regarding elections 

and media law. The function of the 

OSCE is to protect and defend human 

rights, including freedom of the press. 

But watchdog groups have spoken out 

against the decision, claiming the coun- 

Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Karim Masimov speaks during an 

interview with Reuters in Astana.(Reuters / Ho New) 

try has only made “superficial” changes. 

According to New York-based Human 

Rights Watch, for example, “when it 

comes to exercising fundamental rights 

such as [...] press freedom, Kazakhstan’s 

people live in an atmosphere that is far 

more circumscribed and fearful than in 

a country that meets its human rights 

obligations.” 

Punishments also 

include the clampdown 

of presses and seizure 

of office equipment, 

often for a civil offence, 

and often undertaken 

without a court order 

In the last two years, attempts at 

media law reform were blocked by the 

government. Under pressure from the 

OSCE, the government organised a 

roundtable in February consisting of 

both parliament members and NGO representatives. 

The group met once, and a 

draft law was put before parliament in 

November. 

Contentious issues regarding the draft 

media law are include its weak reform of 

provisions concerning registration of the 

mass media, and those concerning libel 

and defamation. 

Regarding media registration, any 

print, radio or television media outlet 

wishing to operate in Kazakhstan must 

first register with the Ministry of Culture,

Information and Sports. The registration 

applications for print are often denied, 

which is considered a form of censorship. 

Registration of mass media conflicts with 

OSCE standards. The proposed changes 

to the law would eliminate the need for 

radio and television media to register. But 

since the majority of broadcast outlets are 

already owned and controlled by the 

president’s allies and family, registration 

is nearly a non-issue. 

Websites are another matter. They are 

registered under the Agency for Informa - 

tion and Communication, which handles 

new technology. To register, the site 

owners must agree to use state-owned 

KazakhTelecom. This allows the state to 

“pull the plug” on any website at any 

time. The OSCE has cited Kazakhstan 

several times for web censorship. Several 

sites critical of the government have been 

shut down for months, and access to 

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty online 

has recently been curtailed. 

Regarding criminal defamation, plans 

for its decriminalisation have stalled. 

Government officials say that the new 

media plan eases the criminal code. But 

media advocates say that the proposal still 

leaves journalists vulnerable, citing that 

civil suits brought before the court can 

(and do) financially cripple a reporter. 

Furthermore, there is currently no cap 

on fines. Hefty fees are levied against 

reporters and their newspapers for alleged 

transgressions, essentially devastating 

news operations. Punishments also in - 

clude the clampdown of presses and 

seizure of office equipment, often for a 

civil offence, and often undertaken without 

a court order. 

Kazakhstan in Brief 

Regardless of the media law enacted, 

the issue of intimidation and violent 

threats as a means of censorship is 

the most significant obstacle to a free 

and independent media taking root in 

Kazakhstan. 


Bring those responsible for threatening 

and attacking journalists to justice. 

Remove provisions in Kazakh 

media law requiring the registration 

of mass media. 

Remove oppressive restrictions 

on website owners. 

Remove all forms of criminal defamation 

from existing legislation. 


Domestic Overview: Kazakhstan declared independence from the 

Soviet Union in 1991, becoming the world’s largest landlocked country. 

Despite some reform since then, the country still has some way to go 

before it can be considered a genuine, modern democracy. Nursultan 

Nazarbayev has been the sole President since independence, re-elected 

by landslide majorities in both 1997 and 2004 in votes considered flawed 

by most observers. In 2007, term limits for Nazarbayev were removed, 

meaning he may well remain in power for many years to come. 

Beyond Borders: Kazakhstan is due to take over the OSCE rotating 

chairmanship in 2010, although human rights standards in the country 

presently fall short of those demanded by the organisation. 

Kazakhstan has stable relations with all its neighbouring countries. 

Kyrgyzstan 

by Patti McCracken 

Kyrgyzstan is one of the poorest countries 

of the former Soviet bloc, en - 

joying none of the oil-driven prosperity 

of regional counterparts such as Kazakh - 

stan or Azerbaijan. However, following 

the 2005 Tulip Revolution, some pro - 

gress was made in the field of human 

rights, and the country became something 

of a positive leader among its 

neighbours – particularly with regards to 

press freedom. Sadly, this trend has seen 

as about turn in the last two years, with 

concerted and brash efforts by the government 

to censor the media. Legal protection 

has become increasingly unstable 

and unreliable, in part due to a standoff 

in parliament between the ruling and 

opposition parties. The decriminalization 

of libel failed to pass into law. And, 

although strides were made towards privatisation 

of radio and television, Kyrgyz 

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev – or individuals 

with long-term ties to him – still 

control the executive boards. 

All transmissions from 

Radio Free Europe/Radio 

Liberty (RFE/RL) into the 

country were suspended 

after the Kyrgyz government 

withdrew RFE/RL’s 

broadcasting rights 

One of the most significant and troubling 

blows to independent journalism in 

Kyrgyzstan was dealt in October, when 

all transmissions from Radio Free Eu - 

rope/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) into the 

country were suspended after the Kyrgyz 

government withdrew RFE/RL’s broadcasting 

rights. The reason cited for the 

withdrawal was alleged unpaid debts. 

However, Melis Eshimkanov, head of the 

Kyrgyz National Television and Radio 

Corporation, said in December that 

RFE/RL’s programs were “too negative 

and too critical” of the government, and 

that its programs would have to be submitted 

for prior, governmental approval 

before broadcasting can resume. 

“When faced with an ailing and 

deeply corrupt economy and countrywide 

power cuts, the best the Kyrgyzstani 

government can do is crack down on one 

of the most reliable, independent sources 

of information in the country,” said Jeff 

Goldstein, Freedom House senior pro- 

37

38 

Presidents of ex-Soviet nations which are members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), from left, CIS Executive Secretary 

Sergei Lebedev, Artur Rasizade Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, Serge Sarkisian of Armenia, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Nursultan 

Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev of Kyrgyzstan, Vladimir Voronin of Moldova, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Gurbanguli 

Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan, Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, Emomali Rakhmon of Tajikistan, Raisa Bohatyreva, head of Ukrainian 

Security Council pose at the Summit of leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) at Kyrgyz President's residence 

outside Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Friday, Oct. 10, 2008. (AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko) 

gram manager for Central Asia. “This 

clumsy attempt at censorship is unfortunate 

and ultimately self-defeating.” Un - 

fortunately, neither the protests from 

NGOs such as Freedom House, Com - 

mit tee to Protect Journalists or RSF, nor 

the calls from the OSCE or the U.S. State 

Department, have been able to reverse 

the action. 

RFE/RL has been a significant source 

of news and information for the Kyrgyz 

people for more than 50 years, transmitting 

to the country through Radio 

Azattyk. Azattyk itself also produces two 

popular television news shows, namely 

“Inconvenient Questions” and “Azattyk 

Plus”, which mysteriously disappeared 

from broadcasting schedules in Decem - 

ber. In addition to the moves against 

RFE/RL and Azattyk, the Kyrgyz-language 

radio service of the BBC was also 

pulled off the air in December by government 

order. 

This censorship of independent radio 

broadcasters capped a year which saw a 

steady clampdown on the press, with 

individuals at several independent news 

outlets questioned and threatened be - 

cause of editorial content. An example of 

such pressure was the move against 

Rakhmanzhan Islamov, founder of a local 

radio station, who was called in to the 

Tokmak offices of the State National 

Security Committee for questioning in 

December. Agents allegedly threatened 

Islamov, demanding that he halt his 

investigation into the robbery of a local 

branch of the national bank. 

Authorities raided the 

offices of De Facto 

and confiscated financial 

records and computer 

equipment while sealing 

off the newsroom 

Russia-based press freedom organisation 

the Center for Journalists in Extreme 

Situations reports that journalists are frequently 

summoned for questioning by 

the Security Committee, citing, along 

with the case of Islamov, the examples of 

Vadim Nochevkin and Turat Akimov. 

Agents questioned Nochevkin in relation 

to an article of his appearing in the weekly 

Delo N, and told him that the article 

was “poorly written.” Akimov, editor-inchief 

of the Reporter newspaper, was also 

called in to answer questions regarding 

the content in his publication. Further - 

more, an article about the poor quality of 

flour imports from China brought extensive 

interrogation to the reporters at independent 

news agency 24.kg, and, in June, 

authorities raided the offices of De Facto, 

an independent Bishkek-based newspaper, 

and confiscated financial records and 

computer equipment while sealing off 

the newsroom. The raid was linked to an 

article printed by the newspaper alleging 

government corruption. Such action conflicts 

with Kyrgyz media law, Article 8 

of which forbids interference in the work 

of a journalist. 

Another significant restriction placed 

on the Kyrgyzstan media came from the 

parliament, when a broadcast bill that 

will increase the government’s power and 

influence over the media passed into law 

in June. The new law gives the president 

the right to appoint chief executives to 

KTR, the state-controlled television and

adio station. KTR is supposed to be 

trans forming into a public broadcaster. 

This law effectively strengthens the state’s 

grip on the broadcast media. 

The investigation into the 2007 murder 

of journalist Alisher Saipov was suspended 

again this year, after authorities 

claimed all leads had turned cold. Saipov, 

a 26-year-old ethnic-Uzbek, was editor of 

the popular weekly newspaper Siosat – 

a highly critical periodical that Uzbek 

businessmen often smuggled into neighbouring 

Uzbekistan, a country devoid of 

independent media. Although the Kyrgyz 

authorities promised to track down the 

killers, political will soon waned. At the 

behest of media NGOs across the world, 

the investigation was twice re-opened, 

but has as yet yielded no results. 


Return broadcasting rights to 

independent radio broadcasters. 

Resume moves towards the privatisation 

of KTR, ensuring that loopholes 

do not exist allowing for government 

control of editorial content. 

Reverse the requirement for RFE/RL 

to submit its material for priorapproval 

from the government. 

Ensure that journalists are left free 

to report and investigate without 

interference from the state security 

services. 

Kyrgyzstan in brief 

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev listens 

to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in 

Bishkek. (Reuters/RIA Novosti) 


Domestic overview: A landlocked Central Asian country bordering on 

China to the East and Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to the west, 

Kyrgyzstan achieved independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991. 

The country was controlled by President Askar Akayev until the so-called 

“Tulip Revolution” of 2005, the events of which led to Akayev’s resignation 

and the election of Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Sadly, politics have remained 

tense in this impoverished nation, with frequent demonstrations calling 

for Bakiyev’s resignation for failure to fulfil his promises, and the murder 

of several parliamentarians in recent years. 

Beyond borders: Despite some border disputes with Tajikistan and Uz - 

bekistan, Kyrgyzstan maintains close relations with former soviet countries. 

Kyrgyzstan is also home to Manas Air Base, a U.S. military installation 

important to Coalition activity in Afghanistan. The country’s principal 

exports are nonferrous metals, minerals and agricultural goods to Europe 

and Asia, and Kyrgyzstan is a member of the OSCE, the CIS, the Shanghai 

Cooperation Organization, the WTO, and the United Nations. 

Laos by Nayana Jayarajan 

As in previous years, silence and the 

lack of information were the main 

indicators of the lack of press freedom in 

Laos, officially the Lao People’s Demo - 

cra tic Republic. The authoritarian, oneparty 

state continues to control all media 

in the landlocked country, which has 

repeatedly been described as having one 

of the lowest levels of press freedom in 

the world. The ruling communists maintain 

strict editorial control over the press, 

and the media continue to restrict themselves 

to news that is favourable to the 

regime. 

The ruling Laos People’s Revolution - 

ary Party has maintained sole control 

over the media since 1975 and, through 

its Ministry of Information and Culture, 

owns all newspapers and broadcast me - 

dia. The state also maintains a monopoly 

on newspaper printing rights. Newspaper 

circulation figures remain extremely low, 

and state-controlled broadcast stations 

face heavy competition from channels 

broadcasting from Thailand. 

The authoritarian, 

one-party state continues 

to control all media in 

the landlocked country 

Laos adopted a new Constitution in 

1991, which does guarantee the right to 

freedom of speech, press and assembly, as 

well as the right to set up associations and 

to stage demonstrations that are “not 

contrary to the laws”. But these rights are 

largely acknowledged to be theoretical 

only. The penal code establishes strict 

penalties for violations of the state’s directives 

on the media. Defamation and libel 

are criminal offences punishable by incarceration, 

as are “propaganda against 

the Lao People’s Democratic Republic” 

(Article 65), “unlawful production and 

possession of radio communication 

equipment” (Article 81), and “denigration 

of State officials” (Article 159). 

The secretive ruling party continues to 

exert strong control over the media, even 

though central censorship is no longer 

practiced. Foreign journalists seeking to 

enter Laos must apply for a special visa 

and are accompanied by official escorts 

throughout their stay. Editors are government 

appointees assigned to ensure that 

the media functions as a link between the 

party and the people. All editors are 

39

40 

Hmong hilltribe refugee cooks in temporary 

shelter after being forced to abandon their 

homes in 2005. (Reuters/Chaiwat Subprasom) 

mem bers of the Lao Journalists Associa - 

tion, presided over by the Minister of 

Information and Culture, and journalists 

receive salaries from the government. 

Perhaps the best illustration of the 

complete lack of press freedom in Laos 

continues to be the plight of the Hmong 

people. Persecuted because of their pro- 

American, anti-communist stance during 

the civil war that engulfed the country in 

the 1970s, many Hmong retreated to 

remote mountain jungles to avoid persecution. 

Despite Hmong testimonies, re - 

Laos in Brief 

ports from Medicines Sans Frontieres, 

and physical evidence of torture and 

armed violence, the Laos government still 

denies persecuting or discriminating 

against the Hmong. Thousands of Hmong 

have fled to neighbouring Thailand as 

refugees, where over 8000 of them now 

live in makeshift refugee camps. Thai au - 

thorities, who call Lao Hmong asylumseekers 

“illegal immigrants”, have never 

allowed the UN Refugee Agency (UN - 

HCR) access to the camps, and the Lao 

Hmong are in constant fear that they will 

be returned. 

The Lao and Thai governments agreed 

in February 2008 to return them to Laos 

by the end of the year. According to 

Amnesty International, the Thai authorities 

returned 837 Lao Hmong asylum- 


Domestic Overview: Laos, one of the world’s few remaining communist 

states, is one of Asia’s poorest countries. Communist forces, led by the 

Pathet Lao, overthrew the monarchy in 1975, after a protracted civil war. 

Laos denies accusations of abuses by the military against the ethnic 

minority Hmong. Hmong groups have been fighting a low-level rebellion 

against the communist regime since 1975. 

Beyond Borders: Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, 

Laos has struggled to find its position within a changing political and 

economic landscape. Long isolated, it began opening up to the 

world in the 1990s, but despite tentative reforms, it remains poor and 

dependent on international donations. 

Hmong hilltribe refugees cry and beg as they too are forced to abandon their houses at Ban 

Huan Nam. (reuters/Chaiwat Subprasom) 

seekers to Laos on 22 June 2008, claiming 

that the group was going voluntarily. 

“No independent monitors were present, 

and it is likely that some of the group 

were coerced into returning. Some are at 

risk of torture,” Amnesty International 

indicated. Amnesty further stated that 

“three groups have been repatriated since 

the February 2008 agreement: 11 people 

on 28 February, 67 on 10 April and 59 

on 30 May. Some of the first group were 

forcibly returned, including a mother 

whose children were left behind at the 

camp. The second group appear to have 

been migrant workers who returned voluntarily.” 

Editors are government 

appointees assigned to 

ensure that the media functions 

as a link between 

the party and the people. 

Journalists receive salaries 

from the government 

Interestingly, the only reports in The 

Vientiane Times, the state-run English 

lan guage newspaper in Laos, and on staterun 

TV channels, have centered around 

this second group. An extract from a re - 

port dated 30 April 2008 in The Vientiane 

Times describes the reaction of one of the 

returning migrants as follows: “He now 

acknowledges he made the wrong deci-

sion by going to Thailand illegally, as he 

wasted three years there instead of working 

and improving his living conditions in 

Laos. He says he is lucky that he still has 

his farmland and house in Laos.” The 

report further quotes the individual as 

stating that he is “hap py” to be back in his 

“home country”, and that he decided to 

return “after re ceiving information that 

returning Hmong migrants were welcom - 

ed in Laos.” 

Amnesty International, meanwhile, 

points out that international observers 

and NGOs have no access to repatriated 

Hmong, and that the whereabouts of 

most are not known. 


Enact a law allowing the establishment 

of private media organizations. 

Increase access for foreign journalists. 

Decriminalize defamation and libel. 

Malaysia by Naomi Hunt 

Malaysian media, to quote one dissident 

journalist, face laws and res - 

trictions that “stifle fundamental liberties.” 

National security laws have been 

used to detain independent journalists as 

well as political opponents. The most 

notorious is the Internal Security Act 

(ISA) of 1960, which allows that the 

home minister order the detention of any 

person who is suspected of behaving in a 

prejudicial manner toward national 

security, the provision of services or 

economic life in Malaysia. Furthermore, 

arbitrary rules on the issuance of publishing 

licences en courage self-censorship. 

In April, for example, the Tamil-language 

newspaper Makkal Osai (The 

People’s Voice) received a letter from the 

Home Affairs ministry stating that its 

application for a new permit had been 

denied. Makkal Osai was known for its 

criticism of the Malaysian Indian Con - 

gress (MIC), a member of the National 

Front coalition that rules the country. 

Political use of the publishing leads to 

self-censorship. Both the Makkal Osai 

and a Mandarin-language newspaper, the 

Oriental Daily, toned down critical re - 

porting while waiting for permits to be 

renewed in the run-up to the March elections. 

The Oriental Daily even refrained 

from running front-page stories about 

the opposition. 

In the week of 5 September, three 

newspapers were threatened with suspension 

for reporting that a leading political 

Malaysia in brief 

figure called Malaysia’s ethnically Chi - 

nese community “squatters.” Sin Chew 

Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng was ar - 

rested a week later under the ISA, and 

held for questioning for 16 hours. 

Bloggers, meanwhile, are frequent targets 

of harassment. On 7 August, for in - 

stance, Abdul Rashid Abu Baker, who 

runs the blog “penarik beca” (trishaw 

ped dler), was arrested and released the 

next day on bail. He was not officially 

charged with a crime, but was accused of 

publishing an “insulting” digitally mani - 

pulated photo of a police badge. 

In a blatant crackdown on free expression, 

the government in August ordered 

all 21 Internet service providers in Ma - 

lay sia to block the Malaysia Today political 

blog, the first time that such action 

had been taken against a website in the 

country. Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin, 

foun ding editor of Malaysia Today, has 

been detained on several occasions and 

forced to contend with a diverse array of 

charges. 

In August, defamation charges were 

filed against the blogger for three items 

posted that month in Malaysia Today. 

Raja Petra had implicated the deputy 

prime minister, the defence minister and 

the defence minister’s wife in the killing 

of a Mongolian foreign national. A Ma - 

laysian court also ordered Raja Petra to 

reveal his sources, as well as the identities 

of site visitors who had posted comments 

that were considered inflammatory. 


Domestic Overview: Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957. 

Its constitution guarantees special privileges for ethnic Malays and other 

native groups (the “bumiputera,” or sons of the soil), who are all constitutionally 

defined as Muslims. Tension between ethnic Malays, Chinese and 

Indians persists. 

Politics has been dominated by United Malays National Organisation 

(UMNO) since 1957; UMNO is, in turn, the dominant party in the governing 

Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition, which has ruled since 1973. 

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been prime minister since 2003. 

Following corruption allegations and concern over abuses of power, 

the March 2008 elections in Malaysia were to be a reckoning. 

The National Front coalition lost its super-majority in Parliament, 

and five of 13 federal state legislatures went to the opposition. 

Beyond Borders: Malaysia is not a signatory of the UN Covenant 

on Civil and Political Rights. Malaysia is a founding member of ASEAN 

and is active in regional cooperation efforts. 

41

42 

Raja Petra was detained on 12 Sep - 

tem ber under the ISA. His arrest attracted 

international attention, with demonstrators 

demanding both his release and 

the repeal of the ISA. Minister of Legal 

Affairs Zaid Ibrahim resigned in protest 

over this use of the Security Act. 

On 22 September, Raja Petra was or - 

dered jailed for two years on charges of 

insulting Islam and publishing articles in 

Malaysia Today that allegedly “tarnished 

the country’s leadership to the point of 

causing confusion among the people.” 

He was eventually released on 14 No - 

vem ber, when courts ruled that there 

were insufficient grounds for his continued 

detention. 

In a blatant crackdown 

on free expression, the government 

in August ordered 

all 21 Internet service 

providers in Malaysia to 

block the Malaysia Today 

political blog 

Meantime, Raja Petra’s pre-trial hearings 

for the three defamation charges be gan in 

December; each of the charges could carry 

a prison term of up to two years. 

On 17 September, the Sedition Act 

was also used to imprison filmmaker-tur - 

ned-blogger Syed Azidi Syed Abdul Aziz. 

He had used his blog to poke fun at 

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi 

by pasting his image into mock movie 

posters. He remains in detention, awaiting 

trial. 

Journalists covering political events, 

ranging from demonstrations to party 

rallies, are frequently harassed by security 

forces. Syed Jaymal Zahiid of the news 

website Malaysiakini.com was arrested 

on 26 January at a demonstration in Kua - 

la Lumpur for reportedly asking a police 

officer for information regarding several 

arrests. He was in custody for two days, 

where he was reportedly beaten and 

charged with “obstructing a police officer,” 

an offense that could carry a twoyear 

prison term. 

On 4 August, photographer Loh Ho - 

ay Hoon was assaulted by bodyguards of 

opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim for trying 

to photograph the politician. On 16 

August, photojournalists Mohamad Na - 

fiz and Halim Berbar were attacked by 

around 20 supporters of the opposition 

People’s Justice Party (PKR). Mohamad 

was attacked when the PKR supporters 

saw him film them heckling the passengers 

of a passing National Front vehicle; 

when Berbar tried to help him, he too 

came under attack. 

Following these incidents, the Cabinet 

met to discuss the safety of journalists. 

But observers pointed out that government 

action to protect journalists was 

taken only when the perpetrators were 

from the PKR opposition, and not when 

harassment comes from members of parties 

in the ruling coalition. Critics say this 

represents a double-standard. 

Four months later, two Tamil daily 

journalists were harassed while covering 

an MIC party dinner. According to the 

Centre for Independent Journalism, 

party leader S. Samy Vellu cut short his 

speech because no one was listening; on 

his way out, he warned the reporters not 

to cover the incident. He and his bodyguard 

threatened the men and forced 

them to erase their pictures. 

On 26 November, after a legal battle 

spanning 13 years, activist Irene Fer nan - 

dez was acquitted of “publishing false 

news.” Fernandez’s saga began in 1996, 

one year after publication of a memorandum 

entitled “Abuse, Torture and Dehu - 

manised Conditions of Migrant Workers 

in Detention Centres,” which documented 

incidences of torture and death at 

camps filled with undocumented mig - 

rants. Instead of investigating practices at 

these camps, authorities arrested the 

activist. In 2003, she was sentenced to a 

year in prison but released on bail pending 

appeal; the prosecution decided not 

to challenge her appeal. 

Malaysian media continue to face 

strict censorship. Raja Petra explained to 

IPI the major legal obstacles to free 

speech that he and his colleagues face: 

“The ISA has always been a problem. 

[But] there are a host of other laws that 

stifle fundamental liberties. 

“We have the Emergency Ordinance, 

the Sedition Act, the Police Act, the 

Official Secrets Act, the Publication and 

Printing Presses Act, the Societies Act, 

the University and University Colleges 

Act, and many more. Then they can 

charge you for criminal defamation, for 

insulting Islam, for insulting the leaders, 

for causing racial disharmony; in short, 

for anything under the sun.” 

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad 

Badawi (AP/Lai Seng Sin) 

Anti-ISA activist shaves his head to show 

support for those detained under ISA in 

Kuala Lumpur (Reuters/Zainal Abd Halim) 


Halt the practice of using national se - 

curity legislation to censor journalists. 

Respect the right of journalists to 

practice their profession without fear 

of attack or harassment. 

Stop withholding or threatening 

to suspend publishing licences, as a 

means of exercising editorial control.

NOTES FROM THE FIELD : MALAYSIA : NOTES FROM THE FIELD 

RPK on the internet and politics… 

In 1998, when the REFORMASI movement 

first burst onto the scene, there 

were 280,000 internet subscribers against 

8 million registered voters. On 8 March 

2008, there were about 14 million internet 

subscribers against 11 million registered 

voters. The internet is probably the 

main source of news for most Malaysians 

who no longer trust the mainstream 

media, especially the young. 

Today, the internet is very much a part 

of politics. It is too late for the government 

to do anything about it. They know they 

can’t beat it, so now they want to join it. 

RPK on former Prime Minister 

Maha thir’s comment that the ISA 

should be used against corrupt 

UMNO mem bers, and not “for some 

writer who writes nonsense.” 

The ISA should not be used against anyone 

– full stop. If we oppose the ISA then 

we must oppose its usage in total. We op - 

pose rape and murder, whether you rape 

and murder our daughters and wives, or 

the daughters and wives of our enemies. 

It can never be right, even if done to our 

enemies. Many want (former PM Maha - 

thir) detained under the ISA for what he 

did when he was prime minister. I disagree. 

No one must be detained without 

trial. It not only goes against natural justice, 

but also against Islamic teachings. 

RPK on public attitudes 

toward the ISA… 

In a poll some years back, more than 80% 

of Malaysians felt there is no freedom of 

speech in Malaysia. They agreed that the 

government is dictatorial, and that the 

ISA is a cruel law. But these same people 

felt that Malaysia needed the ISA to guarantee 

peace and stability. Public dissent 

will not get the ISA abolished. Only a 

change of government will. 

RPK on whether the election results 

are a mandate for reform… 

Interview with Editor 

Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin 

Raja Petra bin Raja Kamarudin is the editor and owner of Malaysia Today, a prominent 

news site. He is well known for his political commentary, and actively supports the opposition 

in Malaysia. Raja Petra has twice been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA), 

first in 2001 alongside other opposition supporters. In September 2008, he was imprisoned 

for two months under the ISA for allegedly insulting Islam. He currently faces several defamation 

charges, which carry prison terms. 

UMNO still refuse to understand the 

rea sons why the ruling coalition did so 

badly in the 8 March 2008 general election. 

UMNO will not change, because 

they do not accept the fact that people 

swung to the opposition because of the 

arrogance of those in power. 

UMNO sees the media, especially the 

alternative media, as the enemy. Ex pect 

tighter laws, not a freer media. Clo ser to 

the next general election there will be a 

massive clampdown to prevent a repetition 

of 8 March 2008. They do not wor ry 

too much about the mainstream or print 

media because they practice heavy selfcensorship. 

Those that don’t, lose their 

licences, which are re newable every year. 

Which comes first in Malaysia, 

political change or press freedom? 

We need a paradigm shift of thinking, a 

mental revolution if you wish. Malaysia’s 

political culture has been one of fear. The 

government puts fear in the hearts of the 

Chinese and Indians that voting for the 

opposition risks another ‘May 13’ – meaning 

race riots. Then they put fear in the 

hearts of the Malays that if UMNO loses 

power they face a bleak future of life as second-class 

citizens. This very old and successful 

strategy of divide and rule goes back 

to long before independence in 1957. 

With press freedom, the truth can 

never be hidden. When the people saw, 

in November 2007, Malays, Chinese and 

Indians walking side-by-side in the 

BERSIH march to the King’s palace, they 

realised different ethnicities can stand as 

brothers and sisters if they want to. 

So, there can be no political change 

without press freedom and there can be 

no press freedom without political chan - 

ge. Both are like peas in a pod. One can’t 

happen without the other. 

RPK on the drive to tell truth 

to power, and his status as a free 

speech icon… 

I suppose I have always been a ‘street’ person 

since when I was a teenager. We re - 

belled against anything that smacks of the 

establishment. I am still the kid I was back 

in the 1960s. My friends call me Hippie 

Tua (Old Hippie). Maybe that is why I do 

what I do. It has become a natural instinct 

for me to go against authority. 

Many do what I do, but I would say 

that most do it out of a sense of duty. It 

is like a moral responsibility. I probably 

do it for the heck of it. I just want to 

oppose. Anyway, show me a government 

that does not deserve opposing. 

The celebrity status is not all ‘good 

news’. The more they turn me into an 

icon the more I am viewed as a threat to 

the government and the more chances I 

have of being sent to jail or of being 

detained without trial. 

RPK on how constant legal 

battles and imprisonment have 

changed him… 

No change. I have not toned down one 

bit or mellowed. It is the same old Raja 

Petra Kamarudin. And I take no shit 

from anyone. 

I still face the prospect of being redetained 

under the ISA if the government 

wins its appeal against my release. I 

also face four other charges with a total 

maximum jail term of 11 years. 

The government can also charge me 

for new criminal offences, this interview 

being one if they want to get me. 

My priorities remain the same. I want 

to eliminate racism and see the birth of 

a two-party system in Malaysia. I also 

want to see abuse of power, corruption, 

manipulation of the judicial system, 

police brutality, and so on, eliminated. 

We need free dom of speech, thought, as - 

sembly and association. We want a transparent 

and accountable government. To 

achieve that, we must speak out without 

fear or favour. There is no other way. 

43

44 

Republic of Maldives by Nayana Jayarajan 

Maldives’ first democratically elected President Mohamed Nasheed speaks at his swearing 

in ceremony in Male. (Reuters/Stringer) 

This year witnessed the end of the 30year-reign 

of President Maumoon 

Abdul Gayoom in November. In a pathbreaking 

election, the people of this tiny 

island nation (population 386,000) cast 

a conclusive vote for change, voting 

Mohammed Nasheed, a former political 

prisoner and journalist, into power. 

