Journalists under threat

And the Mizzima News reported that Burmese private weekly newspapers recently were ordered by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Board “not to run any story that depicts the destruction caused by the cyclone that pummelled the Rangoon and Irrawaddy deltas”. A senior journalist told Mizzima that the media was warned not to comment on critical food shortages and instead to report only on “the reconstruction efforts by the authorities”.

As a counter, journalists and media organisations, including the International Federation of Journalists, have been working on strategies to reverse or ease the situation in several countries. In the lead up to the Olympics in Beijing, the IFJ has launched a campaign for press freedom in China. The campaign covers such issues as the IFJ and Hong Kong Journalists Association working together to promote journalists’ safety, the jailing of journalists and attacks on journalists’ employment to undermine media freedom.

A petition with 1,518 signatures has been sent to China’s Minister of Justice, Wu Aiying, demanding the release of Hu Jia (May 12, 2008). Mr Hu was sentenced on April 3 to three-and-a-half years’ jail and one year’s denial of political rights on charges of “inciting subversion to state power” for articles and interviews critical of the Chinese Government. A long-time human rights activist, he suffers poor health.

In another action, the IFJ Asia-Pacific has written to Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai concerning the physical and psychological welfare of Sayed Parvez Kambakhsh, who is waiting to appeal the death sentence imposed on him on charges of “blasphemy”. The Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association reported Mr Kambakhsh, 24, was in serious need of immediate medical attention after seven months in detention, and five months waiting for his appeal to be heard. He was accused of distributing articles and books that contained anti-Islamic sentiment and sentenced to death.

Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, launching the Committee to Protect Journalists' Impunity Index last April, stated there had been 25 murders in the Philippines since 2000 and no one had been brought to justice.

The sixth annual South Asia Press Freedom Report, produced by the IFJ for the South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) in April, highlights the serious challenges that continue to confront the media in a region that is home to more than one-fifth of humanity. Challenges range from political coercion and violence by state and non-state actors to commercial compulsions and advertiser pressure.

“All these factors can have a chilling effect on good journalistic practices, and impinge on the public's right to independent and critical information,” it states.

The report notes that when governments do not act decisively against a culture of impunity for attacks against the media, journalists and media workers are often compelled to adopt a play-safe attitude. Even where there is no overt restraint on the right to free speech, a hostile environment can compel the media to engage in self-censorship rather than risk retribution.

The report adds that in most countries in the region, the regulatory environment remains ill-defined, especially for the rapidly growing electronic media. In several countries, rival political parties and other civil society actors observe few accepted standards regarding the right to free speech. (The South Asia Press Freedom Report 2007-08)

With only 6.7 per cent of journalists’ murders leading to convictions, an arm of the United Nations agency mandated to protect freedom of the press called in April on governments to report on investigations into attacks on media personnel, which have surged in recent years. The Intergovernmental Council of the International Program for the Development of Communication (IPDC) is requesting UN member states to assume responsibility for monitoring investigations into all killings condemned by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

The IPDC, which was created by UNESCO in 1980 to promote free expression in developing countries, is also asking all states to inform UNESCO of actions taken in each case and of the status of judicial inquiries.

The director-general of UNESCO has publicly condemned the killings of 121 journalists - given as 68 in 2006 and 53 in 2007.The UNESCO director-general has been requested to provide updated information on member states’ responses where assassinations of journalists have occurred and to make the report widely available. It is a move to welcome.

The right to free speech does not come cheap. For too many journalists and media people it is costing them their life.