Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

ASIAa n a ly s i s 107From censorship to abduction, the news media face enormous challengesin covering the multifaceted conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan.s u m m a r i e sAfghanistan 115Burma 118China 122Nepal 126North Korea 128Pakistan 131Philippines 135Sri Lanka 139Thailand 142Vietnam 146As fighting surges,so does danger to pressb y b o b dietzAs the united states redeploys forces to afghanistan,and the Pakistani military moves into the country’s tribal areas, the mediaface enormous challenges in covering a multifaceted conflict straddling twovolatile countries. Pakistani reporters cannot move freely in areas controlled bymilitants. International reporters in Afghanistan, at risk from kidnappers andsuicide bombers, encounter daunting security challenges. And front-line reportersin both countries face pressure from all sides.In Pakistan, the dangers have been borne largely by local reporters, manyof whom were uprooted from their homes during an escalation in fighting inthe North West Frontier Province in mid-year. Three local journalists and oneforeign reporter, an Afghan, were killed during the year. Journalists faced bombings,attacks, and threats from the Taliban and other militants, but noted thatgovernment and military officials had also exerted political pressure and, at times,a careless disregard for their welfare.In Afghanistan, where international news media coverage intensified duringthe year, heightened dangers came in good part from roadside bombs and abductions.One local journalist, Sultan Mohammed Munadi, was killed in 2009, duringa British military effort to rescue his fellow captive, New York Times reporter andsnapshots 150Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore,South Koreap h o t o sSection break: Reuters/Mian Khursheed—Camera operators film ammunitionseized from militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas. Analysis: AFP/PedroUgarte—An Afghan police officer aims a weapon at two photographers coveringpre-election violence in Kabul.106