1 September 2010
IFEX Communiqué Vol 19 No. 34
Yemen
As the Yemeni government escalates its military offensive against militants in the southern part of the country, arbitrary arrests of journalists on security grounds have become commonplace throughout Yemen, report the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) and other IFEX members. At least 25 journalists were held by the army as they tried to attend a peace conference in the north around 21 August. Days earlier, security forces detained both a cartoonist who is also a human rights activist as well as a journalist who writes about Al-Qaeda.
Honduras
A journalist was found shot to death on a rural road in northern Honduras on 24 August, report the Comité por la Libre Expresión (C-Libre), the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and other IFEX members. Journalist Israel Zelaya Díaz is the ninth journalist killed this year since President Porfirio Lobo assumed power in January. The culture of impunity that has arisen under Lobo is silencing critical journalists, says a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Mexico
A car bomb exploded outside the offices of Mexico's largest media organisation, Televisa, on 27 August, days after it reported that 72 Central and South American migrants were killed by drug traffickers in the same region, report the Center for Journalism and Public Ethics (CEPET), the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and other IFEX members. Two weeks ago, explosives ripped through facilities owned by the same media conglomerate in Tamaulipas and Nuevo León states.
Iraq
An Iraqi journalist was found dead on 24 August, six days after he was kidnapped, reports Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the International Press Institute (IPI). Journalist Kamal Qassim Mohamed had been shot. In a separate incident in Baghdad, police stormed the home of a journalist, injuring his family members.
Somalia
A Somali reporter was viciously stabbed to death in the Galkayo district of Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia, on 31 August, report the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Uganda
Five Ugandan judges ruled in favour of press freedom on 25 August by declaring the country's criminal sedition offense unconstitutional, report the Human Rights Network for Journalists - Uganda (HRNJ-Uganda) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). But the government continues to threaten journalists with other legal actions.
Togo
A Togolese court has indefinitely suspended the distribution of a Benin newspaper after crippling it with a defamation charge and heavy fines for publishing an article linking Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé's brother with drug trafficking, report the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). A newspaper photographer covering the court case was violently detained by gendarmes.
Pakistan
In a joint action, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) and the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) have appealed to the Pakistani government to allow emergency community radio stations to be established in areas that have suffered from the current floods in Pakistan. Meanwhile, violence against journalist is ongoing, including a recent assault on a reporter after he filmed the lynching of two brothers, report PPF, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). As well, PPF's website was hacked in August.
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