Reporters Without Borders for Press Freedom in Afghanistan

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KABUL, Afghanistan – Reporters Without Borders sent a delegation to Kabul to gather information regarding press freedom.  On the second to last day of the investigation, Reporters held a news conference where secretary-general Jean Francois Julliard urged the Afghan government to make press freedom a priority.

“The press freedom situation is getting worse in Afghanistan and it is the government’s duty to reverse this disturbing trend,” Julliard said. “The country cannot continue to develop and progress towards democracy without a free and independent press. The president and his government must get fully involved in this issue and must take measures that give journalists more freedom to work. Much needs to be done in Afghanistan but the country will not be able to recover from 30 years of war without free and diverse news media.”

Reporters Without Borders points to the case of Perwiz Kambakhsh, who is serving a 20 year prison sentence for downloading and reading an essay about women’s rights in Islam.

“As long as a citizen can be sentenced to death or to a long jail term just for reading a report on the Internet, we will not be able to say there is free expression in Afghanistan. Perwiz Kambakhsh must be released as soon as possible. He committed no crime and this case, which has been marred by judicial irregularities, is a grave stain on Afghanistan’s image. We told all the officials we met that his conviction must be overturned.”

He continued: “The threats against Afghan journalists and visiting foreign journalists are becoming more and more diverse. As well as the Taliban, who have never ceased to threaten to kill journalists who do not comply with their demands, there are now criminals and mafia groups.”

Moreover, Reporters Without Borders reports that in 2008 alone, two journalists were killed and about 50 were attacked.

They urge the Afghan government to provide security measures for the protection of journalists so that they will continue their work, the authorities to solve and investigate cases more thoroughly and consistently, adoption of a proposed media law, and a law facilitating access to information to the journalists.  It is also urged that media owners should stop meddling with editorial content.

For more information, please see:

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty – Press Freedom Gets Worse in Afghanistan, RFS Says – 15 January 2009

Reporters Without Borders – Reporters Without Borders Gives Kabul News Conference, Urges Government to Make Press Freedom a Priority – 15 January 2009

Reuters – Press Freedom Getting Worse in Afghanistan – 15 January 2009

Nepal: Four Charged for Brutal Murder of a Journalist

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

KATHAMANDU, Nepal – Nepal authorities have arrested four suspects for the murder of Uma Singh, a Nepalese reporter and women’s rights activist. On January 12th, Singh was murdered in her rented apartment room in the southern city of Janakpur. Singh was the first woman journalist to be killed in Nepal though many women journalists have been threatened.

According to international media watchdog, Reporters without Borders, around 15 men broke into Singh’s apartment and repeatedly battered her with blunt objects and then stabbed her to death. Singh died from the injuries sustained on her way to the capital when local attempts to help her failed. Singh was only 26 when she died.

Singh had criticized the caste system and written on a number of political issues. Her articles criticizing the dowry system, a tradition where the bride’s family has to pay significant sums of money and land to the groom’s family, created shock waves in Southern Nepal.

However the motives of her attackers are still unclear. Although four men have been arrested, an underground group claimed responsibility for Singh’s attack but stated it was ‘a mistake.’ Singh was working in a part of the country where there are many militants connected to an ethnic separatist movement. The militants want regional autonomy from the Maoist government.

Singh’s death caught international attention. The UN high Commissioner for Human Rights, Richard Bennett condemned the murder, “This tragedy should galvanise those responsible for protection of media freedom to take the necessary action to ensure the security of journalists.”

Reporters without Borders said, “This wave of violence against Nepalese journalists requires a firm response from the government, which must assume its responsibility and adopt effective measures to protect journalists.”

For more information, please see:

BBC –Nepal Radio Journalist Murdered–12 January 2009

RSF – Journalist and Women’s Rights Activist Brutally Murdered –12 January 2009

RSF – Four Arrested for Woman Journalist’s Murder, While Clandestine Group Claims Responsibility –14 January 2009

BBC – Picture of Uma Signh

Thailand Mistreats Illegal Immigrants

By Pei Hu
Impunity Watch Reporter

BANGKOK, Thailand – Refugees International, a US based human rights group, has accused Thailand of mistreating illegal immigrants that travel to Thailand by boat. Many of these refugees, dubbed ‘boat people’ by the Thai officials, are from neighboring Myanmar-Burma and Bangladesh.

There are about 500 survivors that are now recovering from severe dehydration in India’s Andaman Islands and Aceh provinceof Indonesia. Survivors told BBC journalists that the Thai navy would tie their hands and send their boats back out to sea without engines. During a press release on Monday, 4 refugees have died and 300 refugees are reported missing.