Gayoom, who was elected president in 

1978 with a 92.96% majority, remained 

in power for 30 years, winning six “yes/ 

no” referendums with absolute ma jori - 

ties. During his time as president, according 

to Amnesty International, “there were 

severe restrictions on (the) freedom of the 

press, and political parties were unable to 

function.” Gayoom was often accused of 

nepotism, and several of his family members 

held cabinet posts and other important 

positions. In 2003, riots erupted in 

the country, following the killing of a 

The Maldives in brief 

prisoner by prison guards. Gayoom de - 

clared a state of emergency that lasted 

over a month. 

Defamation remains a 

criminal offence in the 

Maldives. Several journalists, 

including the current 

president, have been tried 

and sentenced under this 

clause in the past 

Opposition to Gayoom emerged in 

2001, with the formation of the Mal di - 

vian Democratic Party (MDP). Although 

political parties were permitted by the 

Maldivian constitution, the MDP was 

not allowed to register until 2005, when 

the 50 member Majlis (Council) voted 

Population: 386,000 

Domestic Overview: Located in the Indian Ocean and composed of 26 

atolls, the Maldives became independent in 1965. In 1968, the monarchy was 

abolished and replaced by a republic. From 1978 to 2008, the country was 

governed by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. In 2008, Gayoom was replaced by 

President Mohammed Nasheed, a former political prisoner and journalist. 

Beyond Borders: The Maldives is a member of the Organization of the 

Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). In 2009, 

Maldives will host the 16th annual South Asian Association for Regional 

Cooperation (SAARC) summit. The country is at risk from rising sea levels 

due to global warming. 

A woman cast her vote in the first ever multi 

party democratic presidential elections held 

in Male. (Reuters/Stringer) 

unanimously to allow political parties to 

operate freely. The leader and co-founder 

of the MDP, Mohammed Nasheed, is a 

freelance journalist, and an assistant editor 

of the anti-government paper, Sangu. 

He has been arrested and imprisoned several 

times for critical comments opposing 

government policies on charges that have 

ranged from defamation to withholding 

information, to talking to unauthorized 

people while under house arrest to en - 

dangering the peace and stability of the 

country. In 1996, Amnesty International 

declared Nasheed an “International 

Prisoner of Conscience.” The newspaper 

that he co-founded in 1990 was banned 

after only seven issues for allegedly inciting 

a rift between the government and 

the citizens. 

In October 2008, the Maldives conducted 

the country’s first ever multi-party 

elections. No candidate gained a clear 

majority in the election, but a 54% ma - 

jority in a runoff gave Nasheed the presidency. 

He was sworn into power on 11 

November 2008, the 30th anniversary of 

Gayoom’s reign. 

In another positive development, the 

new constitution of Maldives, ratified in 

August 2008, contains a comprehensive 

clause on the freedom of the media, 

which states, “Everyone has the right to 

freedom of the press, and other means of 

communication, including the right to 

espouse, disseminate and publish news, 

information, views and ideas. No person 

shall be compelled to disclose the source

of any information that is espoused, disseminated 

or published by that person.” 

In October, the Majlis also passed a 

bill on the establishment of a Media 

Coun cil in the Maldives. According to 

the website of the President’s Office, the 

objective of the Maldives Media Council 

shall be “to establish and preserve the 

freedom of media in the Maldives; to 

keep under review matters contravening 

this freedom and taking remedial measures; 

to build up a code of practice and a 

code of conduct for the people working 

in the media; to ensure people working in 

the media behave responsibly and ethically; 

and to conduct inquiries into complaints 

filed with the Council concerning 

abuse of rights.” This bill forms one of 

four media reform bills – on freedom of 

information, broadcasting, media councils 

and press freedom – that have been in 

the works for a number of years now. 

However, it must also be noted that 

much remains to be done to ensure that 

the Maldives is able to attain a truly free 

media. It has been pointed out that the 

Freedom of Information Bill and the 

Broadcasting Bill could be used to control 

the media, since both will invest 

power to oversee the media in a government 

body, rather than an independent 

authority. In the case of the Broadcasting 

Bill, the Information Minister, and not 

the Independent Commission on Broad - 

casting, would be awarded the primary 

power to impose powers on broadcasters. 

This contravenes the international norm, 

which recommends that a body with the 

authority to oversee the media must al - 

ways be independent of the government. 

In addition, defamation remains a 

criminal offence in the Maldives. Several 

journalists, including the current president, 

have been tried and sentenced 

under this clause in the past. It is to be 

hoped that President Nasheed, given his 

personal experience of the consequences 

of government oppression of media persons, 

will take steps to ensure that these 

shortcomings are addressed as early as 

possible. 


Transfer responsibility for the oversight 

of media from the Ministry of 

Information to an independent body 

Decriminalise defamation 

Mongolia by Nayana Jayarajan 

Mongolia’s press freedom record, 

which has seen more or less consistent 

improvement in the last few years, 

suffered a setback in 2008 as a result of 

the chaos that overtook the country during 

the parliamentary elections in June. 

Mongolia conducted legislative elections 

on 29 June, with 356 candidates 

running for 76 seats. A report by Globe 

International, a Mongolian NGO that 

was monitoring the elections, found that, 

“from a mass media perspective, the 

Parliamentary Election of 2008 was held 

under significantly altered conditions as 

compared to previous Elections. Compa - 

ratively increased quantities of broadcasting, 

an established Public Radio and 

Broadcasting System, approved Princi p - 

les of Mongolian Journalists, relatively 

inflexible restricted time on broadcast of 

advertisements that linked to the election, 

and, for the first time, approved 

principles for media employees on re - 

porting the electoral events and an established 

Board of Mass Media meant that 

conditions for the 2008 election deviated 

substantially from previous years.” 

However, when the Mongolian Peop - 

le’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) conve - 

ned a press conference on 30 June to 

announce that they had won with an 

absolute majority, the opposition parties 

Mongolia in brief 

challenged the results, alleging that the 

elections had been rigged. An opposition 

demonstration on 1 July outside the 

MPRP offices quickly turned violent, 

and demonstrators vandalized the building 

before setting fire to it. Riots erupted, 

and at midnight the same day, President 

Nambaryn Enkhbayar declared a state of 

emergency to be in effect for the following 

four days. As part of the crackdown, 

a media blackout was put in place, and 

no television channels excepting those 

run by the state were permitted to function. 

Several journalists questioned the 

legal basis for a media black-out in a state 

of emergency. In fact, the constitution of 

Mongolia explicitly states, “In case of a 

state of emergency or war, the human 

rights and freedoms as defined by the 

Constitution and other laws are subject 

to limitation only by a law” (Article 19). 

However, the Mongolian regime relied 

on a clause within the Law on State of 

Emergency (1995), which provides that 

“in case of an emergency regime, measures 

can be taken to confiscate temporarily, 

to control or to terminate media outlets” 

(Article 16.1.4). It has been noted 

that this provision is very broad, and provides 

opportunities for abuse by the 

authorities. 


Domestic Overview: The Mongol tribes were united in the 13th century 

by Genghis Khan and soon controlled the largest empire in the world. 

Less than a hundred years later, the empire began to disintegrate and by the 

18th century the Mongols were under the control of Manchu China. When 

China’s Qing dynasty collapsed in 1911, Mongolia again became independent. 

In 1924, however, Mongolia became the world’s second communist 

country, and for much of the next 70 years it was a Soviet client state. 

A period of democratic reform was initiated in 1990, following the disinte - 

gration of the Soviet Union. After pro-democracy protests, the Mongolian 

People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) amended the constitution to allow for 

multiparty elections. In 1992, a new constitution was adopted which effectively 

transformed the country into an independent, democratic state. Par - 

liamentary elections were held in 1992, 1996 and 2000. The MPRP has been 

in power from 1992-1996, and from 2000-2008. The MPRP retained power in 

the June 2008 elections among allegations of vote-rigging by the opposition. 

Beyond Borders: In the wake of the collapse of the former Soviet Union, 

Mongolia has been moving away from its former ties to Eastern Europe and 

pursuing a more active role in the East Asian region. Mongolia is seeking 

membership in APEC and became a full participant of the ASEAN Regional 

Forum in 1998. Mongolia also joined the Pacific Economic Cooperation 

Council in 2000. 

45

46 

A man walks past the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party building which was set on fire 

by protesters during clashes in Ulan Bator. (Reuters/Stringer) 

Several journalists were injured in the 

violence that followed the elections. 

Byamba-Ochir B., a photographer with 

the newspaper Unuudur was covering a 

demonstration in front of the MPRP 

building when it escalated into a fullscale 

riot. He suffered serious head 

injuries and was admitted to the Trauma 

Orthopaedic Centre in Ulan Bator, 

where he underwent surgery on an 

epidural haematoma and to remove bone 

fragments lodged in his brain. He 

requires further surgery in a procedure 

that cannot be performed in Mongolia. 

As part of the crackdown, 

a media blackout was 

put in place, and no tele - 

vision channels excepting 

those run by the state were 

permitted to function 

H. Erdenebulgan of the National Ra - 

dio and TV broadcaster was also severely 

injured while covering protests by opposition 

supporters in the capital. A Japa - 

nese journalist working for Fuji TV was 

also attacked. Equipment belonging to 

several media organisations was damaged, 

and the headquarters of the newspapers 

Hummuussiin Amidral, Humuus 

and Unnudriin Mongol were destroyed 

when protesters set fire to the buildings 

in which they were located. 

In another disturbing development, 

Mongolian police demanded that several 

television channels hand over footage 

recorded during the riots so that it could 

be used as evidence against over 700 suspects 

arrested in the course of the State 

of Emergency. The footage was then 

broadcast, unedited, on the state-run television 

channel, which was the only 

media outlet allowed to function during 

the Emer gency. 

According to Barry Lowe, executive 

director of the London-based Centre for 

Conflict Resolution Journalism, quoted 

on the website of the U.S State Depart - 

ment, Mongolia’s media environment has 

shown considerable improvement over 

the past year. He said that this was largely 

thanks to the “efforts by political elites, 

media owners and journalists to develop 

better working relations and to reduce 

points of friction.” 

The political establishment in Mon - 

go lia has, over the past few years, de - 

creased the use of bullying tactics against 

critical media and journalists. However, 

obstacles still remain to be overcome 

before the media in Mongolia can be 

declared truly free. The Constitution of 

Mongolia, as adopted in 1992, guarantees 

the freedom of press to all its citizens 

(Article 16). The Mongolian government 

in 2004 also adopted the Ulaanbaatar 

Declaration, which promises support for 

“an open and transparent society [which] 

encourages the free creation, pursuit and 

flow of information.” Despite these pro - 

mising developments, the press in Mon - 

golia continues to be impeded, specifically 

in the area of access to information. 

Protesters throw stones during clashes in 

Ulan Bator. (Reuters/Zeev Rozen) 

Despite an Action Plan proposed by the 

Mongolian government in 2004 to “provide 

the citizens with rights to access any 

information,” free access to information 

is impeded by the existing legislation on 

state secrets, which make it possible for 

almost anything to be classified as 

“secret.” These restrictions contradict the 

spirit of the Mongolian government’s 

commitment to a free press. 

In addition, defamation continues to 

be a criminal offence in Mongolia, ac - 

cording to Articles 110 and 111 of the 

penal code. Despite a sustained campaign 

launched by Mongolian civil society or - 

ganisations with the support of the U.S 

Embassy in Mongolia, the country has so 

far resisted international pressure to make 

defamation a civil offence, as is customary 

in many democracies. 

Press freedom in Mongolia cannot be 

achieved until the government commits 

to enacting legislation that will bring 

Mon golia’s laws on freedom of expression 

and the media into line, not merely with 

international standards, but also with the 

objectives and ideals that the government 

claims to espouse. 



Enact legislation safeguarding the 

right of media to access information 

Prevent interference from government 

and security forces in media 

functioning

Nepal by Naomi Hunt 

Journalists shout slogans during a protest in front of the parliament gate in Kathmandu. 

(Reuters/Gopal Chitrakar) 

It has been a pivotal year for democracy 

in Nepal. Parliamentary elections 

were held in April this year, and the 

resulting Constituent Assembly began 

meeting in May to draft a new Con sti - 

tution. In June, King Gyanendra officially 

relinquished his throne. 

Unfortunately, changes in government 

have not ameliorated conditions for journalists. 

Physical attacks abound, and im - 

punity remains a problem. As a result, 

many reporters continue to practice ex - 

treme self-censorship on politically sensitive 

topics. 

Preparations for the April elections 

were marred by reports of journalist 

intimidation. IPI Nepal’s Press Freedom 

Monitoring Centre reported 63 different 

press violations just in the two months 

before the vote. Various actors were res - 

ponsible for these attacks, including the 

now-reigning Communist Party of Ne - 

pal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist), the Armed 

Police Force and other political parties 

and armed groups. 

In one instance in April, radio correspondent 

Maya Adhikari was abducted 

by a CPN (Maoist) unit for two hours 

and accused of writing with a pro-Nepali 

Congress (NC) party bias. Madheshi 

People’s Rights Forum (MPRF) members 

are reportedly responsible for an attack 

on an editor in the eastern Morang 

region in February, as well as for beating 

a group of journalists in the Sunsari district 

in late March. On 26 February, the 

Armed Police Force assaulted a group of 

journalists with wooden sticks, reported- 

ly because the reporters had been covering 

police vandalism of local homes. The 

victims required hospitalization. 

During the elections, an international 

mission of press freedom organizations, 

which included IPI representatives, re - 

ported that transportation permits were 

denied to journalists travelling to some 

areas of the country. 

Fortunately, the elections transpired 

largely without violence. The plurality 

was taken by the CPN (Maoist), which 

put their leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal 

(also known as Prachanda) in the premiership. 

Displaying a worrying lack of 

respect for journalism, Prachanda an - 

noun ced in a 30 May victory speech that 

the party would “no longer tolerate criticism,” 

because they had been elected by 

the people. 

Individuals and private organizations 

were also responsible for attacks. In June, 

reporter Mahesh Shrestha was threatened 

by an insurance company owner for re - 

porting on its illegal transactions. Later 

that month, newspaperman Mahendraw 

Luintel was manhandled by the owner of 

an x-ray laboratory. Luintel was looking 

into allegations that some x-ray labs were 

being operated illegally. 

From 27 to 29 June, an IPI Delega - 

tion travelled to Kathmandu to meet 

with local journalists and editors, and to 

convey their main concerns to the country’s 

main political leaders. Media representatives 

stressed the importance of 

enshrining press freedom into the new 

constitution, and urged that an end to 

impunity was also vital, including to 

reduce self-censorship. 

In their discussions with IPI, Pra chan - 

da and spokespersons for two other ma - 

jor parties, the NC and the Communist 

Party of Nepal – United Marxist Leninist 

(CPN-UML), all voiced their strong support 

for press freedom and democratic 

values more generally. 

The continued attacks on journalists 

in the latter half of 2008 were particularly 

disappointing in light of these verbal 

commitments. There were numerous in - 

stances of death threats and intimidation, 

which came from political groups as well 

as other organizations and individuals. 

On 14 July, a group of reported 

“en trepreneurs” in the district of Kailali 

entered the offices of the Hamar Pahura 

daily and Gardener Offset Press, locked 

journalists in the building and verbally 

abused them. On 20 July, newspaper re - 

porters Rajdhan Rai and Kishor Budha - 

thoki were attacked by younger members 

of the Khandbari Yuba Club. They were 

beaten, had their faces painted black, and 

allegedly questioned regarding their coverage 

of an incident involving the club. 

On 22 July, six television correspondents 

and their cameramen were attacked while 

trying to gather information on the De - 

vaki Shrestha case. Shrestha had been 

beaten by her brother-in-law. 

Changes in government 

have not ameliorated conditions 

for journalists 

The journalists were beaten by police 

and suffered light injuries. 

In July, reporters attempting to cover 

public demonstrations were attacked on 

three occasions. On 27 July, news correspondent 

Janak Gautam and camera 

operator Niranjul Kayesthat (Avenues 

Tele vision) were attacked by protesters in 

Kathmandu. Demonstration organizers 

had invited the film crew to cover the 

demonstration, which was organized to 

protest Vice President Jha’s use of Hindi 

while taking the oath of office, but then 

attacked the reporters for coming late. 

Also on 27 July, journalists and Right 

to Information activists, including president 

of the National News Agency (RSS) 

and IPI Nepal General Secretary Tara - 

nath Dahal, were assaulted in the district 

of Bara, as they travelled to Gaur for a 

training session and campaign. 

47

48 

An IPI special report on August violations 

in Nepal detailed 23 press violations 

that month. The IPI Nepal Press Free - 

dom Monitoring Centre and other sour - 

ces reported seven instances of physical 

harassment, eight cases of threats and 

intimidation against journalists, five 

instances of damaged property, one firing 

and the brief detention of 59 journalists. 

On 3 September, IPI and its Press 

Freedom Monitoring Centre reminded 

political leaders of their verbal commitments 

to press freedom and journalist 

safety. But individuals, political parties 

and other groups continued to attack 

journalists and vandalize media offices 

with little sign of government interest in 

protecting the press. 

On 18 October, Sandakpur Daily 

journalist Yabaraj Gautam was reportedly 

beaten up by a local bus driver, after publishing 

a story alleging that local vehicles 

charge more than the public rate. Two 

days later, unknown attackers raided the 

offices of the Terai Times in Janakpur, 

Nepal in Brief 

attacking two staff members and vandalising 

office equipment. 

The vice president of the Federation 

of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), Abadesh 

Jha, and News Today journalist Sanatan 

Mandal were attacked at the Tiffin Room 

Hotel in eastern Nepal on 5 November. 

The reason was unknown. 

On 12 November, journalists Dinesh 

Thapa of FNJ’s Sindhupalchowk chapter 

and Netra Paudel of Sindhu Prabaha 

weekly were attacked by protest organizers 

in Sindhupalchowk district. When 

the journalists arrived to cover the de - 

monstration, they were beaten by protesters 

who reportedly were upset that 

they had not arrived promptly after being 

notified about the event, and because 

they had not published news favourable 

to the protestors. 

November saw a spate of attacks on 

media offices and journalists. On 13 No - 

vember, unknown attackers vandalised a 

regional office of the National News 

Agency (RSS) in Biratnagar. Three days 


Domestic Overview: Nepal’s monarchy experimented with democracy as 

early as 1950, and in 1990, the country became a parliamentary democracy 

headed by a constitutional monarch. The country saw a string of short-term 

governments throughout the 1990s. 

A violent Maoist insurgency, which ultimately took over 13,000 lives, emerged 

in 1996. Peace talks repeatedly failed, and prompted strong reactions by 

King Gyanendra, culminating in a 2005 state of emergency that included a 

temporary suspension of the majority of fundamental rights and the replacement 

of the Cabinet with a Council of Ministers. 

Massive demonstrations, joined by the Maoists, forced the king to reinstate 

parliament in April 2006. More promising cease-fire agreements were soon 

reached with the insurgents. By January 2007, an interim parliament, which 

included Maoist representatives, was put in place, and an interim constitution 

endorsed. It was soon followed by an interim Council of Ministers. 

The country’s historic Constitution Assembly election was held on 10 April of 

this year, and brought most votes for the Maoist party, the Communist Party 

of Nepal (Maoist). The Nepali Congress Party and the Communist Party of 

Nepal-United Marxist Leninist also made strong showings. The country’s new 

President Ram Baran Yadav was elected in July. Maoist leader Pushpa Kumal 

Dahal, also know as Prachanda, was elected as Prime Minister on 15 August. 

Beyond Borders: The foreign policy of Nepal, the“yam between two rocks”, 

has long been dominated by relations with its powerful neighbours, India 

and the People’s Republic of China. Prachanda ruffled feathers when he 

visited China before travelling to India upon taking office, but soon reaffirmed 

his interest in strong relations with both countries. His approach has 

unsettled the many Tibetan refugees living in the country, whose protests 

against Chinese rule prompted strong reactions by Nepal’s police force 

throughout the year. 

later, the offices of Himal Khabar Patrika 

magazine were burnt down in Kathman - 

du. According to reports, eight to ten 

people entered the property at around 

9:45pm, burned 5,000 copies of the ma - 

gazine, and stole and vandalized telephones. 

On 17 November, several people at - 

tacked the editor and publisher of Nuwa - 

kot Jagaran weekly, Shiva Devkota, who 

had been participating in a public awareness 

campaign organized by the NC. His 

right hand was reportedly severely inju - 

red. The string of incidents continued the 

next day, when the regional bureau office 

of Avenues Television was attacked by a 

group led by Bishnu Prasad Sharma. The 

leader said he was from the Khumbuwan 

National Front (KRM) district committee 

in Sunsari province, where the attack 

took place. The assaulters threatened two 

journalists, attacked an office assistant 

and threatened to attack the office with 

bombs. FNJ believes the TV office was 

attacked because the station had been 

collecting information on a land dispute 

complaint involving the KRM Sunsari 

committee. 

Individuals, political 

parties and other groups 

continued to attack journalists 

and vandalize media 

offices with little sign 

of government interest in 

protecting the press 

On 28 November, missing reporter 

Jagat Joshi’s clothing and other possessions 

were found in a forest near Attariva. 

Freedom Forum reported that scattered 

skeletal remains were also found. Joshi, of 

the national daily Janadisha, had been 

missing since 8 October. He had gone to 

the town of Attariva and had planned to 

visit Kathmandu, but never returned 

home. According to FNJ, his family suspects 

that he was killed by two brothers 

involved in the illegal trade of tiger skins, 

although they may have been aided by 

“political forces” that received pointed 

criticism in Joshi’s stories. 

December brought several more 

threats against journalists, including two 

reporters from the daily Kantipur. Also, 

the offices of two newspapers in Naya 

Bazaar were vandalized by unidentified

Nepal Communist Party Maoist leader 

Prachanda talks to journalists regarding the 

forthcoming Constituent Assembly elections 

in Kathmandu. (Reuters/Deepa Shrestha) 

individuals who damaged furniture and 

destroyed documents. Then, the head of 

the Young Communists League referenced 

the attack on the Himal office 

when warning Kantipur publications that 

it was next. 

These incidents underscored the 

strug gles that lie ahead. Encouragingly, 

on 28 December, the FNJ and the government 

signed a ten point agreement in 

which the government explicitly agreed 

to a commitment in the Constituent As - 

sembly to safeguard press freedom and 

journalist safety. The agreement also calls 

for a special bureau within the Infor ma - 

tion and Communications Ministry to 

investigate press freedom violations. 


End impunity by vigorously investigating 

and prosecuting physical attacks 

against journalists 

Enshrine broad protection for press 

freedom in the new constitution 

Promote dialogue with government, 

law enforcement and the public to 

deepen their understanding of the 

media’s role in democratic societies 

Mission 

Press Freedom in Nepal 

Members of the June 2008 IPI Mission to Nepal N. Ravi, editor of the Indian daily, 

The Hindu and Taranath Dahal, General Secretary of the IPI Nepal National Committee, 

meet with Nepal’s Prime Minister Prachanda 

With Constituent Assembly elections 

scheduled for April 2008, 

Nepal became the focus of considerable 

attention by the international community. 

IPI joined two international missions 

in connection with the landmark event, 

and conducted a separate mission soon 

thereafter. 

Pushing for Fair Elections 

The International Press Freedom and 

Free dom of Expression Mission to Nepal 

brought 12 international organisations to 

the country from 14 to 17 January. IPI 

joined UN agencies, global media associations, 

freedom of expression advocates 

and media development organisations to 

voice concerns about continuing press 

freedom violations and emphasize the 

importance of impartial and independent 

media coverage, particularly for free and 

fair elections. 

Members of the international mission 

spoke with government ministers, political 

party leaders, community leaders and 

the security forces during their visit. IPI 

Deputy Director Michael Kudlak represented 

IPI. 

A report from the international mission 

members clarified the challenging 

context in which the elections were to 

take place. It emphasized that harassment 

and impunity were widespread, noting, 

for example, that the Federation of 

Nepali Journalists recorded 652 incidents 

of press freedom violations between April 

2006 and December 2007. 

The mission therefore particularly en - 

couraged leaders to publicize measures to 

ensure journalist safety. Addressing the 

country’s media, the international mission 

urged publications to provide independent 

and impartial coverage of the 

elections, noting with concern reported 

cases of hate-speech and violence-promoting 

content. 

It also announced that it would send 

a short-term observation team to Nepal 

dur ing the elections to focus on the me - 

dia situation. 

Organisations participating in the 

January 2008 mission included ARTI- 

CLE 19, Hirondelle Foundation, the 

International Federation of Journalists 

(IFJ), International Media Support 

(IMS), the International Press Institute 

(IPI), Internews, Reporters Without Bor - 

ders (RSF), the Open Society Institute 

(OSI), UNESCO, the World Associat 

ion of Community Radio Broadcasters 

(AMARC) and the World Press Freedom 

Committee (WPFC). It was greatly assis - 

ted by the Federation of Nepali Journa l - 

ists and other national organisations that 

prepared and hosted the visit. 

49

50 

IPI Mission delegates meet with numerous local editors and journalists 

Monitoring Elections 

The International Press Freedom and 

Freedom of Expression Mission returned 

to Nepal to monitor the election, sending 

monitors to both Kathmandu and multiple 

regional districts, including Surkhet, 

Morang and Kavre. IFJ, IMS, INSI, 

Inter news, RSF and IPI joined this second 

international mission. Chiranjibi 

Kafle, of the IPI Nepal Press Freedom 

Monitoring Centre, represented IPI. 

A report from the inter - 

national mission members 

clarified the challenging 

context in which the elections 

were to take place 

With elections mostly peaceful, the 

international mission reported largely 

positive news. But it also noted incidents 

that prompted concern, such as locali - 

sed difficulties in obtaining press and 

vehicle passes, restricting journalist ac - 

cess; the sei zure of journalist documentation; 

and uncooperative officials with 

respect to a par ticular incident of preelection 

violence. 

Confronting the Election 

Aftermath 

The elections brought the most votes 

for the Communist Party of Nepal (Mao - 

ist), an unsettling development in light of 

the often hostile attitude of its Chairman, 

Pushpa Kamal Dahal (also known as Pra - 

chanda), towards the media. The result 

prompted an IPI Delegation to travel to 

Kathmandu from 27 to 29 June, to call 

on all main governmental leaders to take 

active steps to improve Nepal’s media 

environment in the newly democratic 

country. The IPI delegation included N. 

Ravi, editor of the Indian daily, The 

Hindu; Uta Melzer, IPI Press Freedom 

Manager; IPI Nepal Press Freedom 

Moni toring Centre Director Chiranjibi 

Kafle; and IPI Nepal members Taranath 

Da hal, Babita Basnet, and Manju Mishra. 

In a meeting with over 20 editors, 

leading journalists, faculty members from 

various media institutions, and the 

Chair man of the Nepal Press Council, 

the representatives of Nepal’s media community 

outlined various issues affecting 

the local media. 

Two main concerns emerged: 1) the 

importance of ensuring that the rights to 

freedom of speech and of press freedom 

would be enshrined in the country’s new 

Constitution, in a manner consistent with 

prevailing international standards, and 2) 

tackling impunity to reduce widespread 

self-censorship by journalists fearing for 

their safety. 

Although participants indicated that 

attacks were carried out by a variety of 

actors, the Maoists were identified as having 

carried out many of the attacks, especially 

at the local level. In addition, the 

Maoist leadership’s public statements 

regarding press freedom also caused considerable 

concern. 

Some participants also voiced dissatisfaction 

with highly-politicized reporting 

that could be considered neither independent 

nor fair. Several noted that professional 

training for journalists, stressing 

objectivity, thorough reporting, and 

complete fact-checking, would be beneficial. 

But participants agreed that courageous 

and independent reporting was still 

carried out by some, and despite great 

risks. A strong desire to protect and ex - 

tend the space for independent reporting 

was evident among the group. 

The IPI delegation then met with 

several leading politicians to convey the 

concerns expressed by the media representatives. 

The first meeting was with Prachanda, 

whose response was quite positive. He 

asserted that the Maoists were committed 

to both democracy and press freedom. 

Prachanda voiced support for strong legal 

provisions for the right to press freedom, 

and for ensuring journalist safety. As for 

attacks carried out by Maoists, Prachanda 

emphasized that these were local incidents 

occurring during the insurgency, 

and that these did not come at the direction 

of the central leadership. 

Prachanda added that the press had 

played a valuable role in building pub - 

lic opinion against the monarchy and 

feudalism. He also emphasized that he 

would continue to work towards convincing 

both the Nepalese public and the 

international community of his party’s 

commitment to multi-party democracy 

and democratic rights. 

The delegation’s second meeting was 

with Arjun Narasingha, K.C., Joint Gen - 

e ral Secretary and Spokesperson of the 

Nepali Congress Party. Mr. Narasingha 

emphasized his party’s historical role both 

as a strong supporter of freedom of the 

press, and voiced some scepticism as to 

whether the Maoists would truly embrace 

democratic ways.

The Constitution-drafting process was 

already a cause for concern, he added, 

with Maoists raising points such as the 

importance of “democratizing the judiciary,” 

which was seen as an effort to bring 

judicial institutions under their control. 

Therefore, it would be important to evaluate 

not just verbal commitments, but to 

review actual actions. 

Prachanda voiced support 

for strong legal provisions 

for the right to press 

freedom, and for ensuring 

journalist safety 

Mr. Narasingha further indicated that 

the impunity enjoyed by culprits in the 

past partly had to do with the fact that 

the minister responsible for security, a 

Nepali Congress nominee, was “soft” on 

Maoists during the peace process given 

the importance of negotiations to include 

the party in a democratic Nepal. 

The delegation’s third meeting was 

with Mr. Ishwar Pokharel, Member, 

Standing Committee and Chief of Pub - 

licity of the Communist Party of Nepal 

(UML). Mr. Pokharel noted that, in the 

near future, all parties represented in the 

Constituent Assembly had the difficult 

task of finding common ground. He 

asserted that the UML would promote 

targeting impunity as one possible issue 

regarding which consensus could be 

found. 

These strong verbal commitments to 

press freedom made by the political leaders 

presented an encouraging first step in 

the country’s transition to democracy. It 

remains to be seen, however, whether 

concrete action will follow these statements. 

