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Robert MINTYA and Serge SABOUANG: editors of the newspapersLe Devoir and La Nation respectively, were conditionally released on 24November 2010 on orders of the President pending a trial for allegedlyforging the signature of a presidential aide. The trial date or place hadnot yet been announced. The editors reportedly faced up to 20 years inprison if convicted. For details, see previous case list. Award: CanadianJournalists for Free Expression (CJFE) awarded Sabouang one of its2010 International Press Freedom Awards for his courage. [RAN 45/10]Case closed due to lack of further information.Raphaël NKAMTCHUEN: editor of the periodical La Boussole,was charged with “unauthorized communication with a detainee” and“possession of administrative documents labeled confidential by a publicprosecutor in Yaoundé on 24 February 2011. The charges are based on a27 October 2009 letter that was allegedly leaked from the office of toppresidential adviser Laurent Esso. Guards found the letter on Nkamtchuenas he left Yaoundé’s Kodengui Prison following an interview with a jailedformer Finance Minister on 17 February 2011. Nkamtchuen was detainedfor six days by military police before being charged. He was freedpending trial on 24 March but reportedly went into hiding after receivingthreatening phone calls. No further news as of 30 June 2012: case closed.CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLICTried/Released*Ferdinand Samba: editor of the private daily Le Démocrate, was arrestedat the paper’s offices in Bangui on 16 January 2012. Samba was chargedthree days later with incitement to hatred, defamation, and insult basedon a complaint filed by Sylvain Ndoutingaï, finance minister and nephewof President François Bozizé, over a series of columns published betweenSeptember and November 2011. The opinion pieces, written by Samba,criticized Ndoutingaï’s management of public finances and reportedallegations of abuse of power and embezzlement. The public prosecutoris seeking a one-year prison term, 50 million CFA franc (US$97,000)in damages, and a six-month suspension of the newspaper, Tiangayesaid. The requested prison term apparently contravenes the country’s2005 press law (according to CPJ) which abolished imprisonment foralleged press offenses. Samba, originally jailed at the Central Office forRepression of Banditry, has been transferred to Bangui’s central prison,where he is to be held pending trial. His trial began on 19 January and wascharged with defaming and insulting the finance minister and “incitinghatred” against him. On 26 January 2012 he was convicted and given a10-month jail sentence by a Bangui court. The court also ordered Sambato pay 10 million CFA francs (15,000 euros) in damages to Ndoutingaïand a fine of 1 million CFA francs (1,500 euros). Le Démocrate wasbanned from publishing for one year. On 3 May 2012: President FrançoisBozizé pardoned and released Ferdinand Samba.COMOROSHarassmentPétan MOUIGNIHAZI: Managing director of state daily Al Watan.Comorian interior minister Ahamada Abdallah decided to withdrawthe latest monthly supplement from distribution and to issue a decreesuspending Mouignihazi. The supplement had a special report oncorruption and waste in the state sector. The 9 April 2012 issue of AlWatwan Magazine featured a special report headlined “Public finances:chaos, waste and corruption.” One of its articles, an extract of which waspublished by Agence France-Presse, condemned “criminal practices” inthe management of the state´s finances.Case ClosedAli MOINDJIE and Hadji HASSAMALI: respectively editor of theprivate daily newspaper Albalad and editor of bimonthly La Tribunedes Comores, were charged with “publishing false news” in the capitalMoroni on 14 March 2011 in relation to their coverage of the handoverof power between outgoing President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambiand President-Elect (now President) Ikililou Dhoinine. The charges arebased on a news item, published in the 3 March 2011 edition of Albaladand in the 20 February 2011 edition of La Tribune des Comores, statingthat the official swearing-in ceremony of the President-Elect could bedelayed beyond the scheduled date of 26 May. The Presidential Chief ofStaff denied the claim and the public prosecutor deemed the reports “ofa nature to trouble public order.” The journalists reportedly face up to sixmonths in prison if convicted. No further news as of 30 June 2012: caseclosed.DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OFCONGODetention*Sébastien MULAMBA, Mbuyi MUKADI: respectively editor of theprivate monthly Kisangani News, and managing editor, were detainedwithout charge by plainclothes policemen on 9 May 2012. They werequestioned about their sources for an April 15 article alleging AlphonseAwenze, a member of the Congolese National Assembly under PresidentJoseph Kabila’s ruling party, was involved in a sex scandal. Awenzedid not publicly dispute the allegations but filed a complaint accusingthe newspaper of “offending his personality,” Mulamba told CPJ. Thejournalist said he and Mukadi had gone to the restaurant to meet an aideof Awenze, who said he wanted to buy advertising in the paper. Accordingto reports, the journalists are still in detention. PEN is seeking an update.Attacked*Frank FUAMBA: managing editor