Reporters Without Borders wrote today to Afghanistan’s leading presidential candidates – including Hamid Karzai, Abdullah Abdullah, Ashraf Ghani, Ramazan Bashardost and Sayed Jalal Karim – urging them to give a clear undertaking to ensure that press freedom becomes firmly rooted in the everyday life of Afghans. The election is due to take place on 20 August.
The letter asked them to publicly express their concern about a recent wave of press freedom violations, pointing out that the threats to Afghan and foreign journalists in Afghanistan do not come from the Taliban alone, but also from criminal groups, politicians and security officials.
“We sincerely hope you take up the issue of press freedom (…) and relaunch the investigations into murders and physical attacks on journalists,” the letter said, mentioning the murders of Peace Radio director Zakia Zaki, BBC reporter Abdul Rohani and Jawed Ahmad, a fixer for Canadian news media.
Reporters Without Borders condemned the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for the violence against journalists, who include the security forces. In the most recent case, five journalists were beaten by police officers in Herat on 30 July while investigating the death of a civilian at the hands of the police.
Without concrete improvements in respect for press freedom, “your country risks losing the confidence of journalists and the support of international public opinion,” the letter said. “This would complicate the task of foreign governments, including those of the European Union, which support your country financially, militarily and politically.”
Reporters Without Borders also asked each candidate “to pledge to release Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, a young journalist who was unjustly sentenced to 20 years in prison on a blasphemy charge for downloading an article from the Internet.” It added: “More than 1 million people around the world have already signed a petition for his release. The confirmation that he was tortured by members of the security forces has cast doubt on their ability to respect international standards in this regard.”
Urging the candidates to publicly oppose the politicisation of the charge of blasphemy, the letter said it was vital that article 130 of the Afghan constitution, concerning blasphemy, should stop being used to prosecute people for the views they express.
The letter also mentioned a proposed new press law that has been blocked for political reasons, the need to decriminalise press offences and the need to pass a law that improves the situation of journalists as regards contracts and salaries.
Archiviato in: Afghanistan | Commenti disabilitati
Reporters Without Borders today protested at the sentencing yesterday of freelance Uzbek journalist Dilmurod Sayid (photo Ferghana.ru) to 12 and a half years in prison on a charge of “extortion” and “producing forged documents”. His lawyer, Ruhiddin Kamilov, said the court in the Toylok district in Samarkand province in the south of the country, had not produced enough evidence against the journalist, who continued to maintain his innocence. Kamilov also objected that the trial was held behind closed doors. “We are outraged at this heavy sentence handed down to Dilmurod Sayid”, the worldwide press freedom organisation said. “We urge the Uzbek authorities to release this journalist or at the least to deign to allow him a fair appeal,” it added. “Sayid has become the 8th journalist to be imprisoned in 
Uzbekistan and in the eyes of our organisation the real reasons for his conviction are not those given to the court, but are connected with his professional activities” “His case recalled that of Solidzhon Abdurakhmanov, a journalist who was sentenced in 2008 to ten years in jail for ‘use and trafficking of drugs’. Uzbekistan is tightening its grip on freedom of expression”, said the organisation. The journalist was arrested by agents of the Samarkand prosecutor on 22 February 2009. He was held first in Tashkent then in Samarkand after a woman reported him to the authorities for allegedly extorting a large sum of money (between 5,000 and 6,000 US dollars) from a businessman in the Samarkand region, allegedly asked him for money in exchange for agreeing not to write critical articles about him. Before becoming freelance and a member of the Uzbek non-governmental organisation Ezgulik, which defends the rights of farmers, Sayid worked for a number of different newspapers including Advokat-Press, Darachki, and Kihslok Hayoti. He had written a number of critical articles about the government and in particular the authorities in Samarkand whom he accused of impoverishing the region’s farmers. Uzbekistan is ranked 162nd out of 173 countries on Reporters Without Borders’ 2008 world press freedom index.
Reporters Without Borders urges the Maldivian authorities and political parties to show full respect for journalists, including those working for media that do not share their views. Both opposition and state media journalists have been physically attacked in the past two weeks, while the head of a privately-owned TV station was summoned by the information department.
Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the refusal of the Armenian authorities to release journalist Arman Babajanian(photo Armtown.com) on health grounds. Held since 2006, Babajanian has been diagnosed as having a brain tumour. His condition recently worsened and he is now in a prison hospital. He is in the process of losing his sight and needs urgent hospitalisation.
three-and-a-half-year sentence he received was condemned at the time by Reporters Without Borders as “disproportionate”. He is due to complete it at the start of September. All of his lawyer’s requests for early release have been rejected.
Reporters Without Borders is very concerned about the seven journalists, all members of the Gambia Press Union, who are being tried for criticising President Yahya Jammeh. The verdict in the trial, held partly behind closed doors, could be issued today, just a week after Jammeh said outspoken journalists would be dealt with “severely.”
Reporters Without Borders is saddened to learn that former journalist Alireza Eftekhari died on 15 June, three days after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed reelection. The exact circumstances of his death are still not known but we have been told he died as result of a cerebral attack after being beaten. His family was not given the body until 13 July.
Reporters Without Borders calls on the Egyptian authorities to explain why police arrested three bloggers – Abdel Rahman Ayyash, Magdi Saad and Ahmad Abu Khalil – last week, two of them on their return from a trip abroad. All three were arrested on the same day, 21 July.
Tens of thousands of people took part in demonstrations held all over the world on 25 July to show support for the Iranian people and Iranian human rights activists.
Leading human rights activist Hu Jia will celebrate his 36th birthday in his cell in the Beijing municipal prison on 25 July 2009. His wife, Zeng Jinyan, and their 18-month-old daughter were able to visit him on 21 July. “He is even thinner, but his morale his high,” Zeng said after the visit. A poem she posted on her blog about her monthly visit begins: “Each day I add a minute. Each month we see each other for half an hour.”
Reporters Without Borders condemns the orders issued by the Propaganda Department to Chinese news media and news websites to censor reports about a corruption case with links to President Hu Jintao’s son and about the closure of a human rights law centre.
