GUINEA: Due reporter, che lavorano per media stranieri, costretti a nascondersi dopo aver ricevuto minacce di morte

Pubblicato il 30 settembre 2009 da RSF Italia

arton34628-69adbReporters Without Borders is extremely worried for the safety of Mouctar Bah, the Conakry correspondent of Agence France-Presse and Radio France Internationale, and Amadou Diallo, the BBC’s correspondent. After being threatened and roughed up by soldiers while covering the violent dispersal of an opposition demonstration two days ago in which hundreds died, they are now reportedly wanted by the military authorities.

“Journalists have been playing a vital role in informing Guineans and the international community about the tragic events of the past 48 hours in Conakry,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We strongly condemn the actions of the Guinean soldiers who carried out a massacre and who are now hunting down the witnesses. The situation is grave and the safety of these two men is in danger.”

Bah and Diallo were warned today by friends that soldiers were looking for them because they were regarded as having “betrayed” the military to the international community by describing the extremely violent dispersal of the 28 September demonstration, in which hundreds were killed and thousands injured.

As a result, the two reporters have gone into hiding.

Bah has told Reporters Without Borders how he and Diallo were roughed up soldiers. “There were four of them,” he said. “They shouted, ‘Get lost.’ We said we were journalists and they said, ‘We don’t give a damn.’ A soldier asked me: ‘Did you see it?’ I said I had. ‘You won’t say anything,’ he replied. The soldiers forced us to our knees in front of the bodies. There were bodies everywhere, and pools of blood. They said: ‘Those bodies, you won’t talk about them. You’ve seen nothing.”

Bah added: “One of the soldiers put his gun to my chest and said he was going to kill me. I replied, ‘If that is the solution for Guinea, go ahead.’ He did not fire. They searched us. They stole our money and our phones and they destroyed our equipment. The microphone was smashed against the tarmac. They were completely drunk. They poured a bottle of beer over my head and shirt and hit Amadou’s left arm. Then one of their chiefs recognised us. It was Ansoumane Camara, the commander of the Rapid Intervention and Security Company (CMIS). He ordered them to let us go but they continued to insult us and call us bastards.”

Many other journalists were roughed by the same day, Bah said. They include an FM Liberté reporter and Ba Mamadou, who works for the satirical newspaper Le Lynx.

Widely referred to as a “massacre” and as a “bloodbath,” the 28 September events have been unanimously condemned in the international community.

The head of the military junta, Capt. Dadis Camara, has said he is sorry for what happened. On the day of the massacre, he told RFI: “It’s unfortunate, it’s dramatic. Very frankly speaking, I’m very sorry, very sorry.” Yesterday he told the French TV channel Europe 1: “I was overtaken by events. I can’t control all the actions of this army. To say that I control this army would be demagogy.”

Picture : AFP

Archiviato in: Guinea | Commenti disabilitati

HONDURAS: Chiusura di due media e repressione contro i giornalisti stranieri: “Quando si fermerà il governo putschista?”

Pubblicato il 30 settembre 2009 da RSF Italia
arton34615-06beeConfermando con una serie di azioni concrete quanto aveva annunciato, il governo “de facto” dell’Honduras, dopo aver sospeso le libertà civili con un decreto, ha fatto chiudere, lo scorso 28 settembre a Tegucigalpa, la stazione Radio Globo e il canale di televisione Canal 36.

Le due emittenti erano già state sospese, a più riprese, e vittime di attacchi diretti, dopo lo scorso 28 giugno, solo per aver criticato il recente colpo di Stato nel Paese. In entrambi i casi, la polizia è intervenuta per sgombrare le redazioni e sequestrare il materiale. L’organizzazione C-Libre sottolinea che, con questi recenti episodi, l’articolo 73 della Costituzione - che proibisce qualsiasi interferenza delle autorità nel lavoro dei media - è stato chiaramente violato.