Dialogue 

for a Free Media 

IPI Nepal Press Freedom Monitoring Centre 

pushes progress by documenting violations 

and promoting increased understanding between 

media and government 

With the country moving towards historic Constituent Assembly elec tions in 

April, IPI Headquarters worked closely with the IPI Nepal National Com - 

mittee (“IPI Nepal”) to set up the IPI Press Freedom Monitoring Centre (the 

“Centre”) in Kathmandu on 12 February. Initially supported by funds from the 

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Centre was established to 

monitor the status of press freedom during the run-up to the elections and the 

nation’s subsequent constitution-drafting process. It also aims to increase awareness, 

both locally and internationally, about press freedom violations occurring in Nepal, 

and about the importance of press freedom in the country’s democratisation process. 

The Centre is governed by IPI Nepal, including President Padma Singh Karki, 

Vice-President Babita Basnet, General Secretary Taranath Dahal and Treasurer 

Khildhoj Thapa. Chiranjibi Kafle led the Centre’s activities as Director in its first 

year. Ramhari Dulal contributed as photographer and assistant. 

The Centre’s monitoring efforts soon demonstrated a clear and troubling pattern. 

In the first few months following the elections, supporters of the Com mu n ist 

Party of Nepal (Maoist), which had garnered the most votes, were responsib-le for 

a majority of attacks against the media (see graph). Coupled with hostile comments 

from the party’s Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, this 

triggered great unease amongst the country’s journalists. 

Prompted in part by this realization, IPI sent a delegation to Nepal on an 

advocacy mission in late June. With the strong support of both IPI Nepal and the 

Centre’s staff, IPI secured meetings with high-level officials from all main parties, 

including Prachanda, who would soon be come the country’s Prime Minister. 

The resulting verbal commitments to me dia freedom and journalist safety contrasted 

sharply with earlier rhetoric, and brought some hope for positive change. 

Sadly, subsequent developments in stead underscored the challenges that lie 

ahead, as attacks on journalists increased notably in August and November. The 

Centre’s efforts have become even more vital in light of this setback. In 2009, its 

emphasis is expected to shift towards creating opportunities for much-needed dialogue 

between media representatives and high-level policy makers. Sustained and 

open dialogue is crucial for a deepening appreciation of the media’s role in democratic 

society, and so for journalists’ ability to carry out their work without a constant 

threat of violence. 

51

52 

North Korea by Nayana Jayarajan 

A North Korean soldier looks at a group 

of journalists in the demilitarized zone in 

Paju. (Reuters/Lee Jae-Won) 

North Korea remains a highly restricted 

society, shut off from the world 

behind barriers of censorship and intimidation. 

With a repressive dictatorship in 

near-complete control of the media, 

North Korea continues to boast the worst 

press freedom record in the world. 

The North Korean State is deliberately 

designed to be a mystery to outsiders, 

according to Andrei Lankov, an associate 

professor at Kookmin University, Seoul. 

Kim Jong-Il, the leader of the Demo - 

cratic People’s Republic of Korea (and 

Chairman of the National Defence 

Commission, Supreme Commander of 

the Korean People’s Army, and General 

Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea), 

has followed a policy of “self-reliance” 

and isolation, which depends heavily on a 

media blackout within the country, and a 

clampdown on all information leaving 

the country. 

Despite Jong-Il’s keen interest in film 

and the media – he is rumoured to have 

a collection of over 20,000 films – the 

people of his country are denied access to 

any information that is not vetted by the 

government’s propaganda machine. The 

only two official North Korean dailies 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il visits a library in the northern Jagang province, 

north of North Korean capital Pyongyang (Reuters/KCNA) 

that are available overseas, Nodong Sin - 

mum and Minju Choson, are dedicated to 

the praise of the “Dear Leader”, as Jong- 

Il is called, and make no mention of the 

appalling human rights record of his government, 

or of the fact that while he and 

his officials are believed to spend millions 

of dollars on personal luxuries, millions 

of people in the country are forced to 

supplement their diets with weeds and 

tree bark. 

The regime is cracking 

down on unbiased information 

entering the 

country, and has allegedly 

issued death threats against 

the journalists involved 

The people of North Korea have very 

limited access to media from outside the 

country. Radios in the country are locked, 

so that they can only be used to tune into 

state-sponsored broadcasts, which are 

propaganda at best. However, with in - 

creasing numbers of radios being brought 

into the country from China, more 

North Koreans are tuning into independent 

radio stations like Free North Korea 

Radio, Voice of America, Open Radio for 

North Korea, Radio Free Asia and Radio 

Free Chosun. Radio Free NK, a dissident 

radio station run from Seoul by a North 

Korean defector, depends on clandestine 

reporting by North Korean journalists 

and citizens for its stories. Although its 

creator reports that the number of listeners 

is increasing, the regime is cracking 

down on unbiased information entering 

the country, and has allegedly issued 

death threats against the journalists 

involved. 

At the same time, North Korean officials 

routinely go to great lengths to 

ensure that no information leaves the 

country. Japanese media, which remains 

one of the most prolific sources of information 

about North Korea, frequently 

issues conflicting reports. For instance, in 

the same week in October, newspapers in 

Japan reported that Kim Jong-Il had, variously, 

died, been paralysed following a 

stroke, and seen rebuking some soccer 

players for the length of their hair. 

Foreign journalists who are allowed into 

the country (usually from China and

Russia) are closely monitored. During the 

North-South talks in 2007, only 50 

South Korean journalists, and a handful 

of international journalists, were allowed 

into the country to cover the negotiations. 

Most of the information available 

to the world regarding North Korea 

comes via defectors who have fled the 

oppressive regime and bring with them 

horrific details of prison and detention 

camps where hundreds of thousands of 

people are imprisoned. 

In the absence of independent media, 

and recognising that information is one 

of the most powerful tools of resistance, 

some groups continue to attempt to provide 

North Korean news to the world. 

Charities working with defectors publish 

regular newsletters detailing the accounts 

of persons who have escaped the regime. 

The DailyNK is an online newspaper 

specialising in North Korean news and 

has correspondents in the Chinese border 

cities of Dandong and Shenyang. 

In the near-complete absence of any 

independent media within the country, 

South Korean NGOs have begun to float 

leaflets in balloons across the border. In 

response, North Korean authorities told 

the people that the leaflets were radioactive 

and would cause blindness if 

touched. 


Allow independent media 

Open the doors to foreign journalists 

End draconian restrictions on 

international radio and television 

broadcasts 

North Korea in brief 

Pakistan by Nayana Jayarajan 

Journalists paid a heavy price for operating 

in Pakistan’s conflict-ridden and 

often lawless regions. Several lost their 

lives in the Federally Administered Tribal 

Areas (FATA) and the North West Fron - 

tier Province (NWFP), where the gov - 

ernment maintains tenuous control. The 

militant stronghold of the Swat valley 

alone claimed the lives of at least three 

journalists in 2008. 

Among the victims was Sira Juddin of 

The Nation, who was killed in a suicide 

bombing in Mingora in the Swat valley 

on 29 February. He was covering the funeral 

of a police officer when the attack, 

which claimed 40 lives in total, took 

place. Two other journalists were woun - 

ded in the attack: Hazrat Bilal of the local 

newspaper Shawal; and Munawar Afridi 

of the English-language Dawn. 

On 22 May, Mohammed Ibrahim, of 

Express TV and the Daily Express, was 

gunned down by unknown assailants in 

the Bajaur tribal area of the NWFP. The 

journalist was returning by motorcycle 

from an interview with local Taliban spokesman 

Maulvi Omar. On 29 August, 

Abdul Aziz Shaheen, a reporter with 

Azadi, was killed when a Pakistani air - 

strike hit the Taliban hideout where he 

was held after being abducted by militants 

two days earlier. The Pakistan Press 

Foundation reported that the Taliban had 

been angered by reports Shaheen had 

written about their activities. 

On 8 November, Mohammed Shoaib, 

also of Azadi, was shot by security forces 

in the valley as he returned home from 

work. Security forces alleged that the 

shooting had been a “mistake.” Shoaib’s 

vehicle prominently displayed his press 


Domestic Overview: North Korea is easily the most censored society in 

the world. The Workers’ Party of Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong-Il, 

has long pursued a policy of “Juche”, which translates as self-reliance. 

North Korea has the fourth-largest military in the world. 

Beyond Borders: Risking arrest, imprisonment, and deportation, tens of 

thousands of North Koreans cross into China to escape famine, economic 

privation, and political oppression. On 19 September 2005, North Korea was 

promised fuel aid and various other non-food incentives from South Korea, 

the U.S., Japan, Russia, and China in exchange for abandoning its nuclear 

weapons programme and rejoining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. 

North Korea began the discharge of spent fuel rods in December 2007, 

but it has not provided a declaration of its nuclear programmes. 

accreditation. In Mianwali, part of the 

FATA, six armed men dragged reporter 

Abdul Razzak Johra of Royal TV from his 

home in the Mianwali district of Punjab 

and shot him, according to the Pakistan 

Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). The 

attack came a day after his report on local 

drug trafficking was aired nationally. 

Colleagues said Razzak, 45, who had 

done earlier reports on the drug trade, 

had received threats telling him to stop 

covering the issue. 

On 3 August, the president of the Tri - 

bal Union of Journalists (TUJ), Khayal 

Zaman Afridi, suffered gunshot wounds 

in an attack in the FATAT town of Bara. 

In Waziristan, the Taliban issued threats 

against four journalists, warning them to 

give up their professions. 

International journalists 

were not immune from 

the dangers of reporting 

in Pakistan this year 

On 29 December, in FATA town of 

Bajaur, the Taliban issued a fatwa calling 

for the death of two reporters, Anwarul - 

lah Khan and Irfanullah Jan, alleging that 

they were “western agents.” In a separate 

incident in Bajaur, the Khar Press Club 

was damaged by a rocket-propelled gre - 

nade on 13 December. 

In Balochistan, the largest province in 

the country, Chishti Mujahid, a columnist 

for Akbar-e-Jahan, was killed by an 

unknown gunman on 9 February. A 

spokesman for the banned insurgent 

group, the Baluch Liberation Army, 

claimed responsibility in a phone call to 

the Quetta Press Club, saying Mujahid 

was “against” the Baluch cause, local 

news reports said. Khadim Hussain 

Sheikh, of Sindh TV, was killed by un - 

identified gunmen on 14 April in the 

town of Hub in Balochistan, about 30 

km north of Karachi. The victim’s brother 

said three men on motorbikes carried 

out the shooting. 

On 20 October, a bomb attack targeted 

the offices of five local newspapers, in - 

cluding the Awam daily in Quetta. There 

were several injuries but not deaths. 

Also in troubled Balochistan, Hasan 

Abdullah, an anchor and reporter for 

Paki stan‘s leading television channel 

Dawn News, was detained for six hours 

by officers of an intelligence agency on 

53

54 

A wounded Japanese journalist lies in an 

ambulance outside a hospital in Islamabad. 

(Reuters/Ahmad Masood) 

26 August and was released after being 

interrogated. The journalist was being 

questioned in regard to a 2007 interview 

he conducted with the slain head of the 

Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), 

Balach Marri. 

International journalists were not 

immune from the dangers of reporting in 

Pakistan this year. A Japanese journalist 

and his Afghan colleague were shot and 

wounded on 14 November in Peshawar, 

the capital of the NWFP. Motoki Yot - 

sukura, the Islamabad bureau chief for 

Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper, and 

Afghan journalist Sami Yousufzai, a correspondent 

for Newsweek magazine, were 

attacked by three gunmen in the Pe sha - 

war neighbourhood of Hayatabad. 

Khadija Abdul Qahar, a Canadian 

pub lisher of a web magazine, and two of 

her Pakistani colleagues were kidnapped 

on 11 November in the tribal areas of 

Pakistan where she was gathering materi- 

Pakistan In Brief 

al for a documentary. According to press 

reports, Qahar was travelling in a taxi to 

the town of Miramshah, in the NWFP, 

when unidentified armed men kidnapped 

her along with her translator and 

guide. Qahar, who was previously known 

as Beverly Giesbrecht, had embraced 

Islam after the 11 September 2001 

attacks in the United States and called 

herself a supporter of the Taliban. The 

last entry on her website, http://www. 

jihadunspun.com was an appeal for funds 

to leave Pakistan. 

Wiqar Kiyani, a journalist working for 

Britain’s Guardian newspaper, was kidnapped 

on 6 July from his home in Isla - 

mabad. He was released a few days later, 

and was directed not to speak about the 

incident. 

In the urban centres, intimidation by 

the judiciary and political figures compounded 

the problems faced by journalists. 

On 12 October, Farhan Somroo, a 


Domestic Overview: Formed from the division of British India in 1947, 

Pakistan is a Muslim state that has seen decades of internal political 

disputes. Mounting public dissatisfaction with President Pervez Musharraf, 

coupled with the assassination of the prominent and popular political 

leader, Benazir Bhutto, in late 2007, led to the election of Asif Ali Zardari 

as president in 2008. 

Beyond Borders: Pakistan and India have been at odds since the partition 

62 years ago. Despite promising developments in recent years, India has 

blamed Pakistan-based militants for the deadly Mumbai attacks in November. 

The nuclear-armed neighbours remain locked in a long-running dispute 

over the status of Kashmir. Pakistan is also struggling to control Islamic 

militants in the tribal areas adjacent to the border with Afghanistan – an issue 

that has soured relations with the United States. 

Muhammedd Suleman, a cameraman working for Pakistan’s Geo television network, poses 

for a photo in Dera Ismael Khan. (Reuters/Mustansar Baloch) 

cameraman for Aaj TV, was shot at while 

reporting on a clash between rival student 

factions at a college in Karachi. Five 

journalists were attacked on 9 April and 

their cameras were destroyed while they 

attempted to cover the incidents of violence 

that erupted in Karachi. On March 

13, cameramen and journalists were 

attacked and beaten while reporting on a 

demonstration organised by the women’s 

movement of the Mohjir Quami Move - 

ment (MQM-H) outside the Karachi 

Press Club, according to the PFUJ. A 

media driver was taken hostage by armed 

protesters, who warned journalists not to 

broadcast video footage. 

There was also official sanctions me - 

ted out against the media. On 12 May, 

the Pakistan Supreme Court issued an 

order restraining the media from reporting 

anything “derogatory” about the 

judiciary. 

Pakistan’s draconian media restrictions 

are a legacy of the nation’s chaotic political 

environment. Two decrees were adop - 

ted barring the publishing or broadcasting 

of “anything which defames or brings 

into ridicule the head of state, or members 

of the armed forces, or executive, 

legislative or judicial organ of the state.” 

The print and electronic media were also 

restrained from publishing any material 

likely to “jeopardize or be prejudicial to 

the ideology of Pakistan or the sovereignty, 

integrity or security of Pakistan, or any 

material that is likely to incite violence or 

hatred or create inter-faith disorder or be 

prejudicial to maintenance of law and 

order.” Television discussions of anything 

deemed “false or baseless” by the regulatory 

authorities were also banned.

Television channels in Pakistan are 

over seen by the Pakistan Electronic 

Media regulatory Authority (PEMRA), 

which in 2008 promulgated a “voluntary” 

code of conduct for television 

broadcasters. The code, among other 

things, bans the broadcast of any programme 

that “contains material which is 

against the ideology of Pakistan or Isla - 

mic values,” “contains aspersions against 

the Judiciary and integrity of the Armed 

Forces of Pakistan” and “maligns or slanders 

any individual in person or certain 

groups, segments of social, public and 

moral life of the country.” 

Pakistan’s draconian media 

restrictions are a legacy 

of the nation’s chaotic 

political environment 

According to Human Rights Watch, 

on 6 February cable operators took the 

private Aaj TV off the cable network in 

Punjab province for almost 12 hours, 

allegedly on orders from PEMRA. 

Nusrat Javeed, one of the six journalists 

banned from appearing on television, 

told Human Rights Watch that the move 

was triggered by his appearance on “Live 

with Talat,” a talk show that was broadcast 

after being recorded and vetted by an 

internal censor committee to ensure that 

there are no violations of the PEMRA 

code. 

Pakistan held hotly contested presidential 

and parliamentary elections in 

2008, and several bills were presented in 

Parliament that would repeal some of the 

country’s draconian media laws. But even 

if restrictions are eased and media freedoms 

are respected, journalists still face 

perils covering some of the country’s 

tumultuous regional conflicts. 


Repeal the Pakistan Electronic Media 

Regulatory Authority Amendment 

of 2007 and the Press, Newspapers, 

News Agencies and Books Registration 

Ordinance Amendment of 2007 

Commit to prosecuting offences 

against media freedom 

Philippines by Naomi Hunt 

It was a rocky year for press freedom in 

the Philippines. As in previous years, 

the strength, diversity and vibrancy of 

Philippine civil society come in stark 

contrast to an entrenched culture of 

impunity and government corruption. 

In a country in which press freedom is 

often disregarded, especially by those in 

power, it was a welcome development 

when courts denied Jose Miguel “Mike” 

Arroyo’s second and third attempts to 

have a class action suit against him dismissed. 

In two decisions, released in 

January and September, courts denied 

the validity of numerous appeals. In the 

Philippines, high officials and their family 

members often prolong or dismiss 

legitimate cases against themselves on the 

basis of technicalities and loopholes. 

Mike Arroyo, President Gloria Maca - 

pa gal Arroyo’s husband, has become well 

known for his sensitivity towards press 

coverage. Since Arroyo took office in 

2001, her husband has privately filed 11 

libel suits against 46 members of the 

press. Thirty-six journalists and several 

press freedom groups filed a class action 

suit in December 2006 to the sum of 

US$ 264,600, claiming that Arroyo’s 

numerous libel suits were an abuse of his 

right to litigate and constituted an attack 

on press freedom. The Court of Appeals 

called Arroyo’s latest petition “without 

merit,” lifted a writ of preliminary 

injunction and told trial courts to continue 

with the hearing. 

Journalists continue to be 

murdered, and their killers 

usually escape justice 

In the Philippines, libel is a criminal 

offence punishable with prison sentences. 

Combined with an often corrupt judiciary, 

the law represents a serious threat to 

press freedom. In a move welcomed by 

advocacy groups, Philippines Supreme 

Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno issued 

a January circular urging judges to im - 

pose fines instead of prison terms as a 

penalty for libel. However, dissenting 

con stitutionalists say that Puno is overstepping 

his authority. 

Action taken against journalists ac - 

cused of libel is often unnecessarily harsh. 

On 5 June, The Daily Tribune reporter 

Ninez Cacho-Olivares was found guilty 

of libel for an article she wrote alleging 

Philippine President Arroyo smiles during an 

interview with journalist at the presidential 

palace in Manila. (Reuters/Ho New) 

corruption in a 2003 contract-bidding 

deal. She will serve six months to four 

years in prison, and must pay US$ 

113,480 in damages. 

In a worrisome case, the wishes of a 

powerful official may have overruled a 

court decision in a defamation case. In 

May, radio commentator Alexander 

“Alex” Adonis was still in prison, despite 

a court order for his release on parole, 

and despite the fact that he had posted 

bail for a separate libel case he was facing. 

Adonis was jailed for libel on 26 January 

2007 after being convicted in a case filed 

against him in October 2001 by House 

Speaker Prospero Nograles. Adonis, 

along with several other commentators, 

had broadcast a story alleging that No - 

grales was seen running naked through a 

Manila hotel, after his paramour’s husband 

caught them together. He currently 

faces a new libel charge filed by the 

alleged paramour, who is herself a broadcaster. 

Happily, fellow journalist Jun 

Digamon, also charged with libel for 

reporting on the scandal, was acquitted 

in late October, following a seven year 

battle. 

While criminal defamation is a problem, 

impunity remains the most serious 

concern in the Philippines. Journalists 

con tinue to be murdered, and their 

killers usually escape justice. 

The provinces are famously corrupt, 

and business and politics share close, 

even familial, ties. When a journalist ex - 

poses corrupt or illegal activities, it is 

apparently often simpler to have the jour- 

55

56 

nalist murdered than to pursue justice 

through legal channels. Complicity and 

corruption within the court system permit 

powerful individuals to harm, harass 

and kill with impunity. Several 2008 

court cases prove that justice often re - 

mains elusive even years after a crime has 

been committed. 

In the case of murdered investigative 

journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat, who 

was killed in front of her children in 

2005, three gunmen were tried and sentenced 

to life imprisonment. However, 

the masterminds are still at large. Sus - 

pected Department of Agriculture officials 

Estray Sabay and Osmena Montaner 

had managed to avert the trial on the 

basis of various legal technicalities, but 

murder charges were finally filed on 20 

October. An arrest warrant was issued for 

the two men in February, but they 

remain free as the result of a preliminary 

injunction; the prosecution says arrest 

warrants may soon be issued. 

Death threats are a 

frequent and often effective 

form of censorship 

A welcome development came in the 

case of journalist Cirse “Choy” Torralba, 

who survived a murder attempt on 8 June 

2004. John Lloyd Ortiz was sentenced on 

31 March to 12 years in prison, and 

ordered to pay US$ 3,880 in damages, 

for the attempted murder of Torralba. 

This is a rare instance: the National 

Union of Journalists of the Philippines 

(NUJP) record as many as 91 murders of 

members of the media in the last 20 

years. This high number has resulted in 

only four convictions, with eight investigations 

still ongoing. 

In this dangerous environment, death 

threats are a frequent and often effective 

form of censorship, with numerous cases 

reported this year (and even more, certainly, 

unreported). Meanwhile, journalists, 

in particular radio broadcasters, are 

murdered with impunity. 

On 7 April, Benefredo Acabal, publi - 

sher and columnist for The Filipino News - 

men, was shot five times at close range in 

the city of Pasig. Acabal, who was at - 

tacked by an unknown gunman, died on 

the way to hospital. It is unclear whether 

he was targeted because of his work. 

Released Philippine television journalist Ces Drilon gestures as she answers media 

question during a news conference at the airport in Manila. (Reuters/Cheryl Ravelo) 

In another slaying of a journalist, 

Robert “Bert” Sison was shot dead by 

unknown gunmen while driving home on 

30 June. The reporter and broadcaster 

was driving in his car with his two adult 

daughters, who worked at the same weekly 

paper, the Regional Bulletin. Sison’s eldest 

daughter, Liwayway, was wounded in 

the arm. Her younger sister, Amirah, 

escaped by pretending to be dead. 

In separate incidents, two broadcasters 

from Radio Mindanao Network were 

killed on 4 and 7 August, respectively. 

Anchorman Dennis Cuesta was ambu - 

shed and shot in General Santos City, 

Mindanao, on 4 August, and died three 

days later. On 7 August, Martin Roxas, 

the programme director for a sister sta- 

Philippines In Brief 

tion, was shot dead by a gunman on a 

motorcycle. Both men were known for 

their analysis of local politics. 

On 17 November, Radyo Natin broadcaster 

Aresio Padrigao was shot dead by a 

motorcycle gunman while dropping off 

his daughter in front of Bukidnon State 

University. The Gingoog City journalist 

anchored a weekly news programme that 

criticised local government corruption. 

He had reportedly received death threats 

prior to his murder. 

On 2 December, another Radyo Na - 

tin broadcaster, Leonilo Mila, was murdered 

while leaving the radio station 

compound in San Roque. His colleagues 

eventually found his body in an empty 

lot near the gate. Mila had been shot six 


Domestic Overview: The Philippines has been independent since 1946. 

It has a representative democracy based on the U.S. system, but corruption 

and graft continue to plague the country. Annual growth in 2007 was a robust 

7.2%. The government faces various threats from terrorist groups, including 

Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). In Mindanao 

province, the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) presents an 

ongoing challenge, after peace talks in 2008 came to nothing. 

Beyond Borders: There are four or five million Filipinos working abroad 

as contract employees, and remittances constitute more than 11% of GDP. 

The welfare of these workers is a top foreign policy concern. 

The Philippines play an active role in the UN and UN special agencies, 

ASEAN, the ASEAN Regional Forum and APEC, as well as the Non-Aligned 

Movement (NAM). Its government is currently seeking observer status in the 

Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

times. He had reportedly received death 

threats from a local official and an un - 

identified teacher prior to his slaying. 

In all, six radio journalists were killed 

in 2008. At least 11 journalists reported 

that they had received death threats. In 

other incidents, three journalists and one 

university professor were abducted in 

June by Abu Sayyak militants they were 

meeting to interview. They were held for 

nine days. On 1 October, three Minda - 

nao-based correspondents were shot at, 

allegedly during a clash between the 

Philippine army and members of the 

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) 

separatist group. The army claimed that 

they were firing at MILF forces; however, 

the militia said it was not in the area that 

day, and that the army shot at the journalists 

so that they would stop filming 

burning houses. 


Bring killers and masterminds 

to justice in journalist murders 

Abolish prison sentences for libel 

and decriminalize defamation 

Improve training for responsible 

journalism 

Empower the Press Council 

and Press Institute to effectively 

handle grievances from all parts 

of the Philippines 

Singapore in brief 

Singapore by Naomi Hunt 

The government’s tight control over 

all forms of media and expression 

continued in 2008. The year was marked 

with numerous instances of censorship 

and the use of defamation charges to si - 

lence political opposition and other critical 

voices. 

On 22 May, the authorities confiscated 

the DVD of a film that was to be 

shown at a private screening. The film, 

“One Nation under Lee,” charts Lee 

Kuan Yew’s rise to power and the accompanying 

limits on freedom of expression 

and association. During the private viewing 

at a Singapore hotel, Media Develop - 

ment Authority (MDA) officers arrived 

and demanded the DVD, on the grounds 

that it is illegal to screen films that have 

not been vetted by the authorities. After 

facing some resistance, officials returned 

later with plainclothes police in the hope 

that the organizers would be arrested for 

“obstructing justice”; however, the DVD 

was handed over and the police left. 

When the authorities returned again to 

take away the projection equipment, they 

were met with loud protests. 

No People’s Action 

Party member has ever lost 

a defamation lawsuit 

In July, the International Bar Associa - 

tion Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) 

gave Singapore a failing grade, pointing 

out that leading People’s Action Party 

(PAP) members have won millions of dol - 

lars in defamation lawsuits over the years. 

The IBAHRI also noted that no PAP 

member has ever lost a defamation suit. 

Much of the year’s news centered 

around the coverage of a lawsuit by Prime 


Domestic Overview: Singapore has been self-governing since 1959, but 

became part of Malaysia until disputes led to an amiable separation in 1965. 

Singapore has been ruled by the People’s Action Party (PAP) since 1959, as 

the PAP was victorious in every election. Lee Kwan Yew was Prime Minister 

from 1959 to 1990, Senior Minister until 2004, and now holds the position 

of Minister Mentor. His son, Lee Hsien Loong, is the current prime minister. 

Beyond Borders: Singapore plays an active role in regional politics, 

and is a member of ASEAN, the ASEAN Regional Forum and APEC. 

It is non-aligned, a member of NAM and the Commonwealth. It is active 

in the UN, and has sent peacekeepers on several missions. 

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien 

Loong, son of Minister Mentor Lee Kwan 

Yew (Reuters) 

Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, 

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, against 

Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) Sec - 

retary General Dr. Chee Soon Juan and 

his sister Chee Siok Chin. The lawsuit 

stemmed from an article published in the 

SDP newsletter, which compared the go - 

v ernment’s style of governance to a scan - 

dal in a well-known charity organization. 

Chee Soon Juan and Chee Siok Chin 

spent 10 and 12 days in prison, respectively, 

as a result, and in October they 

and the SDP were ordered to pay the 

Lees US$416,000, a sum that could 

bank rupt the party. This is not the first 

time that Chee Soon Juan has been bankrupted 

by a defamation lawsuit. Interest - 

ingly, Singapore law dictates that bankrupt 

individuals may not run for public 

office and are not allowed to travel without 

permission from the Insolvency and 

Public Trustee’s Office. 

One blogger, the Far Eastern Economic 

Review and its editor, and three staff 

mem bers from the Asian Wall Street Jour - 

nal, all faced legal consequences for their 

coverage of the proceedings. 

Blogger Gopalan Nair, an ex-Singa - 

porean who currently holds American 

citizenship and runs a Los Angeles law 

firm, was sentenced to three months in 

prison on 18 September. Nair’s troubles 

with the Singapore authorities began in 

May, when he flew to the island-nation 

to attend the SDP hearings. While there, 

he wrote in his blog that a judge was 

“prostituting herself” through her han- 

57

58 

Construction on Singapore’s booming Orchard Road (Reuters/Tom Peters) 

dling of the case. For these comments, 

Nair appeared before court on 12 and 16 

June, accused of “insulting a public servant.” 

Reporters without Borders called 

the trial a “farce,” given that the judge 

who heard Nair’s case was, in fact, one of 

the plaintiffs. 

Meanwhile, Singapore’s attorney general 

initiated contempt proceedings 

against the Asian Wall Street Journal’s editor 

and two of its journalists for its coverage 

of the proceedings, alleging two published 

editorials and a letter attacked the 

“impartiality, integrity and independence 

of the Singapore judiciary.” On 25 No - 

vember, a court found the publication in 

contempt of court, and imposed a fine of 

about 16,500 US$. 

The published materials included an 

analysis of the prime minister’s performance 

on the stand as he was personally 

cross-examined by Chee Soon Juan, stating 

in part, that “[w]hen the subject tur - 

ned to the moral underpinnings of de - 

mo cracy – freedom of speech, assembly 

and association – the debate went game, 

set and match to Mr. Chee.” 

In September, the Lees won a defamation 

suit against the Far Eastern Economic 

Review and its editor, Hugo Restall, for 

comments published on the SDP-PAP 

conflict. The damages to be paid have not 

yet been determined. However, the newspaper 

is just the last in a string of foreign 

media organizations that have been hit 

with enormous defamation damages. 

News agencies that have paid include the 

Financial Times, Bloomberg News and the 

International Herald Tribune. 

In the meantime, comments in Au - 

gust by PM Lee Hsien Loong, stating 

that the government would ease the ban 

on political videos and outdoor public 

demonstrations, were met by both scepticism 

and optimism amongst writers, film 

makers and artists. Filmmaker Martyn 

See, who has had two of his films ban - 

ned, called the move “the most obvious 

relaxation of political space in Singapore 

in the last 20 years,” adding that it would 

“lessen the climate of fear.” 

