About IFEX:

News by region:

IFEX Campaigns and Advocacy:

IFEX Email Products:

Opportunities and assistance:

PINA CONVENTION TO HIGHLIGHT PRESS FREEDOM ATTACKS IN TONGA, KIRIBATI, PNG

The Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) will highlight press-freedom violations in Tonga, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea when it holds its annual convention in July in Samoa. An all-day session will be devoted to examining the "serious press-freedom crises" in these three countries where governments have made moves to restrict what people are allowed to say or print, says PINA president Joseph Honimae.

In Kiribati, the government has introduced new legislation that severely restricts print media, while in Tonga, the main independent newspaper "Taimi 'o Tonga" has been slapped with a second ban despite a Supreme Court ruling declaring an earlier ban illegal, PINA says.

In Papua New Guinea, a parliamentary committee has proposed legislation aimed at deterring critics whom it says "persistently and knowingly publish damaging articles" [See alert by Reporters Without Borders:
www.rsf.org].

Honimae says PINA will make sure the international freedom of expression community knows what is happening in the three countries, adding that PINA will highlight these attacks as part of its World Press Freedom Day activity on 3 May. "Those responsible for trying to stifle free speech should know that this is not acceptable to many of the countries they rely on for aid and international help," Honimae says.

PINA's convention will be held from 26 to 30 July in Apia, Samoa.

For more information, contact PINA Editor-in-Chief Nina Bolaitamana Ratulele, at
pina@connect.com.fj


Visit these links:

- Committee to Protect Journalists' Annual Report on Papua New Guinea
www.cpj.org


- International Press Institute (IPI) Report on Tonga:
www.freemedia.at/wpfr/Australasia/tonga.htm


- IPI Report on Kiribati:
www.freemedia.at/wpfr/Australasia/kiribati.htm