“Quando si fermerà il governo putschista? Roberto Micheletti ha commesso tanti e tali violazioni da poter essere inserito nella lista dei predatori della libertà di stampa. Il presidente “de facto” si è detto pronto a revocare il decreto con cui ha instaurato lo stato d’assedio. Noi crediamo che questa decisione non abbia nessun valore se Radio Globo e Canal 36 non saranno autorizzati a lavorare nuovamente, se il materiale sequestrato dalla polizia non verrà loro riconsegnato, e se le autorità non smetteranno di reprimere gli oppositori, in particolare i difensori dei diritti dell’uomo”, ha dichiarato Reporters sans frontières.

Durante l’irruzione della polizia nella redazione di Radio Globo, un giornalista guatemalteco del canale messicano Televisa, Ronny Sánchez, è stato, secondo quanto ha riferito lo stesso reporter, colpito dagli agenti della polizia che avrebbero percosso anche il collega e compatriota Alberto Cardona, di Guatevisión.

“L’attuale repressione è peggiore di quella degli anni ’80, caratterizzati da una forte instabilità politica. In quel decennio, almeno ufficialmente, le libertà civili erano garantite. Oggi non esistono più e i militari possono permettersi di tutto. La situazione sanitaria diventa sempre più preoccupante e la comunità internazionale deve mobilitarsi anche al riguardo”, ha rivelato a Reporters sans frontières Bertha Oliva de Nativi, coordinatrice generale del Comitato delle famiglie dei detenuti e scomparsi dell’Honduras (Cofadeh), la cui sede è stata attaccata dalla polizia il 22 settembre.

Reporters sans frontières chiede alla comunità internazionale, in primis al Brasile e agli Stati Uniti, di convincere il governo “de facto” di permettere ad una delegazione dell’Organizzazione degli Stati americani (OEA) di entrare in Honduras, e di liberare gli oppositori, i giornalisti e i difensori dei diritti dell’uomo attualmente in carcere nel Paese.

Archiviato in: Honduras | Commenti disabilitati

EGITTO: Blogger svedese arrestato all’aeroporto del Cairo, in attesa di essere espulso

Pubblicato il 30 settembre 2009 da RSF Italia

b EgittoPer Bjorklund, a Cairo-based Swedish freelance journalist and blogger who covered a recent wave of factory strikes in Egypt, was denied entry on returning to the country yesterday and his passport was confiscated, apparently because his name appeared on a blacklist.

As he arrived in Cairo on a flight from Prague, he is reportedly to be expelled on the next flight back to Prague, which is not until tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, neither the Swedish embassy nor Reporters Without Borders has been able to get in touch with him since his arrest and is present location is a mystery.

“We urge the Egyptian authorities to free Bjorklund without delay and to explain why he has been treated in this manner,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It is unacceptable that he is unable to call his friends and family to tell them what is happening. The decision to expel him seems to be linked to his blog entries about the social unrest in Egypt during the past two years.”

A Cairo airport security official told the Associated Press that Bjorklund was arrested on the orders of State Security.

Bjorklund, who participated in a pro-Gaza demonstration in Cairo in February, writes about Egypt on his blog Egypt and Beyond (http://scandegypt.blogspot.com/).

Travis Randall, a US freelance journalist living in Egypt, was stopped at Cairo airport and deported four weeks ago. Both Randall and Philip Rizk, a German-Egyptian activist, were arrested after participating in the same demonstration in February. Randall was held for 12 hours while Rizk was held for four days.

Archiviato in: @ INTERNET, Egitto | Commenti disabilitati

TUNISIA: Il leader dell’opposizione che ha dato un’intervista televisiva a Parigi, viene picchiato dalla polizia al suo ritorno in Tunisia

Pubblicato il 30 settembre 2009 da RSF Italia

arton34619-95c35Hamma Hammami, the former editor of the banned newspaper Alternatives and spokesman of the Communist Party of Tunisian Workers (PCOT), was badly beaten by police on arriving at Tunis international airport yesterday from Paris, where he had criticised the government in an interview for Al Jazeera.