In July 2008, the 

International Bar Asso - 

ciation Human Rights 

Institute gave Singapore 

a failing grade 

But the prime minister was careful to 

temper his promises, asserting that laxer 

restrictions would be accompanied by 

“safeguards.” He reportedly said, “Some 

things are obviously alright; factual foot - 

age, documentaries, recordings of live 

events. But I think some things should 

still be off limits… (for instance) if you 

made a political commercial so that it’s 

purely made-up material, partisan stuff, 

footage distorted to create a slanted im - 

pression.” 

It remains to be seen whether the government 

will keep its word. Unfortu - 

nate ly, nothing since August has given 

reason to believe that government officials 

will stop using the courts to silence 

their critics. 


Strengthen judicial independence 

Impose tight limitations on damages 

awarded for defamation 

Carry out promise of easing 

restrictions on political videos 

and public demonstrations

South Korea by Nayana Jayarajan 

In direct contrast to its northern neighbour, 

South Korea boasts a diverse 

media environment. Television is influential, 

and many South Koreans subscribe 

to digital and cable television services. 

The population is almost 100% literate 

and there are over 100 newspapers. South 

Korea is also one of the most tech-savvy 

countries in the world. The country has 

pioneered TV on mobile phones, and 

Internet gaming is a national obsession. 

In September, officials stated that almost 

every South Korean household has a highspeed 

Internet connection. In Oc tober, 

an Internet services company announced 

that it was pioneering a plan to make 

wireless Internet available in all parts of 

Seoul. 

Despite an overall progressive 

media environment, 

with the media able to criticise 

the administration, 

there have been occasional 

incidents of repression of 

the media in the past year 

Despite an overall progressive media 

environment, with the media able to criticise 

the administration, there have been 

occasional incidents of repression of the 

media in the past year. 

South Korea is governed by President 

Lee Myung-bak, who took office in Feb - 

ruary 2008, after having scored a record 

victory margin in the presidential election 

with his economy-focussed campaign. 

His Grand National Party also won control 

of parliament in April 2008. How - 

ever, the President’s approval ratings 

plum meted in June when it was revealed 

that he had agreed to resume U.S. beef 

imports to South Korea in exchange for a 

free trade deal. South Korea, formerly the 

third largest import market for U.S.-produced 

beef, banned imports in 2003 following 

the discovery of mad cow disease 

in Washington State. The decision to re - 

sume imports was met with major public 

protests, demonstrations and strikes. In 

addition, the government has already 

announced that South Korea could be 

severely affected by the financial crisis. 

When it emerged that the protests were 

coordinated over the Internet, the beleaguered 

government announced in 

September that it would consider new 

laws to control what it calls the spread of 

false information that prompts social 

unrest. Under the proposal, all forum 

and chat room users will be required to 

make verifiable registrations using their 

real names. As well, South Korea’s Com - 

munications Commission would make it 

mandatory that websites remove for 30 

days articles that received complaints for 

being fraudulent or slanderous; after that, 

South Korea’s media arbitration body 

would rule on whether to allow the article 

to be published again. 

This would not be the first time that 

South Korea has attempted to restrict its 

citizens’ access to the Internet. “Even un - 

der progressive presidents like Roh Moo 

Hyun, police blocked pro-North Korean 

websites, demanded pro-North Korean 

postings be erased, and even arrested two 

activists for – among other things – downloading 

‘The Communist Manifesto’,” 

said Robert Koehler, an English-language 

blogger on Korea based in Seoul, quoted 

in the International Herald Tribune. 

According to Lee Han Ki, editor in 

chief of OhmyNews, the biggest citizen 

journalist portal in South Korea, “The 

proposed legislation will not only hinder 

free speech by Korean ‘netizens’ but 

seems to be aimed at controlling the pub- 

South Korea in brief 

lic opinion of Internet news media.” 

“The governments that are given the 

power to block things usually tend to 

block things, including information that 

originally wasn’t intended to be blocked 

from access,” said Jimmy Wales, founder 

of the Internet encyclopedia, Wikipedia, 

in response to the proposed South Ko - 

rean legislation. 

The beleaguered government 

announced in 

September that it would 

consider new laws to control 

what it calls the spread 

of false information that 

prompts social unrest 

In another incident, the government 

of South Korea ordered a documentary 

filmmaker to return from Iraq, where she 

was on assignment. Kim Young Me had 

been embedded with U.S. forces in Iraq 

when she was informed that she did not 

have her government’s permission to stay. 

It is believed that she was recalled under 

a law that demands that South Koreans 

wanting to travel to Iraq, Afghanistan or 

Somalia must seek permission from the 


Domestic Overview: A Japanese colony during World War II, Korea 

regained its independence after Japan’s surrender. A Republic of Korea was 

set up in the south of the country, while the north became the Democratic 

People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) During the Korean War (1950-53), U.S. 

troops and UN forces fought alongside soldiers from the Republic of Korea 

to defend South Korea from DPRK attacks supported by China and the 

Soviet Union. An armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula 

in a demilitarised zone along the 38th parallel. Thereafter, South Korea 

achieved rapid economic growth with per capita income rising to roughly 

14 times the level of North Korea. 

The country is governed by President Lee Myung-bak of the Grand National 

Party (GNP), who took office in February 2008 after having scored a record 

victory margin in the presidential election with his economy-focussed campaign. 

The GNP also won control of parliament in April 2008. 

Beyond Borders: The Military Demarcation Line within the four km-wide 

Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953. 

Periodic incidents with North Korea in the Yellow Sea over the Northern 

Limiting Line, which South Korea claims as a maritime boundary, are a 

common occurrence. It is a founding member of the Asia-Pacific Economic 

Cooperation (APEC) forum, and chaired the organisation in 2005. The United 

States and South Korea are bound by the 1953 Mutual Defence Treaty. 

59

60 

Lee Myung-bak, former Seoul mayor and presidential nominee from South Korea's 

GNP, speaks during a debate in Seoul at the Kwanhun Club, an organization 

for senior journalists, in Seoul 5 November, 2007. (Reuters/Han Jae-Ho) 

Foreign Ministry. Punishment for violating 

the law is up to one year in prison or 

a fine of up to three million won (US$ 

2,890). 

On 26 June, IPI received information 

suggesting that unidentified “netizens” in 

South Korea had attempted to influence 

the editorial policies of the country’s three 

major newspapers, the Chosun Ilbo, the 

Dong-A Ilbo and the Joong-Ang Ilbo, by 

various means, including the distribution 

of leaflets and stickers, as well as telephone 

campaigns aimed at harassing ad - 

vertisers into withdrawing their advertisements. 

Since its inauguration in February, 

Pre sident Lee Myung-bak’s administration 

has instituted several positive chan - 

ges in the country’s media environment. 

For example, almost 60 press dispatch 

rooms closed during the previous administration 

have been reopened during the 

last year. 

However, challenges to press freedom 

in South Korea remain. For example, 

while the much-maligned Measures for 

Developing an Advanced Media Support 

System, which aim to restrict reporters’ 

entry to government offices and require 

ministry staff members to report their 

con tacts with journalists to superiors, 

have not been enforced by the current 

administration, they have yet to be officially 

repealed. Similarly, the Act Gover - 

ning the Guarantee of Freedom and 

Functions of Newspapers (often referred 

to as the “Newspaper Law”) and the 

News paper and Press Arbitration Law 

(also known as the “Press Arbitration 

Law”), which IPI has repeatedly criticised 

as unduly restrictive, remain in force. 


Cease state attempts to censor or 

otherwise influence journalists 

and restrict free speech, whether 

in the media or online 

Repeal or re-visit the Newspaper Law 

and the Press Arbitration Law 

Sri Lanka 

by Naomi Hunt 

The country, marred by conflict for 

de cades, has witnessed increased 

vio lence during the past two years, which 

in January of this year culminated in the 

government’s official withdrawal from a 

ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers of 

Tamil Eelam (LTTE). As in the past, the 

conflict took a heavy toll on journalists. 

Sri Lanka’s media landscape reflects 

communalism and partisan politics. 

Authorities reportedly favour the majority 

Sinhalese media organizations based in 

Colombo, although no publication is free 

from scrutiny. This pro-Sinhalese bias has 

frustrated many Tamil- journalists, who 

feel their safety and ability to report are 

threatened by the authorities and other 

in terest groups. Impunity remains of 

great concern. 

One widely-publicized 

instance of detention 

without charge involved 

Tamil-speaking journalists 

V. Jasikaran, his partner, 

and J.S. Tissainayagam. 

All three have been 

held since early March 

under anti-terrorism 

legislation, reportedly 

tortured and ill-treated by 

authorities in Colombo 

The Emergency Regulations of 2005, 

the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 

2006 and other laws that give authorities 

broad and vaguely-defined powers to 

shut down those reporting on “sensitive” 

topics continued to serve as tools for persecution. 

One widely-publicized instance of de - 

tention without charge involved Tamilspeaking 

journalists V. Jasikaran, his partner, 

and J.S. Tissainayagam. All three 

have been held since early March under 

anti-terrorism legislation, reportedly tortured 

and ill-treated by authorities in 

Colombo. 

On 6 March, Jasikaran, who owns E- 

Kwality printing works and reports for 

the news website Outreach Sri Lanka, 

and his wife, were arrested by the Ter - 

rorist Investigation Division (TID). On 7 

March, Sunday Times and Outreach Sri 

Lanka journalist Tissainayagam was ar -

Journalist shouts during media protest against Sri Lankan police IGP Wickramaratna in 

Colombo. (Reuters) 

rested after visiting the TID to ask about 

his imprisoned colleague. It is believed 

they were targeted for their analysis of 

clashes between government forces and 

the LTTE. 

Tissainayagam was not charged until 

late August, when he was indicted for 

allegedly violating the PTA by “bringing 

the government into disrepute” with articles 

published between June 2006 and 

2007 in North Eastern Monthly magazine 

(a now-defunct pro-Tamil English-language 

publication); and violating the 

Emergency Regulations by “aiding and 

abetting terrorist organizations” through 

the raising of money for the magazine. 

In November, Tissainayagam was moved 

without explanation to the notorious 

Ma gazine prison in Colombo. As of De - 

cember, he is awaiting trial, and is said to 

have made a confession under duress. 

It is unclear if Jasikaran and his partner 

have been charged, but Jasikaran was 

in prison as of late November, when his 

family received calls threatening that he 

would be harmed in jail. 

A.R.Vaama Loshan, of Vettri FM 

Radio, a Tamil radio station, was also 

arrested under the PTA by the TID in 

November. However, he was released 

with out charge or explanation within 

eight days. 

Violence against journalists was widespread 

throughout the year. On 22 May, 

Keith Noyahr was abducted and severely 

beaten. The journalist and deputy editor 

of weekly magazine The Nation was al - 

legedly targeted as a result of his independent 

coverage on the conflict in the 

north. Noyahr was tortured by his captors. 

Journalists attempting to organize a 

protest against the lack of government 

Columnist Tissainayagam walks to High Court 

near prison officers in Colombo. (Reuters) 

action were reprimanded for their criticism, 

and warned that their own security 

could not be guaranteed if such criticism 

were to continue. 

Paranirupasingham Devakumar, a television 

correspondent, was stabbed to 

death on 28 May in Jaffna. He was one of 

the few journalists still working in Jaffna, 

a battle ground between LTTE and army 

forces, and, after Baghdad, the world’s 

deadliest city for journalists. 

On 30 June, Sri Lanka Press Institute 

(SLPI) journalist and deputy chief Namal 

Perera and his friend were brutally beaten 

in a failed abduction attempt. Appa rent - 

ly, Perera was targeted in the wake of a 

scandal between the SLPI and the government 

mouthpiece Dinamina. Dina - 

mi na had printed an earlier story alleging 

that the SLPI aided several LTTE terrorists 

who travelled to Norway on the pretence 

that they were journalists. The 

SLPI was considering legal action against 

the newspaper, calling the claims “baseless, 

misleading and factually incorrect,” 

when Perera and his friend were attacked. 

High-ranking officials contributed to 

the hostile media environment with both 

their words and their actions. Army 

Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka 

im plied that reporters who are attacked 

have only themselves to blame, stating in 

a 20 July interview with the state-run 

61

62 

Sunday Observer, that for journalists who 

“damage” his organisation or individuals, 

“it is natural that they should live in fear.” 

Sinhala-language publications were 

not immune. On 5 August, Fonseka war - 

ned Lankadeepa reporter Indika Rama na - 

yake that he would no longer cooperate 

with the publication unless it shut down 

two weekly columns that analysed military 

defence affairs. 

Labour Minister Mervyn Silva was 

even more aggressive. On 4 August, Silva 

physically attacked two journalists during 

the opening ceremony of a flyover bridge 

in Kelaniya. MBC Network’s Sirasa TV 

had sent the reporters to cover the event. 

The Highways Ministry, which had invited 

Sirasa TV, promised that Silva would 

not abuse the press. But Silva and his 

cohorts lashed out as police security 

watched. Sirasa TV footage shows the 

minister muttering that he would have to 

“break the Buddhist teaching of not taking 

any person’s life.” 

Three days later, senior police superintendent 

Ranjith Gunesekara defended 

Silva’s right to stop people from filming 

him. The police chief insisted that Sirasa 

Sri Lanka in brief 

TV should not have covered the event, 

since they knew that the minister is hostile 

toward their station. 

Paranirupasingham 

Devakumar, a television 

correspondent, was stabbed 

to death on 28 May 

in Jaffna. He was one of 

the few journalists still 

working in Jaffna, a battle 

ground between LTTE and 

army forces, and, after 

Baghdad, the world’s deadliest 

city for journalists 

On 11 August, the minister took his 

antipathy towards Sirasa TV further. 

Silva reportedly bussed around 100 men, 

women and children from his constitu - 

ency into Colombo to act as protestors. 

“Demonstrators” then shouted slogans 

claiming they were the “indomitable 

force” of the Sri Lankan president, and 

that Sirasa TV is pro-LTTE. 


Domestic Overview: This island nation, located 28 km off of the Indian 

coast, has been independent since 1948. In 1972, its name was changed 

from Ceylon to Sri Lanka, and the protection of Buddhism was constitutionalised. 

Tensions worsened between the Sinhalese Buddhist majority and 

the large Tamil minority living in the north and east. Partially in response 

to Sinhalese nationalism, separatist Tamil politicians and armed groups 

emerged, notably the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who use force 

to seek an independent state. 

The killing of 13 Sinhalese soldiers in 1983 by the LTTE marked the beginning 

of the largest spate of communal violence. Tamil areas became a warzone, 

and tens of thousands fled as refugees to India. There have been several 

unsuccessful attempts to negotiate peace, including offers from the government 

to give Tamil areas increased autonomy. Fighting in the north has 

persisted with few breaks. In January 2008, the government announced 

its unilateral withdrawal from a 2002 ceasefire and stepped up attacks. 

Despite terrorist attacks in Sinhalese-majority areas, including the capital, 

fighting is limited primarily to the north and east. The majority of the island 

is stable and secure, allowing development. Tourism is a major sector in the 

Sri Lankan economy. 

Beyond Borders: Sri Lanka is an active developing country in the United 

Nations, and was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement. 

It is a member of the Commonwealth, the IMF, the World Bank and the 

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. 

The LTTE has been designated a terrorist organization by the European Union 

and the United States. 

Encouragingly, an indictment was 

issued against Silva in November in connection 

with his many run-ins with Si - 

rasa TV, accusing him of several charges, 

including assault and robbery. 

Not surprisingly, attacks by civilians 

also occurred. On 28 August, three journalists 

were assaulted while conducting 

interviews with teachers’ union protesters. 

First, Yamuna Harshani and photojournalist 

Janaka Galappaththi of Lan ka - 

deepa newspaper were attacked by three 

medical students at the Colombo Uni - 

versity Medical Facility, in full view of 

police security, who did not intervene. 

When the two journalists called a third to 

come record the event, he was also 

assaulted. 

In a particularly vicious attack, journalist 

Radhika Devakumar was shot three 

times at point blank range by a group of 

unknown assailants. The men arrived at 

her house in the early evening of 8 Sep - 

tember, and fired shots into her shoulder, 

chest and abdomen. Her life was saved by 

immediate medical attention after family 

members rushed her to the hospital. She 

had been working as a Tamil-language 

journalist for numerous publications and 

broadcasters. Like many journalists in Sri 

Lanka, she also worked in politics. 

Journalists reporting on the conflict 

also risk being killed in the crossfire. On 

1 October, journalist Rashmi Mohamed 

died along with 26 other people when a 

suicide bomber blew himself up in the 

office of the United National Party in 

Anuradhapura. 

Towards the end of the year, BBC’s 

Sinhala service was repeatedly interfered 

with. The Defence Ministry website also 

singled out the station for criticism for 

reporting on civilian deaths in war zones, 

and the state-owned Sri Lanka Broad - 

casting Cooperation (SLBC) in August 

began broadcasting programs right after 

BBC programming to present the government’s 

views on its reports. 


Discourage physical attacks against 

journalists by tackling impunity 

Stop use of anti-terrorism legislation 

for media harassment 

End anti-media rhetoric by highranking 

public officials

Mission 

Press Freedom in Sri Lanka 

In October 2008, IPI joined an international 

solidarity and advocacy mission 

to Sri Lanka to assess the media situation 

and to support local media under the 

shadow of the ongoing fighting between 

the Sri Lankan government and the Libe - 

ration Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). 

Dnyanesh V. Jathar, Mumbai bureau 

chief of the Week and a member of IPI’s 

Indian National Committee, represented 

IPI on the International Press Freedom 

and Freedom of Expression Mission (the 

“International Mission”). 

In its subsequent report, “Media Un - 

der Fire: Press Freedom Lockdown in Sri 

Lanka”, the International Mission outli - 

ned the many challenges faced by the me - 

dia. It highlighted the following findings: 

The Conflict 

Independent information about the war 

has been reduced to a minimum. Free - 

dom of the press is a victim of collateral 

damage in the war between the government 

and the Tamil Tigers with an 

almost total blackout of independent and 

objective reporting from the north and 

east of the country. Over the last year, 

three trends relating to the coverage of 

the conflict have emerged: a lack of press 

access and independent information in 

the conflict zones; a wave of assaults and 

intimidation of journalists specialised in 

defence; and self-censorship by the media 

on the realities of the war. 

Safety and Impunity 

There has been a serious deterioration in 

the security situation for the Sri Lankan 

media with threats, abductions and at - 

tacks committed by all parties to the conflict 

and particularly state and non-state 

armed groups. At least fourteen media 

practitioners have been killed since Au - 

gust 2005 and there have been numerous 

death threats and incidents of harassment, 

including violent attempts to stop 

the distribution of newspapers. More over, 

even in cases where evidence exists of the 

identity of the alleged killers, the relevant 

authorities have apparently taken little or 

no action. 

Those supporting a negotiated settlement 

are often labelled as “traitors” and 

supporters of one or the other combatant 

parties and there appears to be a widespread 

acceptance of language that intimidates 

journalists and endangers them in 

the performance of their duties. 

There have been repeated instances of 

elected representatives and government 

ministers using violence and inflammatory 

language against media workers and 

institutions. State-owned media and the 

website of the Ministry of Defence have 

contributed to the vilification of independent 

media and journalists. Such 

actions can only be construed as efforts to 

discredit media through false accusations 

and clearly places them in danger. 

Legal Cases 

There is an increasing and systematic 

policy of interrogating journalists with 

threats of legal action. In particular, the 

use of anti-terrorism legislation to punish 

journalists purely for what they have 

written has set a dangerous precedent. 

Freedom of the press 

is a victim of collateral 

damage in the war between 

the government and 

the Tamil Tigers with an 

almost total blackout of 

independent and objective 

reporting from the north 

and east of the country 

Indirect censorship 

Censorship exists, though largely through 

indirect means. Those refusing to toe the 

government’s line may be la belled as spies 

or traitors. The willingness of politicians 

and others to denounce the media reinforces 

self-censorship. Media access to 

areas of conflict is heavily res tricted with 

journalists forced to reproduce information 

disseminated by the warring parties. 

Media are constantly threatened by all 

parties to the conflict in an effort to curtail 

independent and critical reporting. 

Tthe provision of official information 

to media outlets is often conditioned 

upon the extent to which they support 

the government. Media rules gazetted on 

10 October by the Sri Lankan government 

– though kept in abeyance at least 

in the short-term — provide for a number 

of contingencies under which broadcasting 

licenses can be cancelled, including 

seven different grounds related to 

broadcast content. Moreover, a popular 

broadcast channel has been put on notice 

that it is to submit transcripts of news 

broadcasts “to be carried” every week as 

of 28 October. 

Based on its findings, the Interna tio - 

nal Mission issued recommendations 

focussing on the creation of a pluralistic 

and safe media environment. The Inter - 

national Mission also specifically called 

for the establishment of a special task 

force integrating the roles of a witness 

protection programme and the police to 

investigate attacks on the media. 

The International Press Freedom 

and Freedom of Expression Mission, 

in whose name the mission was undertaken, 

is based on an informal grouping 

of international organisations, 

including ARTICLE XIX, the Committee 

to Protect Journalists, FreeVoice, the 

International Federation of Journalists), 

International Media Support, IPI, the 

International News Safety Institute, 

Reporters Without Borders, the South 

Asia Media Commission, the United 

Nations Educational, Scientific and 

Cultural Organization, the World Asso - 

ciation of Community Radio Broad - 

casters, the World Association of 

Newspapers and the World Press 

Freedom Committee. IPI would like 

to thank the International Mission 

for preparing the text of the report. 

The full text is available at 

http://www.freemedia.at/Srilanka 

_mission_2008.pdf. 

63

64 

Justice Denied 

By Barbara Trionfi 

The Case of 

Subramaniyam 

Sukirtharajan 

Subramaniyam Sukirtharajan, known 

as SSR, was a journalist with the popular 

Tamil-language daily Sudar Oli. He 

was shot dead in the eastern port city of 

Trincomalee in the early morning of 24 

January 2006. Sukirtharajan was waiting 

for public transport to go to work at 

about 6 a.m. when the assailants approa - 

ched on a motorbike and fired at him 

from close range. He was 35 years old 

and the father of two children, aged three 

and two. 

Subramaniyam Sukirth - 

arajan was shot dead 

in the eastern port city of 

Trincomalee by assailants 

on a motorbike 

The incident came soon after Sudar 

Oli published photographs, taken by 

Sukirtharajan, of five Tamil high school 

students killed during the infamous Trin - 

comalee massacre on 2 January 2006. 

The photos showed that the students 

were shot at point-blank range, contra- 

Subramaniyam Sukirtharajan, a journalist with the Tamil-language 

daily Sudar Oli, was shot dead on 24 January 2006 in the eastern port 

city of Trincomalee (AP Photo) 

As of the end of 2008, no official in vestigation has been ordered 

to bring to justice those responsible for Sukirthara jan’s killing. 

dicting the army’s claim that the students 

were Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 

(LTTE) terrorists killed when a grenade 

that they were about to lob at government 

troops detonated prematurely. (The 

Sri Lankan government initiated an official 

inquiry into the Trincomalee massacre 

at the end of 2006, but no progress 

has been reported in bringing those 

responsible to justice.) 

Sudar Oli is owned by New Uthayan 

Publications Ltd, which also publishes 

the newspaper Uthayan in Jaffna. The 

Utha yan newspaper has been subjected to 

terrible pressure in recent years. Five of its 

media workers have been killed. Its editor-in-chief 

and its news editor have been 

living in the newspaper’s offices for al - 

most two years. 

Staff members at Sudar Oli have been 

repeatedly targeted because of the paper’s 

allegedly pro-LTTE stance. On 29 Au - 

gust 2005, a few months before Sukirt - 

harajan was murdered, a hand grenade 

attack on the newspaper’s printing press 

killed a security guard, David Selvarat - 

num. On 23 August, a staff journalist 

with Sudar Oli was roughed up and 

detained by the police on suspicion of 

being an LTTE spy. On 20 August 2005, 

tragedy was only narrowly avoided when 

two hand grenades that were thrown at 

the newspaper’s advertising department 

failed to detonate. 

Timeline 

November 2008: IPI launches 

campaign against impunity in 

Sukirtharajan’s murder 

24 January 2006: Sukirtharajan 

murdered by unknown assilants 

on a motorbike, who fired at him 

from close range 

2 January 2006: Sudar Oli publishes 

photographs, taken by 

Sukirtharajan, of five Tamil high 

school students killed during the 

infamous Trincomalee massacre

Taiwan by Nayana Jayarajan 

Taiwan President Ma at a news conference (Reuters/Nicky Loh) Democratic Progressive Party supporters clash with the police 

during a protest against Chen, Chairman of China’s ARATS and 

Taiwan’s President Ma (Reuters, Steve Chen) 

Relations between longtime adversa - 

ries China and Taiwan began showing 

signs of a thaw in 2008, with deals 

signed to expand commercial ties, air 

links and tourism. However, the meeting 

between Taiwanese President Ma Yingjeou 

and chairman of the Association for 

Relations Across the Taiwan Straits 

(ARATS), Chen Yunlin, on 16 Novem - 

ber sparked protests across Taiwan. 

The newly elected government res - 

pon ded by asking journalists to provide 

photographs of the demonstrators, in a 

violation of a journalist’s right to protect 

sources. According to Leon Chuang, the 

president of the Association of Taiwanese 

journalists, “the police have put the 

reporters in grave danger by demanding 

that they rat on their interviewees.” 

There were other signs of pressure on 

Taiwan’s media. An independent documentary 

filmmaker was detained by po - 

lice while she was filming Chen in a hotel, 

the International Federation of Jour nalists 

(IFJ) reported. In a separate incident, a 

television reporter was assaulted by police 

who reportedly mistook him for a protester 

during the 16 November rally. 

Several examples of subtle state interference 

in Taiwan’s media were reported. 

According to the IFJ, the Government 

Information Office (GIO) demanded on 

26 September that the state-owned Cen - 

tral News Agency (CNA) alter critical 

reports on the contaminated milk scandal 

that broke in China in 2008. 

The GIO also demanded that CNA 

withdraw a report which criticised the 

president, who took office in May. The 

chairman of Radio Taiwan International 

(RTI), Taiwan’s state-owned broadcaster, 

also claimed that the government had 

asked RTI not to broadcast reports that 

were too critical of mainland China. 

Several independent board directors of 

RTI resigned in protest. The GIO denied 

the reports. 

Taiwanese journalists 

face discrimination abroad 

as a result of their country’s 

international status 

In another development, the government 

appointed Lo Chih-Chiang, a former 

spokesman for Ma’s presidential 

cam paign, to the position of deputy president 

of CNA. The ruling Kuomintang 

(KMT) party also nominated four legisla- 

Taiwan in brief 

tors to new positions on the board of 

supervisors for Taiwan’s Public Television 

Service. According to the opposition 

Progressive Democratic Party, the KMT 

has already appointed six board members 

and wants to amend the rules to allow for 

more members of the supervisory board. 

In November, the Taipei Times reported 

that the National Communications 

Com mission (NCC) had announced 

plans to amend the Satellite Broadcasting 

Law to allow people or agencies who feel 

they have been the victim of erroneous or 

biased reporting to sue TV stations and 

commentators. Earlier in the month, the 

Financial Supervisory Commission ban - 

ned market analyst Allen Chu from 

appearing on TV talk shows, allegedly 

because one of his reports contained statistical 

errors. 


Domestic Overview: Following the Communist victory on mainland China 

in 1949, 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established a government 

using the 1946 constitution drawn up for all of China. In 2000, Taiwan underwent 

its first peaceful transfer of power from – from the long-ruling nationalists, 

or Kuomintang, to the Democratic Progressive Party. The Democratic 

Progressive Party was defeated in the 2008 elections by the Kuomintang. 

Beyond Borders: The dominant political issues continue to be the relationship 

between Taiwan and mainland China — specifically the question of 

eventual unification – as well as domestic political and economic reform. 

As of September 2008, Taiwan had formal diplomatic ties with 23 countries. 

At the same time, Taiwan has cultivated informal ties with most countries to 

offset its diplomatic isolation and to expand its economic relations. 

65

66 

Meanwhile, Taiwanese journalists face 

discrimination abroad as a result of their 

country’s international status – it has formal 

diplomatic ties with only few countries 

and no seat at the UN. Taiwan’s bids 

for UN membership have repeatedly 

been blocked by China, which is a permanent 

member of the UN Security 

Coun cil and considers it a rogue pro - 

vince. As a result, Taiwanese journalists 

are repeatedly denied accreditation to 

attend UN events. In September, Tai - 

wanese journalists were prevented from 

attending the 63rd session of the UN 

General Assembly. 

At home, Taiwanese media are fiercely 

competitive and the country’s record of 

press freedom is much higher than in 

most countries in Asia. But the ruling 

party’s recent attempts to pressure news 

organizations could reverse gains made 

by Taiwanese journalists in recent years. 


Recognize and provide accreditation 

for Taiwanese journalists at international 

forums. 

Guarantee media independence. 

Tajikistan by Patti McCracken 

Russian President Medvedev and his Tajik counterpart Rahmon visit the 201st Russian 

military base in Dushanbe (RIA Novosti/Reuters) 

The Tajik media continued to suffer 

in 2008 under the autocratic rule 

of President Emomali Rahmon, who is 

ex ceptionally intolerant of dissent and 

criticism. 

The Tajikistan constitution provides 

for a free press, but the rights of journalists 

to report without fear of reprisal are 

largely ignored. Reporters are routinely 

undermined, harassed and threatened by 

the authorities. The government continues 

to control distribution and printing 

facilities, and routinely dictates editorial 

content. Beatings, firings, seizure of pro - 

perty, and closures of publications are 

common. In 2008 alone, the Radio and 

Television License Committee forbade 

licenses to at least 25 new stations 

throughout the country, largely believed 

to be a measure to censor free speech. 

Despite the considerable poverty of 

Tajikistan, the population generally backs 

President Rahmon, as they credit him 

with ending the bloody civil war which 

devastated the country at the break-up of 

the Soviet Union in 1991. This public 

support of an authoritarian and corrupt 

regime is an obstacle to Tajikistan’s goal 

of achieving a free and independent 

media. 

