Middle East and North Africa - Reports
Media freedoms in the occupied Palestinian territories suffered a setback in June 2012, due to Israel's continued policy of targeting journalists.
Journalists are calling on the government to pass and implement laws guaranteeing the media’s independence from government control.
The 184-page report attempts to document the progress of freedom of expression by introducing key aspects of developments that accompanied the Arab Spring revolutions.
Around 10 citizen journalists have been killed since late May, according to RSF.
Authorities are undertaking a fierce campaign to crackdown on rights defenders to prevent them from monitoring and reporting on ongoing violations, particularly relating to freedoms of expression and assembly and prisoners' rights, demands for reform, or the defense of fundamental rights and freedoms in the Kingdom.
The entire nation is being asked to join in celebrating this anniversary but there are journalists who will not be able to respond because they are threatened, are being prosecuted or are in prison.
The Israeli Forces have pursued a policy of silencing the Palestinian press in its efforts to show the bitter reality of living under the continuing violations committed by the occupation forces, says MADA.
The systematic patterns of ill-treatment and torture documented clearly point to a state policy of torture and ill-treatment since the beginning of the crackdown on anti-government protests.
The regime has gone to great lengths to silence the satirical commentary of Ali Ferzat, but the celebrated cartoonist has no intention of letting the censors keep him down.
Israeli occupation forces suppressed journalists covering events organised to show solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, among them five journalists, four of whom are under administrative detention.
The findings of the report indicate that on many levels the human rights situation has worsened since March, and human rights defenders, activists and journalists have been arrested.
IFEX-TMG and PEN's Anthology of freedom of expression, now available in English, French and Arabic, honours the writers, activists and photographers who contributed to the struggle for free expression in Tunisia.
UN member states expressed strong concerns over the country's human rights record during the second cycle of their Universal Periodic Review in Geneva.
In the report, MADA notes a significant decline in violations against journalists in April 2012.
The anthology, part of IFEX-TMG's ongoing project, brings together journalistic articles, commentaries, prose and verse in Arabic written both during the Ben Ali regime and since its fall, and is illustrated with images of the revolution.
MADA is concerned about the deterioration in freedom of expression in the territories, in particular the safety of journalists and bloggers in response to their reporting or their writing on social networking sites.
The authorities have hired Western PR firms to help project a favourable image of the regime in the Western media.
While the Internet may be partly free in practice since the ousting of President Ben Ali, the repressive laws that formed part of the censorship apparatus of his government remain. There is therefore a real danger that free speech on the Internet may be stifled again as long as they are still on the statute book.
ARTICLE 19 hopes that international and regional standards and comparative examples indicating the best practices of states on the protection of the right to freedom of expression and freedom of information will provide a useful source of reference for drafters of the new Tunisian Constitution.
Some of the BICI’s most serious concerns, like accountability for crimes such as torture and relief for people wrongly imprisoned have not been adequately addressed, says Human Rights Watch.
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