of the Lubumbashi-based MiningNews magazine. He was abducted on 6 June 2012 at about 6pm by a groupof armed men in civilian dress who forced him into a jeep. Forced to weara hood, the journalist was taken from place to place over the course ofthe night. These included a Katuba home where he was questioned atlength about his personal relationships, the politicians he knows and thepolitical news stories that appear in his magazine. They took all of hisbelongings and finally let him go near a school in the neighbouring townof Katuba at about 4am. That same night, Mining News journalist SylvieManda received a threatening phone call while seeking assistance for herabducted colleague. The caller promised to find her the next day. Fuambatold that back in March he received a series of anonymous threats overmy article about energy problems in Katanga that negatively impact thefunctioning of mines in the region. He had notably criticized the NationalElectric Company.ERITREAImprisoned: main casesDetained in September 2001:Emanuel ASRAT (editor-in-chief of Zemen – ‘Time’ ), TemeskenGHEBREYESUS (sports reporter of Keste Debena - ‘Rainbow’ - born 5
6c. 1967), Mattewos HABTEAB (chief editor of Meqaleh - ‘Echo’ - bornc. 1973), Dawit HABTEMICHAEL (assistant chief editor of Meqaleh- born c. 1973), Dawit ISAAC (co-owner of Setit, playwright and writer– born 1964), Seyoum TSEHAYE (b. 1952, freelance contributor toSetit, playwright, newspaper, TV and radio journalist). Date of arrest:in the days following 23 September 2001. Sentence: it is thought thatnone have been put on trial. Details of arrest: The detentions camein the wake of the closing down of all eight independent newspapersby the authorities on 18 September 2001 (these include the weekliesMeqaleh, Setit, Tsigenay, Zemen, Wintana, and Admas). Since then,only state-owned newspapers have been published. According to newsreports, presidential adviser Yemane Gebremeskel stated that thesejournalists (and the four others who are thought to have subsequentlydied in custody – see below) may have been arrested for avoiding nationalservice. Official position: The authorities have either denied that aclampdown took place, claiming instead that the journalists have merelybeen sent to carry out their national service, or that the closures and massarrests were necessary for the sake of national unity or were effectedbecause of the newspapers’ failure to comply with laws covering medialicences. However, a more likely explanation is that the crackdown wasan attempt to stamp out criticism of the Eritrean government’s treatmentof students and political dissenters, and of its conflict with Ethiopia. InApril 2003, President Isaias Afewerki told Radio France Internationalethat the journalists listed as arrested or missing had been bribed by forcesopposed to the government to cause division. He stated, “You cannotsay a spy is a journalist…In the middle of the war we had to checkthem. We had to say enough is enough.” In a 2004 interview, PresidentAfewerki commented that there had never been any independent mediain Eritrea, only journalists in the pay of the CIA. In a TV interview inJune 2009, the President said that he did not know what crime DawitIsaac had committed but that he had made a “big mistake”. He added thatthe Eritrean authorities would not release Isaac or put him on trial andthat they have their “own ways of dealing with that”. Health concerns/prison conditions: It was reported in April 2004 that the journalists werebeing held in secret security sections of the 2nd and 6th police stationsin the capital Asmara. It is believed that they have since been moved toprisons in various locations, where conditions are reputed to be brutal.There are serious concerns about severe ill treatment, possible torture,poor health and lack of access to medical care, as highlighted by thereported deaths of four journalists in custody (see below). In September2009, Reporters Without Borders reported that many of the imprisonedjournalists were being held in metal containers or underground cellsin Adi Abeito military prison (northwest of Asmara), Eiraeiro prison(near the locality of Gahtelay) and in the Dahlak archipelago. Reporteddeaths in custody: In 2007, it emerged that four of the journalistswho were arrested in September 2001 had reportedly died in custodybetween 2005 and early 2007: Said Abdelkader (Admas), MedhanieHaile (Keste Debena), Yusuf Mohamed Ali (Tsigenay), FesshayeYohannes “Joshua” (co-owner of Setit, playwright and poet). Theirdeaths were attributed to harsh conditions and lack of medical attention.Some sources indicate that that Yohannes had been tortured prior to hisdeath, including having his fingernails ripped out. ACPHR ruling: InMay 2007, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights(ACPHR) of the African Union ruled that the detention of the journalistswas arbitrary and unlawful and called on the Eritrean government torelease and compensate the detainees. Information on Dawit Isaac:Isaac, who spent a number of years in Sweden during the Eritrean warof independence and the border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia,holds Swedish citizenship. In November 2001, the Swedish local consulheld a brief meeting with Isaac in jail. In April 2002, it was reportedthat Isaac had been hospitalized suffering from injuries sustained