However, some signs of unrest are 

starting to show. Although demonstrations 

are rare in Tajikistan, several pro - 

tests have recently occurred in the capital 

Dushanbe and in major provincial cities 

of Kulob, Panjakent and Khorog, with 

citizens rallying against various government 

appointees as well as poor living 

conditions. Journalists joined the pro - 

tests, speaking out against the president. 

Reporters are routinely 

undermined, harassed 

and threatened by the 

authorities 

Two years ago, defamation law was ex - 

panded to cover online publications. As it 

stands, any print, broadcast or online 

journalist convicted of defamation faces 

up to two years in prison, 500 hours of 

hard labour or a fine of up to 1,000 times 

the monthly wage. The International Re - 

search and Exchanges board Tajikistan 

(IREX) reports the Culture Minister as 

saying that “amendments were needed to 

make online journalists and Bloggers act 

responsibly.” 

Rahmon’s masterful manipulation of 

the press was a subject of deep concern 

and controversy among the international 

media organisations that monitor free 

press issues in the region. And the government’s 

silence regarding the apparent 

murder of Rahmon’s brother-in-law – 

along with the state media’s adamant 

refusal to cover it legitimately – further

validated the claim that Tajikistan’s press 

is neither free nor independent. 

In October, Radio Free Europe/Radio 

Liberty (RFE/RL) called RSF to task for 

giving Tajikistan’s media a higher freedom 

rating in its 2008 index than several 

other countries in the region, including 

Azerbaijan, Belarus, the Republic of Ge - 

or gia, Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan 

and Iran. Tajikistan is believed to have a 

weaker – or at best, on par – independent 

media than these countries. 

Popular radio station Imruz, 

part of Orienbank’s media 

holdings, was taken off the 

air by government officials 

soon after Sadulloev went 

missing. They cited “technical 

reasons,” and the station 

has not broadcast since 

The finger was pointed at Tajikistan’s 

government, which has, over a 16-year 

rule, learned how to skilfully exploit the 

media to create a mirage of a fully functioning 

democracy, partially explaining 

the skewed results. New York-based 

NGO Human Rights Watch backed up 

RFE/RL’s assertion in its 2008 report: 

“Despots Masquerading as Democrats”, 

which cited masterful manipulation of 

elections and media that was designed to 

sideline any and all opposition. 

Tajikistan in brief 

When the president’s high profile bro - 

ther-in-law, Hasan Sadulloev, went missing 

in May, the official media remained 

silent. Sadulloev is head of Orienbank, 

and considered to be one of the wealthiest 

and most powerful men in the country. 

His sister is married to the president, 

and he is believed to have been killed in a 

family dispute regarding the bank. To 

date, the president’s office has not officially 

commented. 

A month after his disappearance, state 

broadcasters began running footage they 

claimed to be of Sadulloev, although the 

images show someone in a crowd, and not 

alongside the president, as Sadulloev al - 

ways had been. Meanwhile, popular radio 

station Imruz, part of Orienbank’s media 

holdings, was taken off the air by government 

officials soon after Sadulloev went 

missing. They cited “technical reasons,” 

and the station has not broadcast since. 

Although the independent media in 

Tajikistan has speculated about Sadul lo - 

ev’s case (some say he was wounded and 

is recuperating in Germany) no journalist 

has dared investigate the disappearance. 

At press conferences that included the 

president and government officials, no 

journalist has ever posed a question about 

the disappearance. IREX was surprised 

that the independent media reported at 

all on the Sadulloev case, and that repercussions 

have not yet followed. Regard - 

ing the matter, IREX said, “Such topics 

have long been taboo under the watchful 

eyes of the Rahmon administration.” 


Domestic Overview: Central Asia’s smallest country, Tajikistan was plagued 

by civil war in the 1990’s, leaving its economy in tatters. Political stability 

since then has allowed for gradual growth, nonetheless, even by official 

Tajik figures, over 50 per cent of the population live below the poverty line. 

Politically, Tajikistan may appear more democratic on the surface than many 

of its neighbours, and it is one of the few Central Asian countries to have 

included opposition parties in government. However, all presidential and 

parliamentary elections since independence are considered by international 

observers to have been severely flawed. 

Beyond Borders: The removal of the Taliban from power in Afghanistan 

means Tajikistan now enjoys better relations with this southern neighbour. 

Relations with Uzbekistan, however, remain strained, and include some 

territorial disputes. Uzbek concerns over Tajik plans to develop hydropower 

are also a flashpoint. Russia retains a military presence in Tajikistan, through 

the 201st Motor Rifle Division. 

Ukraine's President Yushchenko meets 

Tajikistan's President Rahmon in Kiev 

(Konstantin Chernichkin/Reuters) 


Cease harassment, threats and 

attacks against the media. 

Distribution and printing facilities 

must be released from government 

control. 

Distribution of broadcasting 

licences must be carried out 

by an independent body. 

67

68 

Thailand by Naomi Hunt 

New PM Abhisit Vejjajiva (Reuters, Sukree 

Sukplang) 

Journalists were not immune from the 

tumultuous politics of 2008. Several 

journalists were killed, while legal harassment 

and government pressure fostered 

self-censorship. 

In January, while the country was still 

under military rule, the government disbanded 

independent station iTV, placed 

it under the state’s Public Relations De - 

partment and renamed it Thailand Inde - 

pendent Television (TITV). Employees 

complained of government meddling. 

Civilian rule returned to Thailand ear - 

ly in the year, with the People’s Power 

Party front-man Samak Sundaravej sworn 

in as prime minister. Government and 

media relations had a poor start as 

Chirm sak Pinthong’s popular talk news 

show, “Chirmsak’s Viewpoints,” was cancelled 

under apparent pressure from a 

government official tied to the prime 

minister. 

Article 45 of the Thai Constitution 

pro vides guarantees of free expression 

and access to information. But laws barring 

Thais from making disparaging 

remarks about King Bhumibol weigh on 

the ability of journalists to report and 

work free of legal intimidation. 

BBC correspondent Jonathan Head 

was harassed by a police official who, on 

three separate occasions, filed criminal 

complaints against the journalist alleging 

that he had offended the monarchy. 

Anti-government protesters at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi international airport 

(Reuters/Darren Whiteside) 

Under Thai law, lèse-majesté charges can 

be brought by any citizen. The BBC says 

the charges were unfounded. 

Australian author Harry Nicolaides 

was jailed 31 August for three sentences 

he wrote in his 2005 novel, Verisimili - 

tude, in which he mentions the royal fa - 

mily. Charged under Article 112 of the 

Criminal Code, Nicolaides could face up 

to 15 years in prison, although the King 

has been known to pardon foreign of - 

fenders in the past. 

Thailand In Brief 

In December, Thai distributors refrai - 

ned from selling an issue of The Econo - 

mist that contained two articles on the 

king’s role in government. 

In June, Interior Minister Charlerm 

Yoobamrung was widely criticised by press 

freedom groups, cable operators and op - 

po sition senators when he moved to ban 

private channel ASTV from cable networks. 

ASTV has been linked to opposition 

politicians. 

Also in June, the Cabinet drafted the 


Domestic Overview: Thailand dates to 1238 and, unlike its neighbours, 

escaped European colonisation. It became a constitutional monarchy 

in the 1932, but there were numerous military coups in the 20th century. 

Long-serving King Bhumibol Adulyadej is head of state and exercises 

influence over the political machinations in government. 

Authoritarian ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a bloodless 

coup in 2006. In December 2007, following an interim period, the 

military called for democratic elections. They were humiliated when the 

People’s Power Party won handily. The PPP formed a government early 

this year under the premiership of Samak Sundaravej. The courts forced 

Samak out of office, and the People’s Alliance for Democracy, supported 

by some members of the military elite, has regained power. 

Beyond Borders: Thailand is a member of ASEAN and plays an active role 

in regional and international cooperation. For years, there has been a 

separatist movement in the ethnically Malay provinces in southern Thailand. 

In 2004 this developed into a violent insurgency by some Malay forces.

Broadcasting and Telecommunications 

Act to replace legislation dating to 2000. 

The new bill reduces the percentage of 

the broadcast spectrum dedicated to notfor-profit 

groups. The National Broad - 

cast ing and Telecommunications Com - 

mis sion (NBTC) can now set limits on 

community broadcasters’ revenue, turning 

extra funds over to the local administration. 

Lastly, the entire NBTC is now 

under the jurisdiction of the Ministry for 

Information and Telecommunications, 

which imperils its independence. 

Conditions for journalists deteriorated 

on 2 September, when the prime minister 

declared a state of emergency after 

clashes between government and opposition 

groups left one dead person and 

more than 40 wounded. As a result, army 

chief Anupong Paochinda was given special 

powers to restrict media reports if 

they posed a “national security” threat. 

The information ministry sought and 

received court orders to shut down 400 

websites, mostly for insulting the monarchy. 

Moreover, they advised Internet 

providers to block 1,200 websites considered 

either a “danger to national security” 

or a “disturbance to social order.” 

The country descended further into 

chaos on 9 September, when Samak was 

forced to resign after the courts bizarrely 

ruled that the television cooking show he 

hosted constituted a conflict of interest. 

Later that month, the Court of Appeals 

upheld a two-year jail sentence for both 

Samak and co-defendant Dusit Siriwan, 

accused of defaming Bangkok Governor 

Samart Ratchapolsitte on their TV talk 

shows in early 2006. The Southeast 

Asian Press Alliance fears the case will 

entrench criminal defamation as a tool 

against free expression. 

The year was a bloody one for journalists. 

On 1 August, Matichon reporter 

and Channel 7 correspondent Athiwait 

Chainyanurat was killed at this home in 

the Nakorn Sri Thammarat province. 

The journalist had reported on alleged 

local corruption and on a police manhunt 

for a hired killer, who was reportedly 

a senior civil servant’s bodyguard. It is 

unclear whether any suspects have been 

identified. 

Athiwat’s death was followed by the 

27 September slaying of another Mati - 

chon correspondent, Jaruek Rangcha ro - 

en, who was gunned down in the central 

province of Suphanburi. He was shopping 

in a market when he was shot in the 

head. Jaruek was also known for reporting 

on corruption, and was responsible 

for warning the province’s governor in 

2007 that his life was in danger. In No - 

vem ber, suspects were arrested in both 

the murder cases. 

Thai distributors refrained 

from selling an issue of 

The Economist that contained 

two articles on the 

king’s role in government 

On 5 October, the editor-in-chief of 

Den Siam, a local Chonburi province 

news paper, was gunned down while helping 

his wife in a downtown restaurant. 

Wallop Bounsampop was shot five times 

by a motorcyclist. It is unclear why he 

was targeted, but his political articles had 

earned him many enemies. 

One journalist was killed and one seriously 

injured in the southern regions of 

Thailand, where separatist Malays have 

been in periodic conflict with government 

forces. Chalee Boonsawat, correspondent 

for Thai Rath, was killed on 21 

August while reporting on an explosion 

in the area. The second reporter, Pha dung 

Wannalak of Thai TV Channel 9, was 

seriously injured by a car bomb in Sungai 

Kolok near the Malaysian border. 

In November, as the People’s Alliance 

for Democracy supporters began their 

“final battle” to topple the government 

then led by the ousted Samak’s successor, 

Somchai Wongsawat, thousands surroun - 

ded parliament and occupied the Bang - 

kok airport. Both PAD and pro-government 

forces assaulted journalists and their 

offices on several occasions, and at least 

one relative of a journalist died in the 

mayhem. On 25 November, pro-government 

protesters surrounded the offices of 

radio station operator Therdsak Jiemkit - 

wat tana. When his father, Setha Jiem - 

kitwattana arrived by car, the supporters 

dragged him out, beat and shot him dead. 

After a chaotic political year, independent 

media are vital to ensuring that 

democratic principles are upheld. But lax 

investigations of attacks on journalists, 

political meddling and the country’s law 

barring criticism of the monarch mean 

journalists still face an uphill struggle in 

doing their jobs. 

Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej 

attends the annual Trooping of the Colour 

military parade in Bangkok's Royal Plaza 


Pursue and prosecute those responsible 

for killing journalists 

Abolish outdated lèse-majesté laws 


69

NOTES FROM THE FIELD : THAILAND 

70 

Press Freedom 

Under Siege 

By Kavi Chongkittavorn 

Under normal circumstances, the me dia in Thailand 

has relatively broad liberty. But in the past several 

years, the media landscape has become uneven 

and inconsistent. Media interference has be come 

the norm whenever a new government is installed. 

Officials immediately try to gag the media, and 

use the state-controlled media for public relations 

and propaganda purposes. 

Containing the Internet 

In the past year, Thai authorities zero ed in on the Internet. Online filtering has 

become common, as authorities above all seek to block websites containing commentary 

that is anti-Thai monarchy. Prime Minister Abhist Vejjajiva, who took 

power in December 2008, said re peatedly that while the government res pects 

freedom of expression, it would not tolerate the websites that spread lies about 

the monarchy, which is revered by the Thai people. He said that, in normal 

times, websites should not be closed, but that negative content must be monitored 

and stopped. 

As long as the authorities in charge continue to perceive anti-royal websites as 

an onslaught on the revered King and Thailand, they will continue to block the 

condemned websites. In January 2009, the Ministry of Information and Com mu - 

ni cations Technology shut down more than 2,300 websites that the authorities 

said were anti-royalist. The ICT recently said it is now seeking a mandate to block 

more, similar websites. Four years ago, there were only 19 controversial websites. 

Targeting Community Radio 

About 2,000 community radio stations operate within Thailand. In the past few 

years, during the height of political trouble, community radios served as sources 

of alternative information on Thai politics. Depending on the stations and re - 

gions, community stations usually broadcast news that one would not hear from 

the mainstream media. 

The allocation of wavelengths to the many stations remains a huge problem. 

Authorities continue to seek control over the content of their broadcasts. Some 

com munity radio stations have been used by local community leaders who 

have linkages with politicians at the national level. The Abhisit-led government 

is looking for a system that would provide assistance in increasing the professionalism 

of community radio broadcasts in years to come. 

What Lies Ahead 

The battle with the Internet will continue to intensify, but will yield marginal or 

no results at all. As in many countries, internet filtering has only a short term 

impact. The country’s image within free media communities, however, will be in - 

creasingly marred by this interference. 

Kavi Chongkittavorn, Assistant Group Editor of The Nation Multimedia 

Group, Thailand, is a member of IPI’s Executive Board. 

Turkmenistan 

by Naomi Hunt 

The 2006 death of President Sapar - 

mu rat Niyazov, self-styled as Turk - 

menbashi (Father of the Turkmen), was a 

watershed in Turkmenistan history. It was 

the end of a dictator whose entire theory 

of state revolved around the need to 

hatch a national mythology, in which his 

exalted personage would take centre 

stage. But his death has neither ushered 

in democracy, nor improved human 

rights in the country. 

Turkmenistan sits on the world’s fifthlargest 

natural gas deposits. However, 

revenue from these resources rarely makes 

it into the pockets of the people. Rather, 

President for Life Niyazov used the funds 

to build his myths. He ordered a series of 

self-aggrandizing projects and edicts: 

gold statues of himself; an ice palace, an 

artificial lake and a cedar forest built in 

the impossibly hot desert; and a theme 

park in his own honour whose attractions 

illustrate myths and principles of his own 

making. His rambling, 400-page composition 

on Turkmen mythology, history 

and tradition, the Ruhnama, is required 

reading for school children and government 

workers alike, and excerpts are featured 

in TV “news” programming. 

The Turkmenistan 

government maintains 

absolute dominance 

over all media outlets 

The prerequisite to nation-wide historical 

revision is the control of information, 

and the Turkmenistan government 

maintains absolute dominance over all 

media outlets. There is no freedom of 

expression and no access to information; 

the government operates the printing 

pres ses and maintains editorial control 

over every word its citizens see. The 

Organization for Security and Coope ra - 

tion in Europe (OSCE) has called the 

lack of press freedom “unprecedented.” 

Amnesty International terms the hu - 

man rights situation, in general, “disastrous.” 

Civil society is essentially banned 

and human rights activists are frequently 

harassed, imprisoned, beaten or interned 

in psychiatric hospitals. Journalists face 

the same threats, and their phone lines 

are monitored and frequently cut. 

Last year, successor President Gurban - 

guly Berdymukhamedov was elected with 

89% of the vote in an election that ob -

President of Turkmenistan Berdymukha - 

medov addresses the media after talks 

in Berlin. (Reuters/Tobias Schwarz) 

servers denounced as neither free nor fair. 

Nonetheless, he instituted bare minimum 

human rights reforms, and asserted 

his belief in freedom of expression. 

Civil society is essentially 

banned and human rights 

activists are frequently 

harassed, imprisoned, 

beaten or interned in psychiatric 

hospitals 

Reporters without Borders (RSF) note 

that these verbal commitments have led 

to paltry improvements. For instance, the 

country now has five cybercafés, of which 

two are in the capital. An estimated 1% 

of the population has access to the Inter - 

net, which is filtered by the government. 

All opposition websites, run from outside 

the country, are blocked. 

Turkmenistan In Brief 

It is difficult to come by information 

on specific instances involving journalists 

in Turkmenistan, because so few reports 

are available. One Radio Free Europe/Ra - 

dio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist, Ogulsa - 

par Muradova, was sentenced to six years 

in prison in 2006, but was found dead 

after serving two weeks of her prison 

time. U.S. diplomats who viewed her 

body noted puncture wounds from injections, 

blue bruises and broken bones. 

Many activists and journalists who are 

imprisoned disappear for years, or forever. 

In 2008, details from one brutal case 

have emerged from the silent state, exemplifying 

the horrific conditions under 

which journalists live. An RFE/RL contributing 

reporter, Sazak Durdymuradov, 

was arrested on 20 June and fired from 

his full-time job as a high school history 

teacher. According to CPJ, deprivation of 

income is a common method for exerting 

pressure on independent journalists and 

their families. 


Domestic Overview: A former Soviet republic, Turkmenistan has been 

independent since 1991. At that time, Saparmurat Niyazov became 

president, and ruled with an iron fist until his death in 2006. Gurbanguly 

Berdymukha medov became the next president following elections that 

were considered not to meet international standards. Although technically 

a democracy, Turkmenistan is an authoritarian one-party state. 

Beyond Borders: Turkmenistan maintains economic ties with Turkey, 

Russia, Iran and China, but also occasionally with the United States. 

It worked with the Taliban in Afghanistan until 11 September 2001. 

Its major exports are gas and oil. 

The front page of Turkmen national newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan with President 

Sapar murat Niyazov’s obituary, December 22, 2006. (AP/Alexander Vershinin) 

Durdymuradov was held for two 

weeks in two different psychiatric wards. 

According to RFE/RL, the journalist was 

severely beaten with a pipe, tortured by 

electroshock and forced to sign a letter 

promising he would no longer report for 

RFE/RL. Ten doctors declared him mentally 

unstable, despite the fact that he has 

no history of psychiatric problems. His 

wife, who visited him after he was tortu - 

red, said Durdymuradov’s physical con - 

dition was so poor that he expressed his 

wish to die. 

Durdymuradov was released on 3 July 

following massive international pressure, 

on the condition that he stops his “slander.” 

He said that he was “thrown in” with 

mental patients and was too afraid to 

sleep. He denied that he had signed any 

agreement to stop reporting for RFE/RL, 

and added that he was told that if he tells 

the truth, he will not face any consequences. 

When CPJ and other organisations 

called to confirm his release, they 

found both his cell phone and his landline 

had been disconnected. 


Permit a private media to develop, 

regulated by independent media 

councils 

Stop the imprisonment and 

torture of journalists, activists and 

other members of civil society 

Protect human rights that are fundamental 

and universal: access to 

information, freedom of expression, 

and freedom of thought 

71

72 

Uzbekistan by Patti McCracken 

An elderly Uzbek woman leaves an electoral booth at a polling 

station in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Sunday, 23 December, 2007. 

Uzbeks cast ballots in a tightly controlled presidential vote that 

extended the rule of one of the most autocratic and anti-Western 

leaders in strategic Central Asia. President Islam Karimov ran 

for a new term in office against little-known chal len gers, for the 

right to rule this crucial energy-rich region. (AP Photo) 

When 58-year-old reporter Salijon 

Abdurakhmanov was arrested in 

June on trumped-up drug charges, media 

organisations were quick to express their 

outrage to the Uzbek government, charging 

them of violating human rights. “In 

many countries, journalists are prosecuted 

for doing their jobs, but in countries 

like Uzbekistan, state authorities fabricate 

accusations against journalists [...] to 

silence the independent and critical voices,” 

said a statement issued by Article 19, 

in a sentiment shared by many press freedom 

organisations. 

Karimov’s government 

is well-known for its tight 

control of the press 

Abdurakhmanov, who has worked for 

UzNews.net, Radio Free Europe/Radio 

Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America, 

was one of the few remaining independent 

journalists in a country with a history 

of applying heavy pressure to silence 

criticism. Police stopped Abdurakh ma - 

nov while he was driving his car, and 

found illegal drugs in the boot of his 

vehicle. The journalist, who claims that 

the drugs were planted, took a blood-test 

which cleared him of drug use. He was 

then charged with and found guilty of 

intent to sell, and sentenced to ten years 

imprisonment. 

Uzbekistan's President Karimov and Russia’s then-President Putin 

talk as they meet in Moscow's Kremlin. (Reuters/RIA Novosti) 

The imprisonment of Abdurakhma - 

nov brings the number of independent 

and opposition journalists currently in 

prison in Uzbekistan to five. At the same 

time, the government has forced international 

media such as the BBC, Deutsche 

Welle, RFE/RL and Russia’s NTV out of 

the country: by either revoking their 

press credentials or by threatening, intimidating 

and harassing media workers 

until they leave Uzbekistan of their own 

accord. 

Ever since it broke free from the 

USSR in 1991, Uzbekistan has been ru - 

led by President Islam Karimov, a Sovietera 

party secretary, who has maintained 

his hold on the country through a series 

of elections deemed severely flawed by 

independent observers. Karimov’s government 

is well-known for its tight control 

of the press, with RSF stating that 

“arrests, internment and blocked websites” 

are common in Uzbekistan. 

Nonetheless, in October, the EU and 

Uzbekistan co-sponsored a media conference 

titled “Liberalisation of Mass Me - 

dia: An Important Component of the 

Democratisation of Society” in the 

Uzbek capital, Tashkent. The conference 

was welcomed by the international community; 

however, media organisations 

cautioned that the seminar should not be 

viewed as a sign of change. In a bizarre 

twist that justified their concern, foreign, 

independent and opposition media were 

barred from the conference, whereas 

journalists from the state broadcast and 

print media were invited to attend. 

A further restriction im - 

posed on Uzbek journalists 

is the government’s 

list of topics on which 

the media is forbidden to 

report in a negative light 

The disappointment of the conference 

content was attested to by Article 19, representatives 

of which took part in the 

event. According to their press release 

following the event, “nothing new was 

heard from the representatives of the government 

or the state-controlled media 

who were present. There was no hint of 

acknowledgement from the Uzbek side 

that the country’s media are neither free 

nor independent, that journalists and 

others are regularly imprisoned for ex - 

pressing their opinions, that access to 

critical external websites is blocked, and 

that foreign journalists are not allowed 

ac creditation to cover the country from 

within.” 

The media conference was held one 

week before EU foreign ministers met to 

discuss whether or not to lift sanctions

Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov takes part in a wreath laying ceremony 

at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. (Reuters/Alexander Natruskin) 

against Uzbekistan, imposed in the wake 

of the 2005 massacre of Uzbek citizens at 

the hands of their own armed forces in 

the city of Andijan, during a government 

crackdown on demonstrators. The Uzbek 

authorities continue to persecute journalists 

critical of the crackdown, and as a 

result, dozens of reporters have fled the 

country, fearing for their safety, reports 

CPJ. Others who returned – only to turn 

Uzbekistan in Brief 

around and flee again – report that they 

were repeatedly interrogated and intimidated 

into signing false documents de - 

signed to promote the government’s version 

of events during the crackdown. 

A further restriction imposed on Uz - 

bek journalists is the government’s list of 

topics on which the media is forbidden to 

report in a negative light. According to 

CPJ, this list of taboo subjects includes 


Domestic Overview: Uzbekistan’s population – the largest of the Central 

Asian countries – is predominantly Sunni-Muslim. Poverty is widespread 

in the country, although official Uzbek figures differ greatly from external 

estimates (unemployment officially stands at around 3%, for example, 

whereas the World Bank estimates it as closer to 40%). Uzbekistan achieved 

independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and adopted a constitution 

guaranteeing the fundamental rights of its people. Despite this and the 

government’s purported commitment to it, the state of human rights in 

Uzbekistan has deteriorated, bringing condemnation from abroad. 

Beyond Borders: Uzbekistan is a member of most regional and global 

inter-governmental organisations. It is also a signatory to the International 

Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It maintains close relations with 

Russia, and the two are party to a mutual defence treaty. Uzbekistan is 

also a supporter of the coalition forces in Afghanistan, allowing German 

forces to utilise one of its southern air bases. However, sanctions were 

imposed on Uzbekistan by the EU, following the Uzbek government’s brutal 

crackdown on anti-government demonstrators in 2005, and Uzbekistan’s 

refusal to allow an international inquiry to investigate the matter. 

(but is not limited to), the Andijan crackdown, 

the president and his family, 

human rights abuses, opposition party 

activities, and social and economic problems. 

The list is passed informally to editors 

by members of Karimov’s administration 

and by the National Security Ser - 

vice. In interviews with Uzbek reporters, 

who preferred to remain anonymous for 

fear of reprisal, CPJ confirmed that, “re - 

strictions imposed by [the] regime have 

all but eliminated the independent press 

corps in the country, thus turning it into 

an informational black hole.” 


The Uzbek state must stop censoring 

journalists. 

The Uzbek state must cease all 

forms of intimidation and aggression 

against journalists. 

Restrictions on independent local 

and foreign media must be lifted, 

allowing them to return to work. 

All journalists who have been 

imprisoned on spurious charges 

must be released immediately. 

73

74 

Vietnam by Patti McCracken 

Vietnamese journalist Nguyen Viet Chen of the Thanh Nien newspaper during his trial 

in Hanoi, Vietnam, 15 October 2008. Chien, 56, was convicted of "abusing freedom 

and democracy" at the end of the two-day trial at the Hanoi People's Court and sentenced 

to two years in prison. (AP Photo/Vu Tien Hong) 

The press in Vietnam continues to 

struggle under the heel of an ongoing 

government crackdown on free 

speech, resulting in the arrest of at least 

ten journalists – five of which are now 

serving prison terms – in 2008 alone. 

Authorities charged most of these journalists 

with “abuse of power”, while ac - 

cusing others of tax evasion and one with 

terrorism. In addition to these arrests, 

further press freedom violations were frequent 

this year, with the government suspending 

journalists’ press credentials for 

writing material considered critical, the 

police beating and detaining a foreign 

journalist, and an Inter net writer forcibly 

exiled following her release from a psychiatric 

detention unit. Meanwhile, several 

other journalists are serving unjust 

prison sentences handed down in previous 

years. 

There are more than 100 radio and 

television stations in Vietnam, nearly 600 

periodicals and some 100 websites, most 

of which are controlled either by various 

government agencies or by the communist 

party directly. Private media is officially 

banned in Vietnam, but some un - 

derground newspapers have sprung up 

since the democratic faction “Bloc 8406” 

was formed in 2006. The group was outlawed 

in the same year, and several journalists 

linked to the movement imprisoned 

for disseminating “propaganda hostile 

to the government”. A law placing 

the communist par ty above all other laws 

negates the right to freedom of speech – 

supposedly protected by the con stitution. 

Bloc 8406 members continue to be pursued 

by the authorities. 

Duc spent a gruelling 

year in pre-trial detention, 

during which he broke 

his arm in January only 

to be denied immediate 

treatment by the authorities, 

before finally standing 

trial in March 2008 

One such example is the case of freelance 

journalist Truong Minh Duc, a 

Bloc 8406 member, who was arrested in 

May 2007 while helping farmers file 

complaints against local authorities for 

seizing their land. Well-known in Viet - 

nam’s southern provinces for his campaigns 

against government corruption, 

and the author of several articles highlighting 

abuses of power, Duc was char - 

ged under Clause 2 of Section 258 of the 

Vietnamese Penal Code, for “taking ad - 

vantage of the people’s liberty and democratic 

rights to harm the interests of the 

country.” Duc spent a gruelling year in 

pre-trial detention, during which he 

broke his arm in January only to be de - 

nied immediate treatment by the authorities, 

before finally standing trial in 

March 2008. Among the accusations 

levied against Duc were writing articles 

that distorted the truth and “misjudged” 

Vietnam’s regime, campaigning against 

communist party policy, and listening to 

overseas radio broadcasts and reading 

articles on the Internet. Duc was sentenced 

to five years in prison. 

Not long after the sentencing of Duc, 

another journalist detained in 2007 was 

handed a prison sentence on exaggerated 

charges. Nguyen Quoc Hai, also known 

as Somsak Khunmi, was handed down a 

9-month prison sentence for “terrorism”, 

after being found preparing to distribute 

literature calling for peaceful democratic 

change. Somsak is a Thai resident who 

had travelled to Vietnam to assist French- 

Vietnamese journalist Nguyen Thi 

Thanh Van in his reporting on farmer 

protests. Van was released in December 

2007 following diplomatic pressure, but 

Somsak was made to face charges. He was 

eventually released from prison in August 

of this year, and is currently on three 

years probation. 

Media workers in the state controlled 

press in Vietnam normally remain silent 

in the face of injustice against their colleagues. 

However, one incident in May so 

shocked both media and public alike that 

it even sparked protest in the official press. 