“We no longer have the right to express our views in Tunisia,” Hammami’s wife, Radhia Nasraoui, a lawyer and human rights activist, told Reporters Without Borders. “When we dare to criticise the regime in the foreign media, we are punished by being physically attacked. This is now standard practice. They no longer need to throw people in prison.”

In his interview for Al Jazeera on 25 September, Hammami also criticised the human rights situation and the way the government is organising the 25 October presidential election. His comments were retransmitted by the French 24-hour satellite TV news station France 24 the following evening.

Nasraoui told Reporters Without Borders she had to take a taxi when she went to meet her husband at Tunis airport because someone had punctured all four tyres of her car during the night.

“On arriving, I was intrigued to see police checking everyone entering the airport and I wondered if they were on edge because they feared that activists would come to meet Hamma,” she said. “When I saw more policemen than travellers in the arrivals hall, I phoned my husband to tell him. He told me he was going through customs and was being followed.

“I tried to call him several more times without success while the airport began to empty. Then I saw Hamma arrive, his mouth covered with blood, his glasses broken, bruises on his face, surrounded by about 20 policemen who were continuing to hit him. I shouted, but there were no more tourists in the airport. A policeman came up to me, snatched my mobile phone and threw it away with great force.”

Nasraoui added that after returning home they learned that the Tunisian authorities had toldFrance 24 that Hammami had arrived back in Tunis without any problem.

Archiviato in: Tunisia | Commenti disabilitati

INTERNET: Domani scade il contratto dell’ICANN: mantenere lo satus quo è il mal minore

Pubblicato il 29 settembre 2009 da RSF Italia

arton34617-3350aReporters senza frontiere preferisce una continuazione dello status quo nella governance internazionale di Internet, piuttosto che la creazione di un sistema intergovernativo per sostituire il controllo esistente dell’ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), organizzazione non-profit con sede in California.
L’ICANN ha fin’ora sotto condotto la supervisione di Internet nell’ambito di un contratto con il governo degli Stati Uniti, ma il contratto scade domani, e finora non è comunicato nulla cosa accadrà dopo.
La conferma dello status quo con ICANN è in competizione con modelli alternativi di cui uno proposto da Viviane Reding, Commissario europeo per la società dell’informazione ei media, che ha proposto un’ICANN completamente privatizzata con la supervisione di un G12 Internet comprendente anche una componente giudiziaria indipendente.
«Nessuno sottovaluta i rischi di mantenere un sistema di governance di Internet controllato da un unico soggetto,” ha detto Jean-François Julliard, segretario generale Reporters senza frontiere. “Ma, data l’attuale mancanza di una soluzione migliore, pensiamo che sarebbe meglio non invischiarsi con questo meccanismo. La proposta della UE di creare una sorta di G12 Internet ci sembra pericolosa. Se fosse attuata, nulla fermerebbe i paesi che censurano Internet a livello nazionale, come la Cina, l’Arabia Saudita e la Birmania, dal fare tutto il possibile per limitare l’accesso on-line a livello mondiale”.
Julliard ha aggiunto: “E fuori questione che i governi che impediscono ai cittadini di avere accesso illimitato a Internet deve diventare domani i pezzi grossi in un sistema mondiale di Internet. Noi preferiamo il sistema attuale, che, nonostante i suoi difetti e debolezze, non ha mai minacciato il libero flusso di informazioni online. Invitiamo quindi il presidente Barack Obama a non precipitare decisioni che potrebbe fare danni notevoli al diritto di ognuno al libero accesso alle informazioni online. In questa materia è necessaria la massima prudenza”.

Creata dal governo degli Stati Uniti nel 1998 e progressivamente privatizzata dal presidente Bill Clinton, l’ICANN gestisce il sistema di indirizzi Internet che connette milioni di computer in tutto il mondo. Essa sovrintende anche il sistema di domini di primo livello, i suffissi degli indiizzi come .com, .org, .fr, .it e .nk.