The Thai officials declined to comment and only confirmed that the Thai navy would push Asylum seekers’ boats back out to sea. Refugees International said the Thai government “should instruct its Army to desist from its new and troubling policy of pushing refugees and migrants intercepted on boats back out to sea.”

Many of these refugees are Rohingya peoples, a Muslim ethnic minority that live in western Burma. Rohingya are among one of the most persecuted peoples in the world.  They have no legal rights, including the right to own property in Burma, because the country is predominately Buddhist. Due to oppression many Rohingya have sought refuted along the western coast of Thailand. Many of these asylum seekers are detained by the Thai military that leave Rohingya refugees to fend for themselves in international waters.

International human rights advocate, Sean Garcia said, “The Thai government is taking highly vulnerable people and risking their lives for political gain. Instead they should be engaging the Burmese government on improving conditions at home for the Rohingya if it wants to stem these flows.”

For more information, please see:

BBC – Thais ‘Leave Boat People to Die’– 15 January 2009

Irrawaddy –Thailand Urged to Stop Pushing Refugees Out to Sea– 15 January 2009

AsiaNews – The Tragedy of Rohingya Refugees Arrested in Thailand and Abandoned in the High Seas– 15 January 2009

UPDATE: Appeal Postponed for Tunisian Trade Union Leaders

GAFSA, Tunisia – On January 13, the appeals of the sentences of Tunisian Trade Union Leader Adnan Hajji and several other union workers were postponed until February 3.  The men were arrested due to  protests during the summer of 2008 and they each face up to 10 years in prison.  They are charged with forming a criminal group with the intent to destroy property. 

Protests arose in the region over the summer in response to a promotion lottery that was allegedly rigged by the large mining companies to prevent certain people from being selected for promotion.  Tunisian authorities arrested several people, including those mentioned above.  Hajji and 37 others were tried by Tunisian courts in December and several were sentenced with the 10-year maximum sentence.

Amnesty International has called the trials unfair, stating that at least four of the accused were tried in absentia.  They describe the prison sentences as a “travesty of justice.”

Amnesty International – Tunisian Trade Unionists’ Appeal Postponed – 13 January 2009

Impunity Watch – Tunisian Trade Leader and Others to be Tried for Protests – 9 December 2008

Egypt Detains Gaza Protesters

By Nykoel Dinardo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – Egyptian police detained 16 members of the Muslim Brotherhood on January 14, bringing the total number of people detained during the week to over 100.  On January 13, Egypt detained at least 18 and at least 64 were detained on January 12.  At least 20 people were arrested on January 10 and 11 as well. The detainments began in response to protests against the Egypt government over the Gaza Strip.  Egyptian officials stated that those being detained are suspected of involvement with the protests.

On January 12, Egyptian police entered several homes in the Nile Delta town of Damanhur and arrested 17 Muslim Brotherhood members.  The detainees were questioned about their roles in organizing protests.  Later that day, another 47 people were arrested at protests that had gathered throughout the day.  They were arrested for obstructing traffic.   Others were detained in Sharqiya, Damietta, and Tanta provinces.  A security official confirmed that the arrests were related to the protests and that those arrested were also suspected of being members of an illegal organization. 

The Muslim Brotherhood is the chief opposition to Egypt’s current ruling party.  The Egyptian government has declared it an illegal organization but until recently it has been allowed to continue to operate within Egyptian borders.  In the 2005 parliamentary elections Brotherhood members gained a fifth of the popular vote, despite police intervention.  The Brotherhood claims that Egyptian authorities currently hold more than 700 members in custody.

The Muslim Brotherhood has idealogical ties to Hamas and thus has been particularly sensitive to the situation in Gaza.   They have called on Egyptian authorities to allow for freedom of expression of the people due to the public anger over the situation in Gaza.  Despite the detentions, protests continue to gather in many cities in Egypt as well as elsewhere in the Middle East.

For more information, please see:

Jordan Times – Protesters Gather Outside the Egyptian Embassy – 14 January 2009

Reuters – Egypt Police Hold 16 Islamists After Gaza Protests – 14 January 2009

Easy Bourse – Egypt Holds Over 35 Muslim Brotherhood Members Over Gaza Protests – 13 January 2009

Reuters – Egypt Police Detain At Least 18 In Gaza Protests – 13 January 2009

Reuters – Egypt Police Detain 64 In Delta Protest For Gaza – 12 January 2009

Reuters – Egyptian Police Hold 21 Islamists After Gaza Rally – 11 January 2009