Nguyen Viet Chen and Nguyen Van Hai, 

two reporters who exposed the “Project 

Management Unit-18 Scandal” of 2006, 

were arrested and charged for “abusing 

their position and power”. Chen and Hai 

had reported on the embezzlement by 

Transport Min istry officials of approximately 

US$750,000 to gamble on Euro - 

pean football events. Their coverage led 

to the resignation of the Transport Minis - 

ter, and to the internment of Deputy 

Transport Minister Ngu yen Viet Chen 

along with other ministry employees. 

The authorities deemed the two reporters 

to have “abused democratic freedoms to 

infringe upon the interests of state” in

their newsgathering. Chen was ultimately 

handed a two-year pri son term, while 

Hai, who pled guilty, was handed the 

lesser punishment of two years “re-education”. 

A police of ficer who provided 

information to the jour nalists was also 

given a jail term, while, in a perverse 

asymmetry, former Deputy Transport 

Minister Chen had been released from 

prison earlier in the year with his legal 

rights and benefits restored. 

The video then cuts 

out, but the journalist 

reports being punched, 

chocked and hit over the 

head during a two-anda-half 

hour detention, 

all apparently for photographing 

in an allegedly 

restricted area 

The arrests of Chen and Hai triggered 

a barrage of protests from journalists and 

bloggers. The flagship publication of the 

Vietnam National Youth Foundation, 

Thanh Nien, blazoned their front page 

with the headline “honest journalists must 

be freed,” while the Toui Tre (“Youth”) 

newspaper published an article claiming 

they had been flooded with telephone 

calls from citizens outraged at the government’s 

actions. The editors-in-chief of 

both newspapers have since been remo - 

ved from their posts. 

Vietnam in Brief 

Associated Press reporter Ben Stocking sits in a hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, 

Friday, 19 September, 2008. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki) 

Video evidence of the conditions 

under which independent journalists are 

forced to operate in Vietnam surfaced on 

the Internet in September, when footage 

of the arrest of Associated Press Hanoi 

Bureau Chief, Ben Stocking, was posted 

on YouTube. The footage shows Stocking 

taking pictures at a demonstration held 

by Vietnamese Catholics, when two 

plain clothes police officers appear – one 

of them placing his arm cosily across 

Stocking’s shoulders – and escort him 


Domestic: Vietnam is one of the world’s last remaining single-party com - 

munist states. A little more than 20 years ago, the government started 

down a path of reform, providing more financial freedom and opportunities 

to the people. The commercial sector was given substantial room to grow, 

and although the government maintained a grip on the media, reporters 

generally began to experience latitude in their ability to investigate tough 

topics. This situation has changed, however, in the past two years, with an 

increase in attacks on the media. 

Beyond borders: Vietnam began to emerge from international isolation 

after withdrawing its troops from Cambodia in 1989. Soon after, diplomatic 

and economic ties were established with ASEAN and with most Western 

European and northern Asian countries, and in 1995, normal diplomatic 

relations were restored with the US. Some tension still exists between 

China and Vietnam over the maritime rights of the potentially oil-rich Spratly 

and Paracel islands in the South China Sea. 

away from the crowd. The hymns of the 

protestors can be heard in the backdrop 

as Stocking is seen doubling over, as if 

struck in the torso. The video then cuts 

out, but the journalist reports being pun - 

ched, chocked and hit over the head during 

a two-and-a-half hour detention, all 

apparently for photographing in an alle - 

gedly restricted area. Officials from the 

U.S. Embassy took Stocking to receive 

medical attention, a wound to his head 

requiring four stitches. 


Restore freedom of speech as 

an inalienable right 

Permit opposition and critical 

reporting in the country 

Release unjustly imprisoned 

journalists 

Cease the beating and harassment 

and detentions of media personnel 

75

76 

Africa By Uta Melzer 

Where Information 

is a Luxury Good 

Africa’s journalists have long operated in difficult 

circumstances, and 2008 was no exception. 

Leaders in much of the continent 

demonstrated a low tolerance for 

scrutiny – particularly when it in - 

volved their physical health or came from 

popular songwriters. Defamation and se - 

dition charges were common. Calls for 

increased statutory regulation also proved 

popular, and authorities showed that li - 

censing requirements can be abused in 

multiple ways. Physical violence remain - 

ed a serious threat, costing five African 

journalists their lives. 

Eritrean President Afewerki answers 

questions during an interview in Asmara 

(REUTERS/Radu Sigheti) 

Eritrea’s government distinguished 

itself as one of the world’s most brutal suppressors 

of independent reporting. Many 

of the journalists arrested in sweeping 

crackdowns in 2001 and 2006 not only 

remained in detention, but new reports 

indicated that more individuals than previously 

thought are involved. Estimates of 

those who have died in custody also rose, 

with at least four feared dead. 

IPI’s Justice Denied Campaign highlights 

the plight of those who remain in 

jail, for whom time may very well be running 

out. Reporters Without Borders has 

called for a visa ban for President Isaias 

Afewerki and other senior government 

members. The European Union in Sep - 

tem ber issued a statement “profoundly 

deploring” the situation, and urged the 

government to disclose information about, 

and permit some access to, the prisoners. 

By contrast, plenty of news emerged 

from The Gambia, where President Yah - 

ya Jammeh’s regime aggressively pursued 

dissenters. Working from abroad pro - 

vided no amnesty. Fatou Jaw Man neh, a 

Gambian journalist living in the United 

States, was prosecuted for a critical article 

published online in 2005. Pro ceedings 

against Manneh, arrested during a March 

2007 visit, were dragged out for over one 

year. In August, she was convicted of se - 

dition and sentenced to four years in pri - 

son or a fine of about US$12,000. Man - 

neh avoided prison by raising the necessary 

amount. 

Yahya Dampha, exiled in Senegal, 

only narrowly escaped dire consequences 

when his neighbours foiled a kidnapping 

attempt by suspected agents of the notorious 

National Intelligence Agency 

(NIA). Dampha testified as a witness at 

the ECOWAS Community Court of 

Justice in Abuja, Nigeria, in the case of 

Ebrima Manneh, a “disappeared” Gam - 

bi an journalist. In March, five state 

agents summoned by the ECOWAS 

court defied its order to make an appearance. 

In June, the court ordered that Manneh 

be released and paid compensation, 

finding that he was arrested in July 2006 

and since held incommunicado. As of the 

end of 2008, the government had failed 

to comply, and Manneh was feared dead. 

Independent voices were also muzzled 

by simply denying them access to events 

of public interest, such as the annual 

opening of parliament and ongoing court 

proceedings. But journalists working for 

pro-government publications such as 

the Daily Observer were not immune. A 

strin ger was dismissed after he was elected 

as an executive member of the Gam - 

bian Press Union. A former executive at 

the publication was repeatedly pursued, 

for allegedly “uttering seditious words.” 

A reporter with the opposition Foroyaa 

news paper who investigated his arrest was 

himself arrested and detained for a night. 

A violent July attack on journalist 

Justice Momodou Darboe of the independent 

The Point by a knife-wielding as - 

sailant underscored the continuing threat 

of violence. 

Amid the political tumult leading up 

the presidential elections in Zimbabwe, 

press freedom violations multiplied in 

Ap ril and May. Several journalists were 

attacked and beaten, and a truck carrying 

60,000 copies of a publication printed in 

South Africa was torched. Those who 

could fled. 

Changes introduced to the notorious 

Access to Information and Protection of 

Privacy Act (AIPPA) triggered little more 

than confusion. The authority in charge 

was replaced, but accreditation remained 

mandatory, and used to prohibit many 

from covering the elections, including 

several international media. Those who 

reported without it were aggressively 

persecuted, including a New York Times 

correspondent and British freelancer, de - 

tained at the Harare police station for 

5 days before charges were dropped. On 

the day of presidential run-off elections, 

seven journalists were arrested in connection 

with questions regarding their ac - 

creditation. All of them – a British photographer, 

four Zimbabweans, and two 

South Africans – were released after one 

night. 

Zimbabwe’s media faced plenty of 

other judicial hurdles. Editors and media

Zimbabwean opposition supporters wave red cards while chanting party slogans, during a rally for Morgan 

Tsvangirai at the White City Stadium in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Saturday, March 8, 2008 (AP/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) 77

78 

lawyers were repeatedly charged with 

offences such as “publishing false statements 

prejudicial to the state and contempt 

of court” and “undermining the 

authority or insulting the president” for 

running opposition politician columns 

and making remarks about President 

Robert Mugabe. 

A new “luxury goods” tax on all foreign 

newspapers sold in Zimbabwe left 

no doubt about the government’s attitude 

towards information. Mugabe’s re - 

gime went a step further in late Decem - 

ber, threatening to ban accredited foreign 

bureaus and local reporters working for 

international news organizations. The 

government continued its ban on BBC 

reporters. 

In Ethiopia, efforts to revive independent 

media after the government’s 

sweeping 2005 crackdown in which 

dozens of journalists and opposition po - 

liticians were jailed or exiled were repeatedly 

hampered. The license applications 

of two publishers and a columnist were 

inexplicably rejected even though the 

Ministry of Information conceded that 

all legal requirements had been fulfilled. 

Later news emerged that no new licenses 

would be issued until the much-maligned 

new press law was published. 

Revisions to the Ethiopia’s media law, 

passed in July, included some welcome 

provisions but did not rid the existing 

press law of its most pernicious clauses. 

The new law bans censorship of private 

media and the detention of journalists 

suspected of law infringement. However, 

prosecutors can still impound publishing 

materials prior to publication in certain 

circumstances. Fines for defamation were 

increased. Also, defamation and libel re - 

mained criminal offences under the penal 

code, punishable by prison. 

The Charities and Societies Proclama - 

tion, a draft law criminalizing certain hu - 

man rights activities, also caused alarm. 

Violations could trigger penalties of up to 

five years of imprisonment. The draft law 

also provides for the creation of an agen - 

cy with wide discretion to regulate civil 

society organisations in the country. 

The government was particularly ag - 

gres sive in response to coverage of Tewo - 

dros Kassahun, a singer and outspoken 

government critic imprisoned on hitand-run 

charges. Enku magazine’s editor 

and three others were arrested after publishing 

a cover story on Kassahun, and 

faced charges based on incitement. All 

10,000 copies of the magazine were also 

seized. Two other editors were prosecuted 

for writing about the singer, one for naming 

the wrong judge as being in charge of 

his trial. 

Amare Aregawi, editor of one of Ethi - 

o pia’s best read newspapers, was ar rested 

in Addis Ababa in August and taken to a 

prison 700 kilometres away, in connection 

with stories addressing criticisms of 

the management of a brewery linked to 

the government. The charges were quickly 

dismissed. A few months later, Aregawi 

was attacked by two assailants, who struck 

him on the back of the head. Aregawi lost 

consciousness and required medical treatment. 

The two men were soon apprehen - 

ded. Local sources believe the attack was 

connected to his work at the Reporter. 

Revisions to the Ethiopia’s 

media law, passed in July, 

included some welcome 

provisions but did not rid 

the existing press law of its 

most pernicious clauses 

In Nigeria, President Umaru Yar’A - 

dua’s government reacted strongly to critical 

media coverage, particularly relating 

to his health, a repeated source of ru - 

mours. In September, the government 

sus pended Channels TV and State Sec - 

urity Services (SSS) held four of its staff 

members after the station mistakenly air - 

ed a hoax report that health reasons may 

prompt the president to step down. In 

late 2008, several staff members of an 

independent daily were interrogated by 

the SSS and then charged with libel for 

publishing an article claiming ill health 

forced the president to cancel official 

engagements and seek medical treatment 

from international doctors. 

Two U.S.-based bloggers were held 

for questioning by the SSS in a crackdown 

on foreign-based political websites 

that specialise in Nigeria following the 

online publication of photos of the president’s 

son. The oil-rich Niger Delta re - 

gion also remained dangerous, with two 

documentary filmmaker teams detained 

and interrogated by state security before 

being released. 

In October, radio journalist Eiphraim 

Audu, who was involved with the Niger - 

ian Union of Journalists, was shot by six 

unknown gunmen near his home. In the 

meantime, no progress was made on the 

Freedom of Information bill, with the 

House of Representatives again deferring 

its consideration. 

Conditions deteriorated in Lesotho 

and Cameroon. In Lesotho, Harvest FM 

radio host Thabo Thakalekoala was char - 

ged with offences including high trea son 

for broadcasting a letter arguing for the 

arrest of certain government members for 

corruption. IPI successfully applied to 

the WPFC Fund Against Censorship to 

cover his legal fees. He was ultimately 

con victed of sedition, defamation and 

sub version, but avoided prison by paying 

a fine. 

The radio station also became the first 

target of a new law making it easier for 

the government to revoke broadcasting 

licenses. Harvest FM was off the air for 

three months, apparently suspended be - 

cause officials felt its broadcasts would 

“damage their dignity.” Print media did 

not fare much better, with a now-defunct 

weekly, its editor and its printing company 

fined US$8,000 for defaming Prime 

Minister Pakalitha Mosisili. 

The new telecommunications law came 

at a time that also brought a dramatic 

increase in broadcasting license fees, from 

US$400 to US$3,000 per year. The fees 

imperil private broadcasters long struggling 

to survive without governmental 

advertising. 

In Cameroon, singing became a risky 

form of expression. After almost six 

months in detention, musician Lapiro de 

Mbanga was found guilty of taking part 

in riots against the high cost of living. He 

was sentenced to three years in prison 

and ordered to pay some US$640,000 as 

damage compensation. The charges were 

widely viewed as retaliation for a critical 

song he wrote about planned constitutional 

amendments. Earlier in the year, 

songwriter Joe La Conscience, another 

critic of the amendments, was sentenced 

to six months’ imprisonment for organising 

an allegedly illegal demonstration. He 

was later pardoned. 

Three private broadcasters were summarily 

closed for five months for failing 

to pay the staggering US$227,000 licensing 

fee. With only four broadcasters operating 

with licenses, many viewed this as 

selective enforcement in response to critical 

coverage.

The National Union of Somali Jour - 

nalists (NUSOJ) emphasized that the 

com paratively low numbers of journalists 

killed in Somalia did not reflect an 

improved media environment. Unjust i - 

fied arrests and detention of journalists 

in the lawless country actually increased, 

NUSOJ reported, while fear of reprisal 

fostered self-censorship. In a devastating 

incident, Nasteh Dahir Farah, the 26year-old 

vice president of NUSOJ, was 

killed by shots in the head and chest by 

two men after earlier receiving death 

threats. 

In the Democratic Republic of 

Con go, journalists were caught in the 

middle of increasing violence between 

rebels and government forces, particularly 

in the country’s eastern part. 

Journalists often faced repercussions 

for their interviews. Staff of the UNback 

ed Radio Okapi were threatened for 

being “unpatriotic” for interviewing the 

spokesperson of the Congrès national 

pour la défense du peuple (CNDP), and 

for delivering news deemed “humiliating” 

for the army. Other radio and TV 

journalists were also threatened and held 

for up to two days. 

The November killing of Didace Na - 

mujimbo, a reporter for Radio Okapi, ex - 

posed the risks of working in the country. 

Namujimbo, who was shot dead with a 

single bullet to the head, was found without 

mobile phone but still in possession 

of money and other personal items. 

Radio journalist Eiphraim 

Audu, who was involved 

with the Nigerian Union 

of Journalists, was shot 

by six unknown gunmen 

near his home 

Radio Okapi’s news editor Serge Ma - 

heshe was killed in 2007. In May 2008, 

a military appeals court sentenced two 

con victed gunmen and their accomplice 

to death for the murder, in a judicial pro - 

cess denounced by human rights groups 

as providing inadequate safeguards for a 

fair trial. The only positive news was the 

acquittal of Maheshe’s two friends and 

eyewitnesses of the crime, who were initially 

accused based on statements of the 

two convicted gunmen. 

Others narrowly escaped violence. A 

journalist of the German Frankfurter 

Allg emeine Zeitung, his interpreter and 

their driver were abducted in November 

by Mai Mai forces, but released within 

three days. 

Judicial persecution also continued. 

Ten and nine-month sentences, respectively, 

were imposed on an editor and his 

assistant after they were secretly held for 

three months at a National Intelligence 

Agency detention centre. They were 

found guilty of “insulting the head of 

state” in connection with articles questioning 

the health of President Joseph 

Kabila. 

Increased statutory regu - 

lation of the media was at 

issue in several countries 

Sierra Leone’s media environment 

remained heavily politicized, with journalists 

caught in the middle of clashes 

between supporters of the ruling All Pe - 

ople’s Congress and the opposition Sierra 

Leone People’s parties. A party leader 

meeting to discuss the clashes caused 

more violence, with security personnel 

assaulting journalists and confiscating 

equipment. Disappointingly, no progress 

was made on promised changes to the 

Public Order Act, which imposes lengthy 

prison terms for defamation. The law 

continued to be used as a cudgel against 

government critics. 

South Africa’s journalists reportedly 

faced increasingly uncooperative government 

officials and local authorities. 

A draft Protection of Information Bill, 

which outlined broad protection for in - 

formation where secrecy was deemed to 

be in the “national interest,” also caused 

concern. It was withdrawn in October, but 

is expected to be reintroduced in 2009. 

An IPI General Assembly resolution 

highlighted another problem: the growing 

number of arrests of journalists covering 

police action at crime scenes or other 

incidents. Journalists were repeatedly ar - 

rested and detained overnight, but char - 

ges against them quickly dismissed as 

baseless by courts. 

The 2009 presidential election 

promp ted allegations by the South Africa 

Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) that 

its reporters and editors were receiving 

threats from political party representa- 

Gambia’s President Yahya A.J.J Jammeh 

attends wreath-laying ceremony in Cuba 

(Reuters/Enrique de la Osa) 

tives, warning them to report favourably 

on certain parties. The SABC indicated 

that it had not witnessed as much intimidation 

since the country’s first democratic 

elections in 1994. 

Increased statutory regulation of the 

media was at issue in several countries. In 

Botswana the Media Practitioners’ Bill, 

which seeks to introduce a statutory press 

council, require registration and permit 

large penalties for violations, caused concern. 

In Zambia, members of parliament 

introduced the possibility of statutory 

instruments after voicing disappointment 

over politicized election coverage. In 

Kenya, a bill proposing a governmentappointed 

communications commission 

reached the final stages of the legislative 

process in December. The development 

sparked demonstrations that led to arrests 

of several journalists and other protesters. 

In Tanzania, editors and reporters 

took to the streets to protest a threemonth 

ban on a weekly that the government 

accused of fomenting sedition by 

reporting that some officials sought to 

oust President Jakaya Kikwete. The information 

minister said the ban would 

“send strong signals” to media considering 

“unethical” reports, but in turn got 

strong signals from journalists that they 

would not tolerate such interference. 

79

80 

Your Black Muslim Bakery is seen in North Oakland. Chaucey Bailey had been investigating its owners when he was killed. (Reuters/Staff Photographer)

The Americas By Michael Kudlak 

A Climate of Hostility 

Although only nine journalists were killed in 2008 – down from 13 in 2007 and 15 

in 2006 – it was another dangerous year for media professionals in the Americas. 

Five journalists were murdered in 

Mexico, and one each in Bolivia, 

Guatemala, Brazil and Venezuela. 

A further eight journalists were reported 

missing in Mexico. Others faced death 

threats and physical attacks as a result of 

their reporting on corruption, drug trafficking, 

human rights abuses and other 

issues. As a result, self-censorship was 

rampant. 

When not confronted with violence 

and threats, journalists continued to face 

legal, administrative and economic ha - 

rass ment, including charges of criminal 

defamation or insult, restrictions on ac - 

cess to information, and the use of advertising 

to either reward or punish media 

outlets for their coverage. The region’s 

leftist leaders, Cristina Fernández de 

Kirch ner of Argentina, Evo Morales of 

Bolivia, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of 

Brazil, Rafael Carrea of Ecuador, Daniel 

Ortega of Nicaragua, and Hugo Chávez 

of Venezuela, continued to verbally at - 

tack the largely privately-owned media, 

thereby contributing to an increasingly 

hostile climate for journalists. 

In a positive development, 

laws on access to infor - 

mation were passed in Chile 

and Guatemala 

In a positive development, laws on ac - 

cess to infor mation were passed in Chile 

and Guatemala 

In Argentina, access to government 

information remained limited under the 

new administration of President Fernán - 

dez, while the allocation of state advertising 

to influence media coverage posed 

per haps the most serious threat to press 

freedom. 

Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, continued 

to accuse the media of bias against 

his administration. One journalist, Car - 

los Quispe Quispe of Radio Municipal 

Pucarani in La Paz department, died on 

29 March of injuries sustained two days 

earlier when demonstrators calling for 

the ouster of a local mayor assaulted him. 

In Brazil, the relationship between 

the administration of President Lula and 

the media remained tense. Journalists fa - 

ced censorship and a barrage of litigation, 

while those investigating corruption and 

drug trafficking, particularly in the country’s 

interior, continued to be targets of 

violence. 

In Chile, journalists enjoyed a free 

media environment after years of suppression 

under the military dictatorship 

of General Augusto Pinochet. On 11 Au - 

gust, President Michelle Bachelet signed 

the Law on Transparency of Public Func - 

tions and Access to Information of the 

State Administration, establishing the 

right to request and receive information 

from any public institution. 

In Colombia, 2008 saw an increase 

in legal and administrative harassment 

against the media, with journalists facing 

subpoenas, contempt of court charges, 

and criminal and civil lawsuits. Jour nal - 

ists in the provinces, attempting to report 

on local corruption, drug trafficking and 

other illegal activities, continued to face 

threats and violent attacks by right-wing 

paramilitaries, leftist guerrillas, corrupt 

officials and organised criminals. 

In Guatemala, Congress passed a 

Freedom of Information Law on 23 Sep - 

tember. The law, which will allow citizens 

to request and receive information from 

public institutions, will go into effect in 

January 2009. However, attacks on the 

press, including harassment, intimidation 

and violence against journalists, continued 

throughout the year, culminating in 

the killing of Jorge Mérida Pérez, a correspondent 

for the national daily, Prensa 

Libre. Pérez, who was shot dead by an 

Police investigators remove the body of reporter Armando Rodriguez from his car 

in the border city of Ciudad Juarez in Mexico (Reuters/Stringer Mexico) 

unidentified gunman in his home in Co - 

atepeque, Quetzaltenango department, 

had received multiple threats after reporting 

on local drug trafficking and 

corruption. 

In Mexico, frequent attacks against 

journalists reporting on corruption and 

drug trafficking, combined with the im - 

punity accompanying these crimes, have 

led to a climate of fear in which self-censorship 

is widespread. Furthermore, the 

Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes 

against Journalists, set up by the govern- 

81

82 

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speaks 

during a campaign rally (Reuters/Jorge Silva) 

ment in 2006, has proven ineffective in 

stemming the surge of attacks against the 

media. Four journalists were murdered in 

2008, making Mexico the most dangerous 

country in the Americas for journalists. 

On 9 October, Miguel Angel Villa - 

gómez Valle, editor of the daily newspaper 

La Noticia de Michoacán in Lázaro 

Cárdenas, Michoacán State, was abducted 

and murdered by unidentified individuals. 

José Armando Rodríguez Carre - 

ón, who covered crime for the daily El 

Diario de Juárez in Chihuahua State, was 

shot to death outside his home by an 

unidentified gunman on 13 November. 

Journalists and activists Teresa Bautista 

Merino and Felicitas Martínez Sánchez, 

who worked for the community radio 

station La Voz que Rompe el Silencio in 

Oaxaca State, were killed by unidentified 

individuals as they were on their way 

back from covering the State Forum for 

the Defence of the Rights of the Peoples 

of Oaxaca. On 24 September, Alejandro 

Zenón Fonseca Estrada, host of a talk 

show on radio station EXA FM, was shot 

and killed while hanging anti-organised 

crime posters on a major street in Villa - 

hermosa. 

Eight other journalists are currently 

reported missing in Mexico. Mauricio 

Estrada Zamora, a crime reporter for the 

daily La Opinión in Apatzingán, Mich o - 

acán State, is the latest journalist to have 

gone missing. He was last seen on the 

night of 12 February as he was leaving 

his paper’s offices for home. Police found 

his car – its engine still running – the 

next day. 

In Peru, where journalists initially en - 

joyed an improvement in press freedom 

following President Alberto Fujimori’s 

ous ter in 2000, the number of attacks 

against journalists, particularly those wor - 

king in the provinces, has risen stea dily 

over the past few years. 

Hugo Chávez and members 

of his administration 

continued to harass and 

intimidate Venezuela’s proopposition 

media 

Despite the rejection by national 

referendum of proposed constitutional 

chan ges that would have given the president 

more powers to restrict the media, 

Hugo Chávez and members of his ad - 

ministration continued to harass and 

intimidate Venezuela’s pro-opposition 

media. Their aggressive rhetoric has 

encouraged local officials, state security 

personnel, pro-government supporters 

and others to attack the media, both verbally 

and physically. One journalist, 

Pierre Fould Gerges, vice president of the 

Caracas daily newspaper, Reporte Diario 

de la Economía, was shot dead by two 

unidentified gunmen on 2 June. The 

daily’s senior staff had received death 

threats linked to the publication’s critical 

stance on government corruption. On 

18 September, Venezuelan authorities ex - 

pelled two senior members of Human 

Rights Watch from the country. José 

Miguel Vivanco and Daniel Wilkinson, 

Americas Director and Deputy Director, 

respectively, were expelled hours after 

holding a news conference in Caracas to 

present a report, “A Decade of Chávez”, 

which describes how democratic institutions 

and human rights guarantees have 

been weakened in Venezuela. 

Although Canada’s journalists enjoy 

a free media environment, attempts to 

force journalists to reveal confidential 

sources and the willingness of police to 

seize notes, photographs and other material 

belonging to journalists remain reasons 

for concern. In May, journalists ex - 

pressed dismay at the government’s decision 

to discontinue the Coordination of 

Access to Information Requests System 

database, which provided the public ac - 

cess to information requests filed with 

the government. 

In the United States, additional in - 

vestigations into the August 2007 murder 

of Chauncey Bailey, editor-in-chief of the 

weekly Oakland Post, were announced 

by California authorities in November. 

Bailey, who was shot dead in broad daylight 

on his way to his office in downtown 

Oakland, California, had been in - 

vestigating the alleged criminal activities 

of the owners and staff of “Your Black 

Muslim Bakery” at the time of his killing. 

One suspect, Devaughndre Broussard, an 

occasional cook at the bakery, initially 

con fessed to the police that he killed 

Bailey, but later retracted his confession, 

maintaining it was made under duress. 

Alleged police irregularities in the investigation 

have been reported. 

Around the country, journalists continued 

to face contempt charges in federal 

court cases for refusing to reveal their 

sources or materials. In February, a federal 

judge held Toni Locy, a former USA 

Today reporter, in contempt for failing to 

identify sources who named former U.S. 

Army scientist Steven Hatfill as a possible 

suspect in the 2001 anthrax mail attacks 

that killed five people. The judge said he 

would fine Locy US$ 500 per day, escalating 

to US$ 5,000 per day, until she 

identified her sources. 

Over the past several years, attempts 

to force journalists to reveal their sources 

have resulted in the jailing of Judith 

Miller, a reporter for The New York Times, 

and Joshua Wolf, a freelance video- 

Blogger, in 2005 and 2006, respectively. 

In September 2006, Lance Williams and 

Mark Fainaru-Wada, two reporters for 

the San Francisco Chronicle, were senten - 

ced to 18 months in prison after refusing 

to reveal who leaked secret jury testimony 

during a criminal investigation into 

the use of steroids in professional sports. 

The two journalists only avoided going 

to jail after a confidential source came 

forward. Another journalist, TV reporter 

Jim Taricani from Providence, Rhode Is - 

land, was sentenced to six months’ house 

arrest in December 2004 for refusing to 

divulge the name of a source. 

These and other federal court sanctions 

on reporters for refusing to reveal 

confidential sources have led to increased 

efforts to enact a federal media shield law. 

The latest attempt was overwhelmingly 

passed through the House of Represen - 

tatives and the Senate Judiciary Commit - 

tee, but suffered a setback on 30 July 

when the motion to consider the bill, S. 

2035, was withdrawn in the Senate.

Europe By Colin Peters 

Information: 

What’s Yours is Ours 

The gradual backslide in European press freedom continued this year, as 

governments further dented journalists’ right to protect the confidentiality 

of their sources, strengthened and applied criminal defamation legislation, and 

used counter-terrorism as a pretext to stifle free speech. Meanwhile, reporters 

on the continent continued to die for carrying out their professional duties 

Violent, and even fatal, attacks on 

journalists remain more serious 

and more frequent the further 

one travels East in the region. Despite 

pled ges from new president Dmitry 

Med vedev to protect the media, Russia 

remains the most dangerous European 

country for journalists, with four killed 

this year. All four journalists either 

worked in or reported on Russia’s volatile 

North Caucasus region. 

Georgia proved equally deadly for 

jour nalists. Three reporters lost their lives 

during the August hostilities with Russia, 

and another shortly thereafter. Violence 

was witnessed in other parts of the ex- 

Soviet region, too. In Georgia’s neighbour, 

Azerbaijan, one individual journalist 

was repeatedly attacked- beaten, knifed, 

and narrowly avoiding being pushed 

under a train. In Belarus, journalists 

reporting on a demonstration were brutally 

assaulted and detained by the KGB. 

Attacks on journalists 

remain more serious and 

more frequent the further 

one travels East 

Serious attacks on the media were also 

registered in the South East European 

region. In Croatia, a car bomb killed 

two media workers in October. Both 

worked for the weekly Nacional, and 

both had earlier received death threats. 

One of them, Ivo Pukanic, had even been 

shot at outside his apartment in April in 

an ap parent attempted murder. Death 

threats against journalists were not un - 

com mon in Croatia, with IPI’s affiliate 

SEEMO reporting that at least two other 

journalists were threatened with their 

lives in 2008. Elsewhere in the region, 

violence against the media was perpetrated 

in Serbia and in Greece. 

A bomb attack on Spanish newspaper 

El Correo in June showed that physical 

aggression remains a threat in Western 

Europe. Nearly 50 workers were comple - 

ting the Sunday edition at the newspaper’s 

Zamudio premises when an explosive 

device – believed to have been planted 

by the Basque separatist group “ETA” 

– was triggered outside the building. 