Lo status quo è criticato perché da ad un governo unico troppo potere su uno strumento mondiale nel quale la posta in gioco finanziaria e politica è notevole. Pur rappresentando effettivamente un rischio, il sistema attuale ha fin’ora favorito lo sviluppo di Internet. In realtà, la supervisione di ICANN ha operato quasi senza problemi, fin’ora, con buoni risultati. Non vi è alcuna ragione per pensare che questo non possa continuare anche dopo domani.

Reporters senza frontiere ha espresso il suo parere sulla governance di Internet in passato (vedi i comunicati http://www.rsf.org/spip.php?page=article&id_article=15564 e http://www.rsf.org/spip.php?page=article&id_article=24352), ed ha sempre sostenuto che non fare modifiche a uno status quo piuttosto soddisfacente – in una rete che è unica e indivisibile, come dovrebbe essere uno strumento mondiale – è preferibile che imporre un nuovo modello pericoloso.
Continuare ad avere neutralità, unità e indivisibilità della rete in tutto il mondo dipende dalla sua supervisione. Operando differentemente, ad esempio, il governo cinese potrebbe creare un proprio sistema di nomi di dominio e quindi impedire l’accesso ai propri siti web dall’estero e l’accesso a siti web stranieri all’interno della Cina.

Archiviato in: @ INTERNET | Commenti disabilitati

HONDURAS: Si avvera il peggio temuto: il regime di fatto chiude 2 stazioni radio e TV, brutalità sui giornalisti

Pubblicato il 29 settembre 2009 da RSF Italia

arton34615-06beeTurning its words into actions, the facto government yesterday followed up its decree suspending civil libertiesby closing Radio Globo and Canal 36 television, two Tegucigalpa-based stations that had already been assaulted and suspended several times in the past three months for their opposition to the 28 June coup d’état.

In both cases, the police evicted staff and confiscated all the equipment. The Honduran press freedom organisation C-Libre said the closures violated article 73 of the Constitution, which forbids the authorities to interfere in the operations any news organisations.

“How far will this de facto government go?” Reporters Without Borders asked. “Its president, Roberto Micheletti, now has a strong chance of being added to our list of Predators of Press Freedom. He said he was ready to rescind the state of siege the day after declaring it but we think this means nothing unless the authorities immediately return the equipment taken from Radio Globo and Canal 36 and allow broadcasting to resume, and unless they stop the repression, especially the repression of human rights activists.”

Ronny Sánchez, a Guatemalan journalist employed by the Mexican TV station Televisa, said he was beaten by members of the police units that were present for the confiscation of equipment from Radio Globo. Another Guatemalan journalist, Alberto Cardona of Guatevisión, was also the victim of police brutality.

“The repression is worse than during the national security process in the 1980s, when civil liberties were still officially guaranteed,” Reporters Without Borders was told by Bertha Oliva de Nativi, the general coordinator of the Committee of Families of Detained and Disappeared Persons in Honduras (Cofadeh).

“Now they no longer exist and the military can do what they like,” she added. “The public health situation is also becoming more and more alarming and needs attention from the international community as well.”

Reporters Without Borders calls on the international community, led by Brazil and the United States, to press the de facto government to allow an Organisation of American States delegation to visit Honduras so that it can seek the release of the government opponents, journalists and human rights activists who are currently detained.

Archiviato in: Honduras | Commenti disabilitati

BIELORUSSIA: Il Governo continua a negare arbitrariamente l’ accreditamento di Mass-media stranieri

Pubblicato il 29 settembre 2009 da RSF Italia

arton34611-d5c1bFour days after a joint international press freedom mission to Belarus, Reporters Without Borders today called on the Belarusian government to stop obstructing the work of journalists working for foreign news media.

The press freedom organisation has signed a statementissued by the mission at the end of its five-day visit noting that: “Accreditation of journalists working for Belarus or foreign media, as well as the registration of offices of media, are restricted by non-transparent and discriminatory decisions of the authorities.”

