About IFEX:

News by region:

IFEX Campaigns and Advocacy:

IFEX Email Products:

Opportunities and assistance:

IFEX Communiqué Vol 20, No 12

---

Bahrain

Security forces resort to night-time raids of terror to quell dissent

Nabeel Rajab, the head of IFEX member Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), was briefly held and beaten by security forces on 20 March, days after Bahraini security forces killed at least four protesters and arrested opposition figures. The arrest appears part of a broader government offensive involving pre-dawn raids of terror on the homes of those viewed as supporting pro-democracy protesters, according to BCHR, Human Rights Watch and other IFEX members. Rajab says he is the only human rights defender in Bahrain currently not in hiding or detention.

Libya

Another journalist killed; more detained

The founder of a Libyan online news channel has become the second journalist killed in the country's conflict, while other journalists have been detained in Libya's effort to obstruct coverage of the uprising, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the International Press Institute (IPI) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Honduras

Authorities fail to protect journalists despite promises to UN, says IFEX-ALC

Last week in Honduras, a board member of the La Voz de Zacate Grande community radio station was shot in the leg by residents upset about the station's coverage. Police sat idly by. It was just the latest in a string of incidents that highlights the government's failure to investigate attacks on journalists - despite promises it made before the UN's Human Rights Council in November, says IFEX Latin America and Caribbean (IFEX-ALC), an alliance of 17 IFEX members in the region.

Thailand

Web developer's 13-year sentence highlights trend of targeting messenger

Thailand's criminal court has sentenced a web designer to 13 years in jail, 10 of them for lèse majesté - insulting the monarchy - and three for violating the country's stiff computer crime laws, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) and ARTICLE 19 report.

Liberia

Mayor threatens CEMESP with libel suit over free expression report

A mayor who was named and shamed in a free expression report by the Center for Media Studies and Peace Building (CEMESP) is threatening to sue the organisation for libel.

Awards and other opportunities / International

Nominate an organisation for IPI's Free Media Pioneer award

Which organisation do you think broke new ground in media freedom this year? Nominate it for the International Press Institute (IPI) Free Media Pioneer award - before 31 March 2011.

Japan

ARTICLE 19 and RSF offer resources for reporters covering Japan crisis

IFEX members Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and ARTICLE 19 are offering resources for the Japanese and international media in the wake of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant explosions in Japan.