Fortunately, nobody was hurt. 

In general, however, dangers to press 

freedom in Western Europe tended to 

arise through restrictive legislation, and 

this year even stalwart defenders of free 

speech such as Germany, the U.K. and 

Finland took legislative steps that could 

impact negatively on the media. Coun - 

ter-terrorism again provided the basis for 

much of the proposed or implemented 

changes. 

The trend towards the storage of tele - 

communications data for possible use in 

criminal investigations in the EU, re - 

quired by EU Directive 2006/24/EC, 

poses a potential problem. The directive 

obligates governments to ensure that 

communications companies store certain 

user data for a period of between six and 

twelve months, for potential use by 

national authorities should the need 

arise. 22 EU members are currently im - 

plementing the necessary changes to their 

domestic law. Ireland, supported by the 

Slovak Republic, has challenged the 

A copy of the Sunday edition of El Correo 

newspaper at the Zamudio printing works 

following the bomb explosion of 8 June. 

(Reuters/Ho New) 

directive at the Court of Justice of the 

European Communities, but the Advo - 

cate-General recommended in October 

that the court reject Ireland’s appeal. 

The legislation poses a threat to journalists’ 

ability to protect the confidentiality 

of their sources, a right that came 

under further pressure this year. In Ger - 

83

84 

Channel One, state-run Russian television, 

correspondent Ilyas Shurpayev is seen in 

Dagestan region's capital Makhachkala in 

this Sept. 2007 photo. Shurpayev was one 

of four journalists killed in Russia this year. 

(AP/Sergei Rasulov) 

many, for example, draft legislation called 

“The Law on Defence against the Dan - 

gers of International Terrorism” was in - 

troduced. It would have given German 

police increased power to perform surveillance 

on German citizens, while stripping 

journalists of the automatic right to 

protect the secrecy of their sources. 

Fortunately, the bill was defeated in the 

German Bundestag in November. 

In France, long-awaited draft legislation 

designed to strengthen journalists’ 

right to protect the secrecy of their 

sources passed its second reading in the 

French National Assembly, but the draft 

was criticised for not going far enough. 

In the U.K., a journalist fought the 

Greater Manchester Police all the way to 

the High Court to prevent being forced 

to hand over source material from a book 

he had written. The court ultimately ru - 

led against him. 

Some form of criminal 

defamation legislation 

still exists in almost every 

European country 

Misuse of the “right of reply” raised 

concerns in Slovakia, when the Slovak 

parliament passed a revised Press Act containing 

provisions that could seriously 

restrict media independence and editorial 

autonomy. Slovak citizens now have 

the right to force newspapers to print 

their replies to articles that they feel have 

hurt their reputation. These replies must 

be printed – in the same location as the 

original article and taking up the same 

amount of space on the printed page – 

even if the factual content of the original 

article is not in question. 

This move came at a time when countries 

such as Germany are working to 

limit the scope of their own “right of 

reply”, as shown by the January decision 

of the Federal Constitutional Court to 

overturn a lower court ruling against Der 

Spiegel. A Hamburg court had ordered 

Der Spiegel to print a disgruntled reader’s 

reply to a 2004 article. Der Spiegel maintained 

on appeal that the impressions the 

reader sought to counter in her reply 

were not necessarily conveyed by the 

original article. The Federal Constitu tio - 

nal Court concurred, concluding that the 

“right of reply” only applies to disputed 

statements presented as irrefutable facts. 

The use of criminal defamation against 

journalists also frequently caused concern 

in 2008. Some form of criminal defamation 

legislation still exists in almost every 

European country. Despite calls for decri - 

minalisation of the offence by organisations 

such as the OSCE and the Council 

of Europe, certain countries have taken 

the opposite approach. 

In Slovenia, for example, a group of 

supporters of the then-ruling Slovenian 

Democratic Party attempted to bring 

criminal defamation charges against the 

initiators of 2007’s “Petition against 

Censorship and Political Pressures on 

Journalists in Slovenia” in February, 

claiming that the petition had defamed 

the Slovenian Republic, damaged Sloven - 

ia’s good reputation, and inflicted political 

and material damage on the Slovenian 

state. During the course of its high-level 

mission to Ljubljana in March, IPI called 

for these charges to be dropped and for 

the laws under which they where filed to 

be removed. However, in April, amendments 

widening the scope of Slovenia’s 

criminal defamation legislation by increa - 

sing the number of persons responsible 

for articles were included in a reform 

package to the Slovenian Criminal Code. 

The bill became law on 1 November. 

Recourse to criminal insult charges 

against journalists seemed to in fact be - 

come more, not less, acceptable among 

Slovenian politicians, as shown by the 

complaints filed against Finnish journal- 

ist Magnus Berglund in October by then- 

Prime Minister, Janez Jansa, and against 

Reporter journalist Biserka Karneža Cer - 

jak in December by Bojan Srot, mayor of 

one of Slovenia’s largest cities. In both 

instances, the charges related to the ag - 

grieved individual’s public position. It 

remains to be seen whether the incoming 

Pahor administration, which has promised 

to improve media freedom, will 

change this trend. 

The police allegedly 

visited De Fillipis early in 

the morning, verbally 

abused him in front of 

his children and took him 

to a police station, where 

he was questioned and 

twice subjected to body 

cavity searches 

In France, the former managing editor 

of the daily Libération, Vittorio de 

Filip pis, endured extreme harassment by 

the authorities in a defamation-related 

issue. The police allegedly visited de 

Filippis early in the morning of 28 

November, verbally abused him in front 

of his children and took him to a police 

station, where he was questioned and 

twice subjected to body cavity searches 

before being brought before a judge. The 

arrest was in connection to a two-year old 

libel case concerning an article that was 

not written by de Filippis, but for which 

he was responsible due to his position at 

Libération at the time of its publication. 

The uproar following news of the treatment 

of de Filippis prompted French 

President Nicolas Sarkozy to call for the 

decriminalisation of defamation on 11 

December. 

Another European country with a 

prob lematic track-record on criminal 

defamation is Turkey, where infamous 

Article 301 criminalised, among other 

things, insults to the vague notion of 

“Turkishness”. IPI sent an open letter to 

the Turkish President, Abdullah Gül, in 

January to coincide with the first an ni - 

versary of the murder of renowned Turk - 

ish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, 

calling for the long-promised reform 

package that would amend Article 301, 

which many believe leads to the singling-

People walk past a banner in Tbilisi (Reuters/David Mdzinarishvili ) 

out of outspoken journalists such as Dink 

for attack. Article 301 was finally revised 

in April. However, the limited changes – 

which, among other things, substituted 

the term “the Turkish nation” for “Turk - 

ishness” and reduced the maximum sentence 

from three years imprisonment to 

one – mean that journalists can still be 

jailed for their writings. In addition, Tur - 

k ey retains a raft of other criminal of - 

fences that can and do lead to the imprisonment 

of journalists. 

With EU member states 

retaining – and sometimes 

using – criminal insult laws, 

countries such as Turkey 

can claim to have drawn 

themselves into line with 

the “European standard” 

This year was, in fact, a politically turbulent 

one for Turkey. The Constitution - 

al Court nearly banned the ruling Justice 

and Development Party, 80 Turkish individuals 

(including several journalists) 

were indicted for plotting to bring down 

the government, and allegations surfaced 

that the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip 

Erdogan, benefited from embezzled mo - 

ney in the “Deniz Feneri e.V.” charity 

scandal. These events were certainly partly 

to blame for the increase in pressure on 

the Turkish media, with Erdogan publicly 

criticising the Dogan Media Group 

following the latter’s coverage of the 

“Deniz Feneri” case, for example. IPI’s 

statement condemning Erdogan’s comments 

was received angrily by the Turkish 

prime minister, who publicly denigrated 

IPI at a party rally. Erdogan later went on 

to urge his supporters not to buy certain 

newspapers, and, in December, Erdogan’s 

office refused to renew the accreditation 

of several long-term political reporters. 

The EU and the Council of Europe 

(CoE), organisations with the potential 

of playing a pivotal role in introducing 

and maintaining high standards of media 

freedom across the continent, achieved 

little in that direction this year. The EU 

has not moved on criminal defamation, 

and with its member states retaining – 

and sometimes using – criminal insult 

laws, countries such as Turkey can claim 

to have drawn themselves into line with 

the “European standard” despite wholly 

unsatisfactory reform. The CoE, in the 

meantime, has spoken loudly on criminal 

defamation, but the slow journey to the 

European Court of Human Rights 

(ECtHR) means that journalists must of - 

ten suffer before they can receive justice. 

The current ineffectiveness of these 

bodies is exemplified by the case of Azeri 

journalist Eynulla Fatullayev, long victimised 

by the oppressive Azeri government 

for his critical reporting and currently 

serving an eight year prison sentence 

on what most consider as contrived 

charges. Both the EU and the CoE have 

called for his immediate release. How - 

ever, these calls have been ignored and 

Fatullayev continues to languish in a pri - 

son cell, deprived even of writing materials. 

Following the rejection of his appeal 

by the Azeri Supreme Court in June this 

year, Fatullayev applied to have his case 

heard at the ECtHR. The court is currently 

considering his application. 

85

86 

Middle East and North Africa By Naomi Hunt 

Progress Without 

Press Freedom 

Press freedom in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region did not 

improve in 2008. Most regional governments continued to use defamation 

legislation, anti-terrorism laws and laws protecting Islam to steamroll 

freedom of expression. Journalists who criticized government policy or 

wrote about corruption faced heavy fines, imprisonment and even the 

death penalty, while women and minority journalists were especially targeted. 

Violence remained a real and constant threat. 

Opposition gunmen from the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party search the offices of the 

Future TV studios. (REUTERS/STR New) 

There were several attempts by governments 

in 2008 to exert control 

over the Internet, which has provided 

a relatively free space for political 

and cultural discourse in many countries. 

Filtering was widespread, as was the practice 

of blocking access to critical websites 

for a period of time. This year, both 

Ye men and Egypt instituted new 

requirements for Internet cafes. Café users 

must now register their names and other 

personal information before going on - 

line, ostensibly to track potential terrorists 

using the web. This is already practiced 

in Tunisia, where Internet cafes are 

state-run and under police surveillance. 

In fact, five of the thirteen “Internet 

Enemies” listed by Reporters Without 

Bor ders are countries in the MENA re - 

gion. These are Saudi Arabia, Egypt, 

Sy ria, Tunisia and Iran. Libya was re - 

cently removed from the list, as no cyber- 

dissident has been arrested since March 

2006 (although there remains absolutely 

no independent press in the country). 

Bloggers suffered much judicial harassment, 

charged with criminal offences or 

simply held without charge. In Saudi 

Ara bia, where censorship is official policy, 

bloggers were often targeted for al - 

legedly insulting Islam or the prophet. In 

Iran, at least seven bloggers were detained 

or arrested at some point this year, on 

charges such as spying for Israel, engaging 

in activity liable to harm national se - 

curity, and for publicity against the state. 

Of these seven, five were women. At least 

ten bloggers were detained or jailed this 

year in Egypt. Although the restrictions 

on online writers have reportedly been 

pushed back, allowing for a greater diversity 

of opinion online, Emergency Law 

and Press Law rules continue to be used 

to harass journalists and bloggers. 

Although strict licensing procedures 

and ministerial oversight prevent the publication 

of many critical reports in the 

region, journalists whose work passes layers 

of censorship must also contend with 

harsh defamation and libel laws. Defam - 

ing or insulting state officials continues 

to carry prison time in many MENA 

coun tries. In Algeria, defamation of high 

officials and state organs has been criminalized 

since 2001, and as of February 

2006, it is illegal to criticize actions dur-

Arab leaders and delegations attend the closing session of the annual summit of the Arab league in Damascus, Syria Sunday, March 30, 2008. (AP/Nasser Nasser) 

ing the 1990s by security forces in that 

country. In Jordan, defamation is punishable 

only with a fine; however, insulting 

the King or the royal family carries a 

sentence of up to three years. Criticizing 

the head of state, undermining public 

morality, defaming individuals or misrepresenting 

Yemeni or Arab heritage are all 

illegal in Yemen. Similar legislation also 

exists in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya, 

Tunisia, Mo roc co, Chad, the United 

Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman. 

In Iran, at least seven 

bloggers were detained or 

arrested this year, on 

charges such as spying for 

Israel, engaging in activity 

liable to harm national 

security, and for publicity 

against the state 

National security legislation, including 

anti-terrorism laws and relic emergency 

acts, including the criminalization 

of threats to national cohesion, were also 

used to harass the press and media in 

most MENA countries, with Lebanon 

and Israel being notable exceptions. 

The use of national security laws to re - 

press free speech was particularly visible 

in Iran, where critical journalists, bloggers 

and dissidents – especially Kurds and 

Azeri – are frequently accused of activity 

liable to harm security, publicity against 

the Islamic republic, and even spying for 

Israel. Instead of being tried in regular 

courts, such cases are frequently heard by 

revolutionary courts – often without the 

defendant present, or even aware that 

they are being tried. Revolutionary courts 

were designed to try those attempting to 

overthrow the Islamic republic. Punish - 

ments meted out are often harsh, and in - 

clude the death penalty. 

Many countries in the MENA region 

criminalize expression that is interpreted 

as insulting to Islam. Iran, Jordan, Ye - 

men, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and 

Qatar all pe n alize apostasy, heresy and 

insults to Is lam or the prophet Moham - 

med with harsh penalties, including the 

death penalty. 

Potential insult to religion also ser ved 

as an excuse for censorship in a muchcri 

ticized set of satellite broadcasting 

principles adopted by the Arab League 

in Feb ru ary. The Cairo Institute for Hu - 

man Rights Studies (CIHRS) denoun - 

ced the document as a “fake national 

and ethical cover to limit the freedom 

margin exercised by the media outlets 

in some of the Arab countries.” The docu 

ment, which called for, among others, 

the prohibition of ma terials that incite 

hatred, violence or terror ism, also stated 

that broadcasts must comply with the 

values of Arab society and refrain from 

insulting God, revealed religions, pro - 

phets and even religious symbols. 

Potential insult to religion 

also served as an excuse 

for censorship in a muchcriticized 

set of satellite 

broadcasting principles 

adopted by the Arab League 

in February 

Violent conflict throughout many 

parts of the region continued to victimize 

journalists and other media workers, 

some harmed alongside other civilians in 

87

88 

attacks, others singled out for their role 

in spreading information. In Sudan, several 

journalists were physically harmed 

in the course of the conflict with Chad. 

Editors were summoned or arrested on at 

least ten occasions in 2008, and at least 

ten newspapers were suspended, banned 

or had press proofs seized. 

At least thirteen 

reporters died as a result 

of targeted killings 

In Lebanon, political parties, of 

which there are dozens, are frequently 

and fa mously represented by one publication 

or broadcaster. Journalists and other 

staff are therefore embroiled in political 

and often violent conflict. This year, 

there were ar son attacks on the buildings 

of newspaper Al-Anbaa and Armenian 

Radio Sevan. On May 9, four news me - 

dia owned by Saad Hariri, leader of the 

anti-Syrian Fu ture Movement, were targeted 

by Hez bol lah. Militants fired rock- 

ets at news-paper Al-Mustakbal, while 

gunmen surrounded Future TV, Future 

News and Ra dio Orient, threatening to 

fire if broad casts were not cut. Broad - 

casts resumed five days later. 

Iraq continued to be the world’s deadliest 

place for reporters, even though far 

fewer were killed this year than last. All 

victims were local journalists working for 

Iraqi news sources. At least thirteen re - 

por ters died as a result of targeted kil - 

lings, adding to what the Committee to 

Protect Journalists described as an “un - 

blemished record of impunity for the 

killer of journalists.” The United States 

military detained and held at least six 

journalists and editors, while Iraqi forces 

legally harassed or imprisoned a further 

seven. At least seven incidents of mistreat 

ment, beatings or torture were repor - 

ted. Furthermore, Reporters Without Bor - 

ders issued a statement saying that press 

freedom had worsened in Iraqi Kur dis - 

tan, in the past a zone of relative safety. 

Many of the year’s developments 

throughout the MENA region involved a 

seemingly region-wide concern for the 

protection of cultural heritage clashing 

with pushes for modernization. With ac - 

cess to the Internet and to foreign programmes 

through satellites and other 

tech nologies growing, the availability of 

information (and misinformation) conti - 

nued to create a new relationship bet - 

ween citizens and states. It remains to be 

seen whether this means that repression, 

censorship and legal harassment will soon 

give way to better protection of broad 

free doms, including the freedom of ex - 

pression. 

Religion and politics are closely tied in Saudi Arabia, 

home to Islam’s holiest sites. A view of Muslim 

pilgrims praying at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. 

(Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah)

Australasia and Oceania By Colin Peters 

Free – But Not to Disagree 

The region’s worst performer in press freedom terms this year was Fiji, 

where the media is still suffering under the interim government of Frank 

Baini mara ma. Pressure was also felt elsewhere in the region, including 

Aus tra lia, where threats to journalists’ right to protect the confidentiality 

of their sour ces paralleled those of Western Europe. 

Areturn to democracy in Fiji was 

once again put on hold this year, 

when Bai ni marama, the interim 

prime minister, an nounced in July his 

decision to postpone the elections scheduled 

for March 2009. Bainimarama, who 

took power following the bloodless coup 

of 5 December 2006, blamed the current 

electoral system for the delay, stating that 

it promotes racial division and needs 

reform. This postpone ment was bad 

news for Fiji’s media, which has struggled 

under his rule. 

The publisher of the 

Fiji Times was taken from 

his home and placed on 

a flight out of the country 

the following day 

The year got off to a poor start on the 

small island nation, with the January ar - 

rest and detention of a TV crew that had 

been legitimately covering a dispute bet - 

ween a school principal and its administrators. 

In February, Immigration Department 

officials detained Australian-born 

Fiji Sun publisher Russell Hunter, decla - 

red him a “security risk,” and deported 

him. His expulsion – carried out on a day 

that Bainimarama assured the public that 

media freedom in Fiji is “secure and guaranteed” 

– took place despite a High 

Court order blocking his deportation. 

Hunter has since been declared a prohibited 

immigrant. 

Immigration Department officials for - 

ced another foreign publisher out of the 

country in almost identical circumstances 

little more than two months after the 

expulsion of Hunter. Evan Hannah, an 

Australian citizen and the publisher of 

the Fiji Times, was taken from his home 

on 1 May and placed on a flight out of 

the country the following day, for al - 

legedly breaching the conditions of his 

work permit. Once again, the deportation 

was carried out despite a High Court 

order requiring Hannah to be presented 

in court later that afternoon. 

Hannah’s deportation took place on 

the eve of World Press Freedom Day, an 

occasion that again saw Bainimarama 

reiterate the security of Fijian media freedom. 

Such assurances contrasted, however, 

with frequent verbal attacks made 

against the media by the interim prime 

minister and other government officials. 

Bainimarama’s World Press Freedom Day 

message was actually more concerned 

with calling on the media to be “responsible” 

than with highlighting freedom of 

the press, and at various other points in 

the year the press have been accused of 

bias, unprofessionalism and of intentionally 

spreading misinformation. At one 

point they were even blamed for starting 

the 2006 coup itself. 

This attitude calls into question the 

motivation behind an upcoming media 

promulgation, originally due to be disclosed 

in December and ostensibly aimed 

at bringing existing Fijian media law 

under one umbrella. The interim government’s 

Deputy Secretary for Information, 

Major Neumi Leweni, asserted that the 

promulgation would continue to encourage 

media freedom and freedom of 

expression. However, the planned reform 

is believed to contain proposals that 

would give statutory powers to a media 

tribunal that will replace Fiji’s self-regulatory 

media council, as well as other 

changes increasing the authorities’ ability 

to jail journalists. 

A recent court case underscores the 

potential threat such broadened authority 

could pose. At the end of October, following 

a High Court ruling stating that 

Fiji Daily Post barrister Tevita Fa consulting with 

editor-in-Chief Robert Wolfgramm (left), publisher 

Alan Hickling (centre) and General Mana ger 

Mesake Koroi (right) during the Fiji Times hearing 

in December 2008. (Fiji Daily Post) 

Bainimarama’s premiership was legal, a 

reader’s letter questioning the court’s de - 

cision was published in the Fiji Times and 

the Fiji Daily Post. The letter was deemed 

contemptuous. Both newspapers published 

apologies and admissions of guilt 

on their front pages, plus offers to pay 

costs. This did not satisfy the interim 

Attorney-General of Fiji, Aiyaz Sayed- 

Khaiyum, who is now seeking prison sentences 

for the publishers and editors-inchief 

of the two newspapers, plus US$ 

550,000 fines against the publications. 

The judgment in the case of the Fiji 

Times is to be handed down at the beginning 

of January 2009, while that of the 

Fiji Daily Post is due in April. 

Fiji was not the only country in the 

region whose media have been pressured 

by their government for critical reporting 

89

90 

The Fiji Times legal team after hearing of 

the contempt of court case brought against 

publisher Rex Gardiner (left) and Editor in 

Chief, Netani Rika (right). (Fiji Daily Post) 

this year. In June, Michael Somare, Prime 

Minister of Papua New Guinea 

(PNG), told journalists that they should 

consider themselves lucky he has not followed 

Fiji’s example and deported them 

for “contrary” reporting. A week earlier, 

Somare had referred the country’s 

Post-Courier newspaper to the Parlia - 

mentary Privileges Committee for what 

he clai med was an irresponsible front 

page story alleging that PNG public officials 

were complicit in an aid-money corruption 

scandal. A journalist at the Post- 

Courier also received death threats for 

reporting on the matter. 

The interim Attorney- 

General of Fiji is now 

seeking prison sentences 

for the publishers and 

editors-in-chief of the 

two newspapers, plus 

US$550,000 fines against 

the publications 

Elsewhere in the region, in October, 

Vanuatu’s Minister for Agriculture, 

Havo Moli, warned the media that the 

government would introduce a law res - 

tricting press freedom if they continued 

to publish biased and unfair opinions. 

Moli’s statement was made in res ponse to 

an editorial in the country’s Indepen - 

dent news paper that questioned his com- 

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Somare 

(Reuters/Ho New) 

mitment to encouraging rice farming 

out side of his own constituency. 

Australia did not live up to its reputation 

as regional role model this year, 

with a number of incidents that raised 

concern, particularly regarding the au - 

tho rities’ stance on the protection of 

sources. In July, Paul Lampathakis of the 

Sunday Times was summoned before a 

State Par liament Upper House inquiry in 

Western Australia and asked to reveal the 

sources behind an article revealing the 

state government’s plans for an advertising 

campaign. Lampathakis refused to 

comply, and was allegedly threatened 

with a pri son sentence for contempt. 

The premises of the Sunday Times had 

already been raided by the police in April, 

and the property of his journalist colleagues 

indiscriminately searched. Ano - 

ther violation of the right to protect 

sources followed in September, when federal 

police in Canberra raided the home 

of Canberra Times reporter Philip Dorlin, 

searching for classified defence documents 

revealing that Australia’s secret 

services considered regional allies South 

Korea and Japan as high a priority for 

their spies as countries such as China and 

North Korea. 

In a positive development in the re gi - 

on, on 14 February of this year, the Cook 

Islands became the first Pacific island 

nation to introduce freedom of information 

legislation. Cook Island Prime Min - 

ister Sir Terepai Maoate encouraged the 

country’s administration to respect the 

new laws, stating that government officials 

should be neither uneasy with the 

Act nor uncomfortable with releasing 

information to the public. The “Official 

Information Bill” will come into force in 

February 2009, giving the relevant heads 

of ministries and responsible members of 

government twelve months to familiarise 

themselves with its details. 

Freedom of information, or the lack of 

it, has long been a matter of concern in 

the Pacific region. This fact is slowly 

being accepted and addressed by the 

region’s governments. For example, the 

Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) organised a 

training programme in conjunction with 

the UNDP in June in Honiara, capital of 

the Solomon Islands. The programme 

was aimed at “building on the momentum 

of interest in freedom of information, 

using the Cook Islands example as 

part of discussions to ignite and renew 

further interest” among the Forum Island 

Countries, according to the PIF secretariat’s 

press release. 

Vanuatu’s Minister for 

Agriculture warned the 

media that the government 

would introduce 

a law restricting press 

freedom if they continued 

to publish biased and 

unfair opinions 

Freedom of information was also a 

topic in Tonga this year. The country’s 

parliament in October held a workshop 

titled “Parliament and the Media”, which 

several national and international politicians 

and members of civil society, 

including His Royal Highness Prince Tui 

Pelehake, attended. The workshop recognised 

the importance of freedom of information 

as a necessary part of a well-functioning, 

democratic society, and called on 

the Tongan government to draft and en - 

act appropriate legislation “as a matter of 

urgency.” The workshop’s chairman, Sa - 

miu Vaipulu, who is also Chairman of 

the Whole House Committee of the Ton - 

gan parliament, said that the event had 

shown there is a lot of work to be done to 

attain the more democratic form of government 

for which Tonga is striving.

The Caribbean By Charles Arthur 

Another Troubling Year 

In the region’s three most populous countries – the Dominican Republic, 

Cuba and Haiti – journalists experienced a variety of limitations on their ability 

to practice their profession freely 

It was another troubling year for the 

media in the Caribbean region. In 

the region’s three most populous 

countries – the Dominican Republic, 

Cuba and Haiti – journalists experienced 

a variety of limitations on their 

ability to practice their profession freely. 

Mean while, in the English-speaking 

Carib bean, the main issue of contention 

continued to be criticisms of ruling parties 

voiced on talk-radio programmes 

and the authorities’ often heavy-handed 

response. Thankfully in 2008 there was 

only one case of a media worker losing 

their life as a direct consequence of their 

employment. 

In the Dominican Republic, the 

serious and worrying deterioration of the 

state of media freedom experienced in 

recent years continued, with media workers 

regularly subjected to threats of violence 

and intimidation. There was also 

further evidence of the judicial system 

being used to try to hinder the work of 

investigative journalists. In October, the 

Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la 

Prensa (SNTP, National Union of Press 

Workers) stated that since the beginning 

of the year a total of 32 journalists had 

been physically attacked or threatened, 

while 21 others had been the subject of 

judicial proceedings. 

Normando García, a cameraman 

for a daily news 

programme, was shot dead 

in the city of Santiago 

In the most serious attack, on 7 Au - 

gust Normando García, a cameraman 

for the daily news programme “Detrás 

de la No ti cia” (Behind the News), was 

shot dead in the city of Santiago. The 

crime re mains unsolved, but a colleague 

said he believed García was murdered 

in retaliation for his work covering 

drug-trafficking and crime. According 

to journalists in Santiago, García had 

received multiple death threats since the 

beginning of the year. 

Concerning the large number of journalists 

being taken to court in the Do - 

minican Republic, Mercedes Castillo, 

pre sident of the Colegio Dominicano de 

Periodistas (CDP, the Association of 

Dominican Journalists), said, “Each case 

is different, but they merge together to 

create an atmosphere which limits our 

ability to pursue our work.” One of the 

worst examples of the use of the courts to 

intimidate the media occurred when a 

dairy company sued investigative journalists 

Nuria Piera and Huchi Lora, after 

they filed a report indicating that the 

milk which the company supplied for 

school breakfasts lacked the levels of 

nutrients required by the Ministry of 

Education. The case took a turn for the 

worse in September, when a court granted 

permission for the authorities to 

search the journalists’ offices for archived 

tapes and other information of interest to 

the dairy company. 

Huchi Lora said that the court order 

would be seen as a warning for journalists 

to steer clear of reporting on irregularities 

affecting anyone or any company that has 

a lucrative government contract. He ad - 

ded that it would greatly encourage the 

practice of self-censorship. In the event, 

such was the popular outcry against the 

ruling that it was never applied, and in 

December the courts threw out the dairy 

company’s defamation suit altogether. 

In Haiti, the improvement in the general 

climate of media freedom during the 

presidency of René Préval continued, but 

earlier optimism about moves to end the 

state of impunity for murderers of journalists 

in previous years has faded. In 

December 2007 two people had been 

convicted of the 2001 murder of radio 

journalist Brignol Lindor, and in January 

of this year a further seven other people 

were convicted of involvement in his 

murder in absentia. However, disap- 

Cuba's President Raul Castro flashes 

the victory sign during a session of Cuba's 

National Assembly in Havana, Sunday, 

Feb. 24, 2008. (AP/Ismael Francisco) 

pointingly, by the end of the year, the 

authorities had not been able to apprehend 

any of them. 

In Haiti, earlier optimism 

about moves to end the 

state of impunity for 

murderers of journalists in 

previous years has faded 

There was also no further progress in 

the long-running investigation into the 

2000 murder of Radio Haiti Inter director, 

Jean Dominique. Yet another judge – 

the sixth in eight years – was appointed 

to lead the investigations, but his efforts 

met with little success. At the start of the 

year, the judge tried to question the 

powerful businessman, Rudolph Boulos, 

a possible suspect. But Boulos, who had 

recently been elected to the country’s 

Senate, refused to respond to a series of 

summonses, citing his parliamentary 

immunity. 

In December there was a major setback 

both for the investigation, and for 

the struggle to end impunity in general, 

when Guy Delva, the country’s most 

prominent media rights advocate and the 

91

92 

Protestors march against rising food prices along the streets in the town of Les Cayes, 

Haiti in April, 2008 (Reuters/Eduardo Munoz) 

head of the committee appointed by 

President Préval to help investigations 

into journalists’ murders, was found 

guilty of charges of defamation against 

Rudolph Boulos. In an unprecedented 

decision, Delva, who had repeatedly 

drawn attention to Boulos’ refusal to co - 

operate with the investigating judge, was 

sentenced to one month in prison. His 

appeal against the verdict was still pending 

at the end of the year. 

