IFEX Communiqué Vol 20, No 02

Headlines

Tunisia: Government resorts to hacking to stamp out coverage of unrest

Thailand: Emergency decree lifted but rights violations continue

United Kingdom: Government vows to reform "laughing stock" libel law

Turkey: Kurdish editor gets 138 years

Somalia: Armed groups and politicians behind attacks on journalists, says NUSOJ

International: UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize open for nominations

Free Expression Spotlight
TUNISIA: GOVERNMENT RESORTS TO HACKING TO STAMP OUT COVERAGE OF UNREST
While Tunisia continues to implode with protests against unemployment and corruption, officials are doing their best to ensure the public doesn't know what's going on. They pulled the usual stunts: arrested journalists, censored opposition newspapers and obstructed reports and broadcasts, report members of the IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG) and other IFEX members. But this time, the authorities have gone even further - harvesting passwords and usernames of bloggers, reporters and political activists to identify protest leaders and delete or compromise their email and Facebook accounts. Read more>>

Regional news
THAILAND: EMERGENCY DECREE LIFTED BUT RIGHTS VIOLATIONS CONTINUE
Eight months after violent clashes between anti-government groups and state security forces, the Thai government has finally lifted the emergency decree on Bangkok and three nearby provinces, reports the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) - but rights activists have little faith that much will change. Read more>>

UNITED KINGDOM: GOVERNMENT VOWS TO REFORM "LAUGHING STOCK" LIBEL LAW
The U.K.'s coalition government has promised sweeping changes to England's much-criticised libel laws, paying tribute to Index on Censorship's libel reform campaign which has "led the debate on this issue for so long." Read more>>

TURKEY: KURDISH EDITOR GETS 138 YEARS
Turkey continues to use jail sentences to silence Kurds, handing down an outlandish prison sentence of 138 years to the former editorial manager of Turkey's only Kurdish daily on charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK", the militant Kurdistan Workers Party, report IPS Communication Foundation (BIANET), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Read more>>

Also in this issue
SOMALIA: ARMED GROUPS AND POLITICIANS BEHIND ATTACKS ON JOURNALISTS, SAYS NUSOJ
This week, two journalists for Somalia's leading independent media station Radio Shabelle were beaten by soldiers and officers of Somalia's transitional federal government while covering an innocuous football cup ceremony. The motive may have been a recent Radio Shabelle broadcast that revealed government corruption at the Mogadishu port. Incidents like these seem to be on the rise, says the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) in its year-end report. Read more>>

INTERNATIONAL: UNESCO WORLD PRESS FREEDOM PRIZE OPEN FOR NOMINATIONS
Organisations working in the field of journalism and free expression are invited to submit nominations for the 2011 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. The deadline for submissions is 15 February 2011. Read more>>

ENDS

© Scoop Media