IFEX Communiqué Vol 20, No 06

Vol. 20 No. 06 | 9 February 2011
Headlines
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Egypt: Record number of IFEX members call for Mubarak to respect free expression as attacks on media continue

Middle East and North Africa / Africa: Governments stamp out Egypt solidarity protests

Rwanda: Women journalists get 17, seven years in jail

Belarus: Heavy restrictions for released journalists

Colombia: Threatening pamphlets target media

Asia and Pacific: Violence against media widespread in Southeast Asian "democracies", says SEAPA report

Free Expression Spotlight
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EGYPT: RECORD NUMBER OF IFEX MEMBERS CALL FOR MUBARAK TO RESPECT FREE EXPRESSION AS ATTACKS ON MEDIA CONTINUE
A journalist who was shot by a sniper while filming protests in downtown Cairo died last week, becoming the first journalist killed in the recent unrest in Egypt. While police, supporters of President Hosni Mubarak and even the military violently attack eyewitnesses and journalists reporting on the streets, IFEX members are standing with their counterparts in Egypt and a record 55 of them joined other groups in calling on the Egyptian government to respect and protect freedom of expression and the right to information. Read more>>

Regional news
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MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA / AFRICA: GOVERNMENTS STAMP OUT EGYPT SOLIDARITY PROTESTS
Security forces are violently putting down protests that have flared up across the Arab world inspired by or in solidarity with Egypt's uprising, report Human Rights Watch and IFEX members in the region. Read more>>

RWANDA: WOMEN JOURNALISTS GET 17, SEVEN YEARS IN JAIL
They weren't the ridiculously long sentences that prosecutors were looking for, but last week two women journalists in Rwanda were sentenced to 17 years and seven years respectively for inciting disobedience, causing divisions and denying the 1994 genocide, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Read more>>

BELARUS: HEAVY RESTRICTIONS FOR RELEASED JOURNALISTS
The Belarusian security service (KGB) has released women journalists Natalya Radina and Irina Khalip, but has upheld criminal charges against them and has severely restricted their activities, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International (WiPC). Read more>>

COLOMBIA: THREATENING PAMPHLETS TARGET MEDIA
"Keep supporting the leftist dogs and you will be dead; get out of the city." So reads a pamphlet anonymously left at a radio station in Barrancabermeja, Colombia, in what the Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP) terms is a new method of intimidating the press. Read more>>

Also in this issue
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ASIA AND PACIFIC: VIOLENCE AGAINST MEDIA WIDESPREAD IN SOUTHEAST ASIAN "DEMOCRACIES", SAYS SEAPA REPORT
Impunity, censorship and violence against journalists were rampant in the so-called established "democracies" of Southeast Asia in 2010, says "Caught in the Crossfire", a new report by the Southeast Asian Press Association (SEAPA). This trend will most likely continue into 2011, adds SEAPA. Read more>>

ENDS

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