Wan Condemns Journalists Attacks

THE WORLD Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has issued a statement, after reviewing press freedom worldwide, to condemn the continued attack on journalists at the beginning of its 62nd Newspaper Congress being held in Hyderabad, India, from November 30 to December 4th.

The strongly-worded statement said at least 88 journalists have been killed so far this year, and hundreds of media employees have been arrested and jailed, most often following sham trials or without formal charges being brought against them.

The WAN mentioned in particular the horrific attack in the Philippines on 23 November in which more than 30 journalists were among 57 persons murdered; the deadliest single attack on media in memory.

That brought the total of journalists killed in the Philippines to 35 this year, making it the most dangerous country in the world for journalists.

More than 750 journalists have been murdered world-wide in the past decade, said the report presented to the Board of WAN-IFRA meeting in Hyderabad, India, on the eve of the World Newspaper Congress, World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2009, the global summit meetings of the world's press.

Hundreds of media employees have been arrested for their work in the past year, and at least 170 remain in jail today, the report stated.

The report said that across Africa, Heads of State and their friends continue to abuse criminal defamation and sedition laws to punish journalists who expose policy failures and corruption, and who report on conflicts and opposition views.

Crackdowns on the independent press and the use of force are intensifying, inducing both self and government-imposed censorship.

While Ghana did not feature in the least of 'rogue governments' harassing and intimidating journalists, prominent on the list of Sub-Saharan African countries were: Senegal, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Guinea.

Others are Togo, Niger, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda.

Other 'terrorist' governments are Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, and Kenya.

All these countries were named for their continued attacks on journalists, intimidation, harassment and failing to repeal laws that pose threats to journalists.

“Governments throughout the Middle East and North Africa continue to demonstrate their intolerance for truth, dissent and satire. Journalists and freedom of expression advocates are continuously targeted by the authorities, while the severe crackdown on blogging region-wide reveals how much governments believe that the Internet can be a threat to their power”, it said.

WAN was concerned that the hostility of many governments toward any form of dissent continues to impede independent news reporting in Asia. Journalists reporting on corruption find themselves in the line of fire of those directly or indirectly exposed by their reports. Continued imprisonment of journalists

in China, Burma's mass censorship and repression of independent media, the consequences of decades long civil war in Sri Lanka, and the violence against the press in Nepal are only some of the key challenges facing press freedom in the region.

“In Latin America, governments and criminals ruthlessly attack journalists investigating high-level corruption and organized crime. Reporters are murdered with impunity, while critical and opposition media are shut down arbitrarily”.

It lamented that prosecution and violence continues to be aimed at journalists in various parts of Europe and Central Asia, as they question government policies, use information deemed classified or unveil human rights abuses. Police raids, abductions and imprisonments remain common.

From Gina Blay, Hyderabad, India