Cuba continues to be an immensely 

difficult country for the independent 

media. Independent journalists and their 

families routinely face discrimination, 

sanctions and harassment at the hands of 

the authorities. However, during the year, 

there were some signs of a slight thaw in 

the state’s rigorous control over the me - 

dia. In February, the government of 

President Raúl Castro released four prisoners, 

including independent journalists 

José Gabriel Ramón Castillo and Alejan - 

dro González Raga. The two were among 

the 27 journalists arrested in the so-called 

“black spring” crackdown of March 

2003. As highlighted in IPI’s Justice 

Denied Campaign, 22 journalists are still 

held in jail, where they are sometimes 

kept in solitary confinement. Suffering 

from appalling hygiene conditions, rotten 

food and inadequate medical care, it 

is feared that some of the journalists 

could die as a result of the conditions in 

the prisons. 

Also in February, the Cuban government 

signed two UN human rights pacts. 

The following month there was another 

encouraging signal when the authorities 

announced the lifting of restrictions on 

individuals’ acquisition of computer 

equipment. 

One of the countries in the Englishspeaking 

Caribbean where the media 

faced the most difficulties in 2008 was 

Guyana. In April, the television station 

CNS TV6 had its license to broadcast 

suspended for four months following 

controversial comments by a member of 

the public during a political affairs talkshow. 

The owner of CNS, Chandra 

Narine Sharma, who is also the leader of 

a small opposition political party, said 

that his station had been singled out for 

harassment by the authorities – while 

others were getting away with similar 

infringements – because he gave airtime 

to opposition politicians. The station had 

been closed down for a month by the 

authorities in January 2005, and for two 

days in 2002. The Guyana Press Associa - 

tion (GPA) unequivocally condemned 

the decision, stating that “undoubtedly, 

due process has been violated and sacrificed 

at the altar of political expediency 

and self-interest.” 

In July, the actions of the Guyanese 

authorities again raised protests when 

Capitol News TV reporter and producer 

Gordon Moseley was declared persona 

non grata in the office of the president. 

The Government Information Agency 

had withdrawn his accreditation and ac - 

cused him of making “disparaging and 

disrespectful remarks” about the government 

in a letter to the Stabroek News. 

Media freedom advocates claimed that 

barring a journalist because his comments 

displeased the president was an 

attack on pluralism and on the media’s 

critical role. In response to the ban, 

members of the GPA announced a temporary 

boycott of all government functions 

as a form of protest against the deci- 

sion. There was better news in April 

when the government resumed advertising 

with the Stabroek News. The state 

advertising boycott of the newspaper – 

which had lasted for 17 months - had 

been viewed as official action to stifle dissent 

and to punish recalcitrant media. 

In Trinidad and Tobago, Prime 

Min ister Patrick Manning upset media 

freedom advocates when, in early 

November, he made a personal visit to 

the Power 102 radio station to complain 

about the “unprofessional conduct” of 

two of the station’s broadcasters. 

Manning insisted that he was exercising 

his right as an ordinary citizen, and had 

just “dropped into the station” on his way 

home. The Media Association of Trini - 

dad and Tobago re mained unconvinced, 

describing Mann ing’s visit to the radio 

station as “unprecedented”, and one that 

could be perceived as an attempt to 

intimidate or stifle me dia freedom. The 

Trinidad and Tobago Publishers and 

Broadcasters Association said that it was 

unacceptable for an or gan isation or person 

“who is of the view that he has been 

wronged” to “enter the premises of a 

broadcaster to have the incorrect information 

corrected.” 

Cuba continues to be an 

immensely difficult country 

for the independent media 

In February, the arrest of a Jamaican 

journalist working in Grenada, and a 

subsequent order for her to leave the 

country, once again raised questions 

about regional governments’ commitment 

to media freedom and to the concept 

of the free movement of media 

workers throughout the CARICOM 

bloc. Tenesha Thomas, who was in 

Grenada on behalf of CaribUpdate – a 

regional news agency based in Florida – 

was arrested on the grounds that her visa 

had expired, and then told she had 24 

hours to leave the country. The Associa - 

tion of Caribbean Media Workers condemned 

the move, and the organisation’s 

head, Wesley Gibbings, said, “The order 

for her to leave the country can be viewed 

as a hostile act against her and her news 

agency for reasons that have to do with 

the practice of journalism.” The government 

of Grenada later said it would allow 

Thomas to remain until her assignment 

was completed.

A man listens to a portable radio in Old Havana, Cuba (REUTERS/STR New) 

93

94 

A Palestinian journalist wears the torn flack jacket of slain Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana during a protest in Gaza (Reuters/Suhaib Salem)

2008 Death Watch By Michael Kudlak 

66 Journalists killed in 2008 

Asia Becomes the World’s Most Dangerous Region 

With 66 journalists and media 

workers killed because of 

their work in 2008, fatalities 

worldwide were down from record highs 

of 93 in 2007 and 100 in 2006. 

Fourteen journalists were killed in 

Iraq, once again the world’s most dangerous 

country for news professionals. Six 

journalists were killed in Pakistan, five 

each in India, Mexico and the Philip - 

pines, and four in Georgia and Russia, 

respectively. Journalists were also killed in 

Afghanistan, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, 

Croatia, the Democratic Republic of Con - 

go, the Dominican Republic, Guate mala, 

Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, the Palestinian 

Territories, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, 

and Venezuela. Many of these killings 

were committed with impunity. 

Twenty-six journalists were killed in 

Asia, making it the deadliest place in the 

world in which to practice journalism. 

Six journalists were killed in Pakistan 

alone, second only to Iraq in the number 

of casualties worldwide. In the Philip - 

pines, where five journalists were killed 

because of their work, more than 80 journalists 

have been murdered with impunity 

since the return to democracy in 1986. 

At least five journalists were killed in 

India in 2008, the bloodiest year for journalism 

in that country since 2000. 

Twenty-six journalists 

were killed in Asia, 

making it the deadliest 

place in the world in which 

to practice journalism 

In the Middle East and North Africa, 

15 journalists were killed in 2008. Four - 

teen were killed in Iraq – a sharp drop 

from 42 and 46 in 2007 and 2006, res - 

pectively. One photojournalist, Fadel 

Sha na, was killed in the Palestinian Terri - 

tories. The Reuters cameraman was killed 

in the Gaza Strip by Israeli troops when 

he stepped out of his car, which was 

clearly marked as a press vehicle, to film 

an Israeli tank. 

Afghan mourners pay tribute in front of a poster of late Afghan journalist Abdul Samad Rohani in Kabul 

(Reuters/Ahmad Masood) 

In Europe, 10 journalists were killed. 

Three journalists of the four journalists 

killed in Georgia died during the weeklong 

August war with Russia. Stan Stori - 

mans, a Dutch cameraman for the television 

channel RTL 4 in the Netherlands, 

was killed during bombing in the city of 

Gori on 12 August. On 10 August, Ale - 

xander Klimchuk, a photojournalist for 

the Russian news agency Itar-Tass, and 

Grigol Chikhladze, a reporter for Russian 

Newsweek, were killed while covering 

fighting in the disputed region of 

South Ossetia. Four journalists were kil - 

led in Russia, including Gadzhi Abashi - 

lov, head of the State Television and Ra - 

dio Broadcasting Company in the southern 

republic of Dagestan. In Croatia, Ivo 

Pukanic, owner of the NCL Media 

Group, and employee Niko Franjic were 

killed when a car bomb exploded in front 

their offices in central Zagreb. 

Ten journalists were killed in the 

Ame ricas and the Caribbean – five of 

them in Mexico, where another eight 

were reported missing. The frequent violent 

attacks against journalists reporting 

on corruption and drug trafficking, combined 

with the impunity accompanying 

these crimes, have made Mexico the most 

dangerous country in the Americas for 

journalists. 

Five journalists were killed in Africa – 

down from 12 in 2007. Two reporters 

were killed in Somalia, plagued by years 

of lawlessness and fighting between rival 

warlords. In the DRC, Didace Namujim - 

bo, a reporter for the UN-sponsored Ra - 

dio Okapi, was shot at close range on his 

way home in the eastern city of Bukavu. 

He had reported extensively on the trial 

into the murder of another Radio Okapi 

journalist, Serge Maheshe, who died in 

similar circumstances in June 2007. 

95

96 

Africa Asia 

Democratic Republic 

of Congo (1) 

Didace Namujimbo, 34, a reporter for 

the UN-run Radio Okapi, was shot at 

close range on 21 November as he went 

home in Bukavu, South Kivu province. 

He had reported extensively on the trial 

into the death of a colleague, Serge Ma - 

he she, who died in similar circumstances 

in June 2007. 

Kenya (1) 

Trent Keegan, a New Zealand-born 

pho tojournalist, was found with multiple 

head injuries in a ditch beside Uhuru 

Highway in Nairobi on 28 May. Police 

say he was killed in a robbery, but colleagues 

are sceptical. Keegan was investigating 

a land dispute in northern Tan za - 

nia between the Maasai people and the 

U.S.-based Thomson Safaris Company, 

and had told friends he was concerned 

about his safety. 

Nigeria (1) 

Eiphraim Audu, a radio reporter for 

Nasarawa State Broadcasting Service, was 

shot and killed on 15 October by un iden - 

tified gunmen near his home in La fia, 

central Nigeria. Nothing was taken from 

him or his car, which was parked nearby. 

Somalia (2) 

Nasteh Dahir Farah, 36, a free-lancer 

and vice chairman of the National Union 

of Somali Journalists, was shot dead on 

7 June by two men while walking home 

from an Internet café in Kismayo. 

Hassan Kafi Hared, 38, a reporter for 

the Somali National News Agency and 

Gedonet.com, died in a landmine ex - 

plosion in Siyad Village, Kismayo, on 28 

Janu ary. He was on his way to a press 

conference. 

Afghanistan (2) 

Abdul Samad Rohani, 25, of BBC’s 

Pashto Service, was found dead on 8 June, 

the day after he went missing. His bulletriddle 

body was found in a cemetery near 

Lashkar Gah, Helmand province. 

Carsten Thomassen, 38, of the Nor - 

we gian daily Dagbladet, was killed on 14 

January when armed militants attacked 

the Serena Hotel in Kabul, where Tho - 

massen was covering a meeting. 

Cambodia (1) 

Khim Sambo, who worked for the proopposition 

Moneakseka Khmer, was gun - 

ned down on 11 July along with his son 

in Phnom Penh. The reporter covered 

graft, illegal logging and land-grabbing 

by powerful government figures. 

India (5) 

Vikas Ranjan, 32, a correspondent for 

the daily Hindustan, was shot 25 Novem - 

ber by three unidentified men on motorcycles 

in Rosera, in the Samastipur district 

of Bihar state. He wrote about crime 

and corruption and had been receiving 

threats for some time. 

Jagjit Saikia, of the daily Amar Asom, 

was shot several times on 20 November 

by unidentified gunmen near his office in 

Kokrajhar, in the north-eastern state of 

Assam. He frequently wrote about rivalries 

between armed groups and political 

organisations fighting for the political 

autonomy of the ethnic Bodo population 

in Assam. 

Javed Ahmed Mir, a cameraman for 

Channel 9 television, was shot and killed 

by security forces on 13 August while 

covering protests in Srinagar, Jammu and 

Kashmir. 

Ashok Sodhi, a photographer for the 

Daily Excelsior in Jammu and Kashmir, 

was killed 11 May in the crossfire 

between militants and security forces in 

Samba, near the border with Pakistan. 

Mohammed Muslimuddin, correspondent 

for the daily Asomiya Pratidin, was 

killed by several assailants armed with 

sharp objects near his home in the village 

of Barpukhuri, Assam state. Muslimud - 

din, who died on 1 April of multiple 

wounds, had written about drug trafficking 

in the weeks before his death. 

Nepal (2) 

Jagat Prasad Joshi, an editor for the 

Maoist daily Janadisha, was found dead 

on 28 November in a forest near his 

home in Malakheti. News reports suggested 

that Joshi may have been killed 

because of his writing. 

Pushkar Bahadur Shrestha, 57, publisher 

of the Highway Weekly, was shot 

dead on 12 January near the southern 

town of Birgunj by suspected militants. 

Pakistan (6) 

Abdul Razzak Johra, 45, a reporter for 

Royal TV, was dragged out of his home 

and killed by six armed men in Mianwali 

district, Punjab, on 3 November. The at - 

tack came a day after he report on local 

drug trafficking. 

Abdul Aziz Shaheen, 32, of the Urdulanguage 

daily Azadi, was killed on 29 

August in an attack by security forces on 

a Taliban hideout in Swat. He was reportedly 

abducted by a group of Taliban two 

days earlier. 

Mohammed Ibrahim Khan, 45, a re - 

porter for Express TV, was shot by un - 

identified men outside Khar, North West 

Frontier Province, on 22 May. He was 

returning by motorcycle from an interview 

with a Taliban spokesman. 

Khadim Hussain Shaikh, a stringer for 

Sindh TV and bureau chief for the Urdulanguage 

daily Khabrein, was killed by 

unidentified gunmen on 14 April as he 

left his home by motorbike in Hub, 

Balochistan province. His brother, Ishaq 

Sheikh, who was riding with the journalist, 

was wounded.

Siraj Uddin, of the daily Nation, was 

among more than 40 people killed on 29 

February in a suicide bombing in Min - 

gora, North West Frontier Province. He 

was reporting on the funeral of a police 

officer at the time. 

Abdus Samad Chishti Mujahid, 55, 

a photographer and columnist for the 

weekly Akhbar-e-Jehan, was killed by a 

gunman in Quetta on 9 February. The se - 

paratist Baloch Liberation Army clai med 

responsibility. 

Philippines (5) 

Leo Mila, 38, a host at Radyo Natin in 

Northern Samar province, was shot 2 

December while riding his motorcycle on 

the station’s compound. He had recently 

received death threats. 

Aristeo Padrigao, a Radyo Natin commentator, 

was shot on 17 November by 

a gunman on a motorcycle outside Bu - 

kidnon State University on the island of 

Mindanao. He regularly criticised corruption 

and had received death threats. 

Dennis Cuesta, a programme director 

and anchor for DXMD radio, an affiliate 

of the Radio Mindanao Network, died 

on 9 August five days after being shot by 

two gunmen on a motorcycle. 

Martin Roxas, 32, programme director 

for DYVR radio, died on 7 August after 

two men shot him in the back as he was 

going home from work on his motorcycle 

on the central island of Panay. He had 

received threats because of his investigative 

work. 

Benefredo Acabal, 34, publisher of the 

Pilipino Newsmen, was shot several times 

at close range on 7 April by an unidentified 

gunman on a motorcycle in Pasig 

City, near Manila. 

Sri Lanka (2) 

Rashmi Mohamed, a correspondent for 

Sirasa TV in Anuradhapura, was among 

27 people killed on 6 October in a suicide 

bombing at the opening ceremony 

of the new office of the United National 

Party in Anuradhapura. 

Paranirupasingham Devakumar, 34, 

correspondent for Maharaja Television, 

and his friend Mahenthiran Varathan, 

a computer technician, were stabbed to 

death on 28 May by a group of unidentified 

people in Navanthurai village on Jaff - 

na peninsula. He was one of few journalists 

reporting from the restive peninsula. 

Thailand (3) 

Jaruek Rangcharoen, 46, a reporter for 

the daily Matichon, was shot several times 

in the head while buying food at a market 

in Suphanburi province. The shooting 

on 27 September was believed to be 

linked to his investigative reports on local 

corruption. 

Chalee Boonsawat, a reporter for the 

Thai Rath daily, was killed by a car bomb 

that had apparently targeted people arriving 

at the scene of a blast that occurred 

minutes earlier in the town of Sungai 

Kolok. The attacks on 21 August were 

blamed on insurgents in a region rife 

with separatist violence. 

Athiwat Chaiyanurat, a reporter for 

the daily Matichon, was shot on 1 August 

at home in Chaiyamontri, Nakorn Sri 

Thammarat province. He reported on lo - 

cal corruption and crime, and had re - 

ceived death threats. 

Europe 

Croatia (2) 

Ivo Pukanic, 47, owner of the NCL 

Media Group, and Niko Franjic, marketing 

director of the company’s weekly 

Nacional, were killed on 23 October 

when a car bomb exploded in front of 

their offices in central Zagreb. Pukanic 

had received numerous threats in the 

past. Two other Nacional employees were 

wounded. 

Georgia (4) 

Giorgi Ramishvili, of Rustavi 2 broadcasting, 

was hit by a stray bullet while 

filming near the village of Shavnabada, 

near Tbilisi, on 6 September. 

Stan Storimans, 39, a cameraman for 

RTL 4 television in the Netherlands, died 

12 August during the bombing in the 

central city of Gori. His colleague, 

Jeroen Akkermans, was wounded. 

They were covering the conflict between 

Russia and Georgia. 

Alexander Klimchuk, a photojournalist 

for Itar-Tass, and Grigol Chikhlad - 

ze, on assignment for the Russian edition 

of Newsweek magazine, were killed 10 

August while covering fighting in the disputed 

region of South Ossetia. 

Russia (4) 

Abdulla Telman Alishayev, of the 

Islamic station TV Chirkey, died 3 Sep - 

tember, a day after he was attacked near 

Makhachkala, Dagestan, by two unidentified 

assailants. 

Magomed Yevloyev, 37, founder Ingu - 

shetiya.ru, was arrested on 31 August by 

police officers at Narzan Airport in the 

Russian republic of Ingushetia. He suffered 

a gunshot to the head during the 

ride to a local police station and died in 

hospital. Yevloyev was a vocal critic of the 

Kremlin and Murat Zyazikov, president 

of Ingushetia. 

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98 

Dutch cameraman Stan Storimans 

was killed in August during a Russian 

bombardment of the Georgian town 

of Gori. (Reuters/Hennie Keeris) 

Ilyas Shurpayev, 32, correspondent for 

Channel One television, was found stab - 

bed and strangled in his Moscow apartment 

on 21 March. Police say a fire was 

started in an attempt to cover up the 

murder. Robbery was initially ruled out 

as a motive for the crime. 

Gadzhi Abashilov, 58, head of the 

State Television and Radio Broadcasting 

Company in Dagestan, was killed on 21 

March when his car was sprayed with 

bul lets from a passing vehicle in Mak - 

hach kala. The motive for the killing was 

not immediately known. 

Middle East 

and North Africa 

Iraq (14) 

Dyar Abas Ahmed, 28, a reporter for 

the online newspaper Eye Iraq, was shot 

dead on 10 October by unidentified gunmen 

as he was walking with a friend in 

the centre of Kirkuk. The motive for the 

killing was not immediately known. 

Musab Mahmood, a correspondent for 

al-Sharqiya TV, and cameramen Ahmed 

Salim and Ihab Mu’d, were found dead 

on 13 September a short distance from 

where they were abducted while filming 

in Mosul. Their driver was also slain. 

Soran Mama Hama, 23, a reporter for 

the Kurdish-language bimonthly magazine 

Leven, was shot on 21 July by un - 

identified gunmen outside his home in 

Kirkuk. He had written articles on corruption 

and had received several anonymous 

threats. 

Mohieldin Al-Naqib, 49, a reporter for 

a local affiliate of state-run Al-Iraqiya TV, 

was killed in a drive-by shooting north of 

Mosul on 17 June. He had received several 

death threats because of his work. 

Haidar al-Husseini, 37, a journalist for 

the Baghdad daily Al-Sharq, was found 

dead on 22 May in the Buhrez area of 

Diyala province three days after he was 

kidnapped on his way to work by armed 

men in the al-Tahrir area of Baqouba. His 

body showed signs of torture. 

Wissam Ali Ouda, 32, a cameraman for 

Al-Afaq television, was returning home 

from an assignment when he was shot 

by a sniper in the Al-Obaidi district of 

Bagh dad on 21 May. 

Sarwa Abdul-Wahab, 36, a freelance 

journalist, was shot and killed in Mosul 

on 4 May while resisting two would-be 

kidnappers. 

Jassim al-Batat, a correspondent for 

Al-Nakhil TV & Radio, was killed on 

25 April by unidentified gunmen in the 

town of Qurna, north of Basra. 

Qassim Abed El-Hussein Al-Iqbai, 

36, of the Al-Muwatin daily, was killed 

by unknown gunmen in Baghdad on 13 

March. 

Shihab Al-Tamimi, 74, head of the 

Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, died of a 

stroke on 27 February in a hospital where 

he was being treated for injuries he suffered 

when unidentified gunmen opened 

fire on the car carrying Al-Tamimi, his 

son and a colleague in Baghdad. 

Hisham Mijawet Hamdan, 27, head of 

the Young Journalists Association, was 

found dead on 12 February with gunshot 

wounds to the head and chest. He 

worked as a political reporter for the bimonthly 

Al-Siyassa wal-Karar, which is 

published by the association. 

Alaa Abdul-Karim Al-Fartoosi, 29, a 

cameraman for the satellite channel Al- 

Forat, was killed in a roadside bombing 

in the town of Balad, north of Baghdad. 

He was travelling with three colleagues 

when the bomb exploded on 28 January, 

killing the driver and wounding a female 

correspondent and a camera assistant. 

Palestinian 

Territories (1) 

Fadel Shana, a Reuters cameraman, was 

killed by Israeli Defence Forces in the 

Gaza Strip on 16 April. Shana and 

soundman Wafa Abu Mizyed, who was 

wounded in the incident, had gotten out 

of their car, which was clearly marked 

“TV” and “Press”, to film an Israeli tank 

when it fired on them.

The Americas 

Bolivia (1) 

Carlos Quispe Quispe, a journalist for 

the government-run Radio Municipal in 

Pucarani, died on 29 March of injuries 

suffered two days earlier when he was 

beaten by demonstrators calling for the 

ouster of the local mayor. At least 150 

demonstrators forced their way into the 

municipal building where the radio station 

is located, destroying equipment and 

beating Quispe in the head and chest. 

Brazil (1) 

Walter Lessa de Oliveira, a cameraman 

for TV Assembléia, died 5 January 

in a drive-by shooting while waiting at a 

bus stop in Maceió. Revenge appeared to 

be the most likely motive for the murder 

as police identified a drug trafficker 

named “Aranha” (Spider) as the killer. 

State television had previously broadcast 

footage of Aranha filmed by Oliveira. 

Guatemala (1) 

Jorge Mérida Pérez, 40, a correspondent 

for the daily Prensa Libre, was shot 

to death in his home in Coatepeque, 

southwest of Guatemala City, on 10 May. 

Mérida reported on local drug trafficking 

and corruption, and reportedly received 

multiple threats. 

Mexico (5) 

José Armando Rodríguez Carreón, 

40, who covered crime for the Ciudad 

Juárez-based daily El Diario, was shot to 

death on 13 November by an unidentified 

gunman. 

Miguel Angel Villagómez Valle, 29, 

editor of La Noticia de Michoacán, a daily 

in Lázaro Cárdenas, was found shot to 

death on 9 October. His body had been 

left in a refuse bin. The newspaper often 

carries stories about corruption, organised 

crime and drug trafficking in Micho - 

acán state. 

Alejandro Zenón Fonseca Estrada, 

host of a morning talk show on EXA FM, 

was hanging posters on a main street in 

Villahermosa, Tabasco State, as part of 

his ongoing campaign against violence, 

when he was approached by unidentified 

men and shot at close range. Fonseca 

died of chest wounds on 24 September. 

Teresa Bautista Merino, 24, and 

Felicitas Martínez Sánchez, 20, re - 

porters for the community radio station 

La Voz que Rompe el Silencio, were shot 

by unidentified gunmen on a rural highway 

in Oaxaca State. They were on their 

way back from covering the State Forum 

for the Defence of the Rights of the 

Peoples of Oaxaca on 7 April. 

Venezuela (1) 

Pierre Fould Gerges, 48, vice president 

of the Caracas daily Reporte Diario de la 

Economía, was killed on 2 June by un - 

identified gunmen after newspaper officials 

received death threats linked to corruption 

reports. 

The 

Caribbean 

Dominican Republic (1) 

Normando García Reyes, a cameraman 

for the daily news programme “Detrás de 

la Noticia” on TV Teleunión, was shot 

dead on 7 August by unidentified individuals 

in Santiago de los Caballeros. 

Colleagues believed García, who covered 

drug trafficking and crime, was murdered 

because of his work. 

Mourners carry the body of slain Somali journalist Nasteh Dahir Farah. (Reuters) 

99

100 

Acknowledgements 

The International Press Institute would like to thank its members – 

leading journalists, editors and media executives from over 120 countries – 

for providing information for this report. Additionally, IPI would like 

to thank the Reuters news agency, the Associated Press (AP) and European 

Pressphoto Agency (EPA), as well as the following organisations: 

Aliansi Jurnalis Independen (AJI) 

All-Manipur Working Journalists 

Association 

Amnesty International 

Arab Archives Institute 

Arab Network for Human 

Rights Information (ANHRI) 

ArenaFilm Pty 

Article 19, London 

Austrian Press Agency (APA) 

Bahrain Centre 

for Human Rights 

Cairo Institute for Human 

Rights Studies (CIHRS) 

Cartoonists Rights Network 

International 

Center for Journalism 

in Extreme Situations (CJES) 

Centre for Independent 

Journalism 

Centre for Media Freedom and 

Responsibility – Philippines 

Committee to Protect 

Journalists (CPJ) 

European Journalism Centre 

Federation of 

Nepali Journalists 

Foreign Correspondents 

Club of China (FCCC) 

Free Media Movement 

(FMM) – Sri Lanka 

Freedom House 

Freedom of Expression Institute 

Glasnost Defence Foundation 

Hong Kong Journalists 

Association 

Human Rights Watch (HRW) 

Hungarian News Agency 

Corporation (MTI) 

Institute for Reporter Freedom 

and Safety (IRFS) – Azerbaijan 

International Federation 

of Journalists (IFJ) 

International Freedom 

of Expression eXchange (IFEX) 

International Leaders Alliance 

Europe 

International News Safety 

Institute (INSI) 

International PEN 

Journaliste en Danger (JED) 

Media Foundation for West Africa 

Media Institute (Kenya) 

Media Institute 

of Southern Africa (MISA) 

Media Watch 

Mizzima News – Burma 

National Union of Somali 

Journalists 

Organisation for Security and 

Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)- 

Representative on Freedom 

of the Media 

Pacific Media Watch 

Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) 

Peace Institute, Ljubljana 

Radio Televizija Slovenija (RTS) 

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) 

South Asian Journalists 

Association 

Southeast Asian 

Press Association 

Southeast European Media 

Organisation (SEEMO) 

Thai Journalists 

Association (TJA) 

The Slovenian Association 

of Journalists 

Union of Slovene 

Journalists (SNS) 

World Association 

of Newspapers 

World Press Freedom 

Committee 

We also thank the 

numerous other 

ano nymous contributors. 

In addition, we thank the 

Austrian National Bank 

for its contribution. 

Finally, we thank 

the Austrian Ministry 

for European and 

International Affairs 

for its support.

100 


The International Press Institute would like to thank its members – 

leading journalists, editors and media executives from over 120 countries – 

for providing information for this report. Additionally, IPI would like 

to thank the Reuters news agency, the Associated Press (AP) and European 

Pressphoto Agency (EPA), as well as the following organisations: 

Aliansi Jurnalis Independen (AJI) 

All-Manipur Working Journalists 

Association 

Amnesty International 

Arab Archives Institute 

Arab Network for Human 

Rights Information (ANHRI) 

ArenaFilm Pty 

Article 19, London 

Austrian Press Agency (APA) 

Bahrain Centre 

for Human Rights 

Cairo Institute for Human 

Rights Studies (CIHRS) 

Cartoonists Rights Network 

International 

Center for Journalism 

in Extreme Situations (CJES) 

Centre for Independent 

Journalism 

Centre for Media Freedom and 

Responsibility – Philippines 

Committee to Protect 

Journalists (CPJ) 

European Journalism Centre 

Federation of 

Nepali Journalists 

Foreign Correspondents 

Club of China (FCCC) 

Free Media Movement 

(FMM) – Sri Lanka 

Freedom House 

Freedom of Expression Institute 

Glasnost Defence Foundation 

Hong Kong Journalists 

Association 

Human Rights Watch (HRW) 

Hungarian News Agency 

Corporation (MTI) 

Institute for Reporter Freedom 

and Safety (IRFS) – Azerbaijan 

International Federation 

of Journalists (IFJ) 

International Freedom 

of Expression eXchange (IFEX) 

International Leaders Alliance 

Europe 

International News Safety 

Institute (INSI) 

International PEN 

Journaliste en Danger (JED) 

Media Foundation for West Africa 

Media Institute (Kenya) 

Media Institute 

of Southern Africa (MISA) 

Media Watch 

Mizzima News – Burma 

National Union of Somali 

Journalists 

Organisation for Security and 

Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)- 

Representative on Freedom 

of the Media 

Pacific Media Watch 

Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) 

Peace Institute, Ljubljana 

Radio Televizija Slovenija (RTS) 

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) 

South Asian Journalists 

Association 

Southeast Asian 

Press Association 

Southeast European Media 

Organisation (SEEMO) 

Thai Journalists 

Association (TJA) 

The Slovenian Association 

of Journalists 

Union of Slovene 

Journalists (SNS) 

World Association 

of Newspapers 

World Press Freedom 

Committee 

We also thank the 

numerous other 

ano nymous contributors. 

In addition, we thank the 

Austrian National Bank 

for its contribution. 

Finally, we thank 

the Austrian Ministry 

for European and 

International Affairs 

for its support.

102 


The Austrian IPI Chapter acknowledges 

with appreciation the support for the 

Ipi Press Freedom Fund received from 

Johannes Attems 

Member of the Board, OeKB – Österr. Kontrollbank AG 

Christian Domany 

Director of the Board, Vienna Airport AG 

Harald Himmer 

Director General, Alcatel Lucent Austria AG 

Karl Javurek 

Director General, GEWISTA Werbegesellschaft m.b.H. 

Boris Nemsic 

CEO, Telekom Austria Group AG 

Peter J. Oswald 

Director General, Mondi AG 

Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer 

Director General, OMV Aktiengesellschaft 

Christian Sedlnitzky 

Chairman of the Board, UNIQA Versicherungen AG Wien 

Veit Sorger 

President, VÖI – Österr. Industriellenvereinigung 

Furthermore: 

NOVOMATIC AG

FOcus On - International Press Institute

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