throughhis torture. In November 2005, Isaac was briefly released for a medicalcheck-up and was allowed to call his family and friends in Sweden. Thiswas due to pressure by groups in Sweden but did not lead to Isaac’srelease: he was returned to prison two days later with no explanation.Since then Isaac has reportedly been moved to various prisons around thecountry. In January 2009, he was reportedly transferred from prison to anAir Force hospital in Asmara as a result of serious illness but was laterreturned to prison. The most recent reports indicate that Isaac is beingheld at Eiraeiro prison camp, 10 miles north of the capital Asmara, alongwith a number of the other detained journalists. As of January 2010, Isaacwas reportedly being kept in solitary confinement, in a tiny cell with nowindows and was in very poor physical and mental health. He and theother inmates are reportedly not allowed any contact with each other orthe outside world, are routinely shackled and receive almost no medicalcare. Many are in a very poor psychological state. As of 27 October2010, when Isaac turned 46, he had still not been formally charged withany crime, and his whereabouts remained unclear. A new collectionof his writings, entitled Hope- the Tale of Moses and Manna’s Love,was unveiled at Sweden’s Goteborg book fair in late September 2010.Update on IsaacOn 18 May 2011, during the 21st Session of the African,Caribbean, Pacific – European Union (ACP-EU) Joint ParliamentaryAssembly held in Budapest, EU and African countries decided that theAssembly’s next report on human rights would focus on Isaac. This cameabout as a result of efforts by Swedish MEP Olle Schmidt, who has takena special interest in Isaac’s case. According to a 3 August 2011 report bythe Committee to Protect Journalists, the whereabouts and health statusof Isaac and the other detained journalists remain unknown. In July 2011,Isaac’s brother, Esayas Isaac, reportedly filed a writ of habeas corpuswith Eritrea’s Supreme Court calling for information on the journalist’slocation and a review of his imprisonment. The writ was not supportedby the Swedish government; Foreign Minister Carl Bildt reportedly saidthe country’s goal was to have Isaac released on humanitarian groundsrather than stand trial. Health Concerns: Isaac reportedly suffers froma diabetic condition that requires medical supervision. In its 2011report, Amnesty International reported that Isaac remained in detention,allegedly in Eiraeiro prison camp. He was reportedly in poor mental andphysical health. In September 2011, the European Parliament adopted astrongly worded resolution urging Eritrea to “lift the ban on the country’sindependent press and to immediately release independent journalistsand all others who have been jailed simply for exercising their right tofreedom of expression.” Honorary Members: American PEN, PENCanada, Finnish PEN and Swedish PEN. Awards: Isaac was awardedthe 2009 Tucholsky Award by Swedish PEN and the 2011 Golden Penof Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association ofNewspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).Mahmud AHMED SHERIFFO, Haile WOLDETESNAE, PetrosSOLOMON, Saleh Idris KEKIA, General Ogbe ABRAHA, AstierFESHATSION (f), Berhane GHEBRE EGHZABIHER, HamidHIMID, Estifanos SEYOUM, Germano NATI and Beraki GHEBRESELASSIE: former Minister of Local Government, former Ministerof Trade and Industry, former Minister of Fisheries, former Ministerof Transportation and Communication, and former Chief of Staff ofthe Defence Force and Minister of Trade and Industry respectively(the final six were also former members of government), have beendetained since 18 or 19 September 2001 after the publication in May
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Gereyev engages in research in such
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Ergenekon CaseSince June 2007 there
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Kurdistan DemocraticConfederation (
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to refer to Ocalan as “chairman
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Article 314/2 (membership of a terr
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of Ilhan Cihaner, detained Chief Pu
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UZBEKISTANDisappearance - investiga
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the prosecutor demanded for Hamidov
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Brief detention*Zainab Al-KHAWAJA (
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*Siamak GHADERIProfession: Journali
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*Nargess MOHAMMADI (f)D.o.b.: 1972
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Shamsolvaezin has been imprisoned m
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Bahman Ahmadi Amoue, who is serving
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Attacked*Enass MUSALLAM (f): Blogge
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*Mohamed BENBA: blogger, 17, was ha
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Muheeb Al-NAWATHY: a Palestinian jo
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sending insulting SMS messages. The
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San Miguel de Allende PENChinaTurke
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