22 April 2003
Volume 12 - 2003 Issue 16 (22 Apr. 2003)
International
Rights and Democracy is seeking nominations for the 2003 John Humphrey Freedom Award honouring individuals or organisations for exceptional achievement in promoting human rights and democratic development.
Argentina
Calling it an important first step in raising awareness of free expression violations with Argentina's political leadership, PERIODISTAS (Asociacion para la Defensa del Periodismo Independiente) met with president Eduardo Duhalde twice last month and raised concerns about the rising number of attacks on journalists in the country.
Russia
Dmitri Shvets, co-owner and deputy managing director of an independent television station in Murmansk, northwest Russia, was shot and killed outside his offices by an unknown assailant on 18 April, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).
Human rights defenders around the world are in greater danger as governments use the fight against terrorism to clamp down on dissidents, concludes a new report released by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.
International
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and Radio France International (RFI) are inviting journalists from French-speaking Africa to apply for the 2003 RFI-RSF journalism prize. Created three years ago, the annual prize honours excellence in the categories of radio, photography, cartoons and the printed press.
Israel
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) are calling for an immediate investigation into the death of Nazeh Darwazi, a Palestinian cameraman shot and killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Nablus on 19 April.
International
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.
International
It seems human rights, including freedom of expression, have taken a back seat at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights this year. That's according to Human Rights Watch, which says the commission - the world's highest human rights body - is failing to condemn countries who commit the most serious human rights abuses.
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