Under a new media law that took effect on 8 February, foreign news media and their correspondents – both foreigners and Belarusians – must obtain accreditation from the foreign ministry before they can begin working. In practice, the authorities reject or ignore most requests, forcing journalists to work illegally.

“Despite our repeated calls, the Belarusian authorities continue to demonstrate bad faith by rejecting requests for accreditation by foreign media and their local correspondents,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We therefore reiterate our appeal to the foreign ministry to examine all these requests and respond favourably to them.”

Aleksey Malkov and Yuri Babenko, two journalists working for the Russian television station NTV, were expelled from Belarus on 14 August for working without accreditation. They had been trying to do a story about the disappearances of a journalist, two opposition members and a businessman in 1999 and 2000.

Dzmitry Kisel, the local correspondent of the Polish-Dutch radio station Radio Racyja, and Aleh Razhku, a journalist accused of working for Belsat TV without permission, received warnings from the prosecutors of Brest and Homyel on 23 September. If they continue working, they could be fined the equivalent of about 500 euros.

Belsat TV originally requested accreditation on 20 December 2008, before the new law was promulgated, but it had to start over in March after the foreign ministry told it that certain documents were missing from its application. Under the new law, the ministry is supposed to respond to requests within a month, but the station is still waiting to be told of its final decision.

Radio Racyja journalists Viktar Parfyonenka was refused accreditation on 25 September on the grounds that he had begun to work illegally without waiting for permission. Parfyonenka insists that he followed all the procedure correctly.

“Before beginning to work for Radio Racyja, I submitted an application for accreditation to the ministry in May,” he told Reporters Without Borders. When I called them, they told me all my papers were in order. But then they took four months to respond. Meanwhile, I had to earn a living. So I began working for the station before getting a reply.”

Reporters Without Borders added: “Radio Racyja and Belsat TV are among the few independent news outlets in Belarus and the foreign ministry would do well to to stop obstructing their work. As Belarusian government says it is determined to pursue an ‘Eastern Partnership’ with the European Union, it should show a real determination to improve the press freedom situation.”

Archiviato in: Bielorussia | Commenti disabilitati

CINA: La paranoia della sicurezza del governo nella fase di preparazione alla celebrazione del 60° anniversario della proclamazione della Repubblica popolare cinese il 1° ottobre ha portato a un rafforzamento della censura online ed a comportamenti abusivi nei confronti dei giornalisti stranieri, un caso di brutalità della polizia nei confronti di tre giornalisti stranieri è stato particolarmente inaccettabile

Pubblicato il 29 settembre 2009 da RSF Italia

arton34609-5fd8e“Government security paranoia in the run-up to the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China on 1 October has led to a reinforcement of online censorship and abusive behaviour towards foreign journalists,” Reporters Without Borders said today. “A case of police brutality towards three foreign journalists was particularly unacceptable.”

The press freedom organisation added: “What the authorities are trying to portray as a big celebration is turning into a major head-ache for Internet users and a reporters.”

Internet control agencies have redoubled efforts to prevent Internet users based in China, including foreign residents, from using censorship circumvention software such as Freegate and virtual private networks (VPN). Experts have told Reporters Without Borders that tens of thousands of IP addresses suspected by the authorities of using Freegate and VPNs, especially those that are free, have been blocked in the past few days.

“The Electronic Great Wall has never been as consolidated as it is now, on the eve of the 1 October anniversary, proving that the Chinese government is not so sure of its record,” Reporters Without Borders said. The new restrictions are making it even more difficult to access social-networking websites such Facebook and Twitter, or YouTube’s video-sharing sites, which have been blocked since July.

China’s leaders have made combating separatism one of the watchwords of the 60th anniversary, and new regulations have just been issued for combating online separatism in the far-western province of Xinjiang.

A Reporters Without Borders study of Uyghur-language and Xinjiang-based websites has established that the clampdown imposed during last July’s rioting in the province has not been loosened. Most of the sites that existed before the unrest are either still inaccessible or their content has not been updated. Of the 65 sites included in the study, 54 are still blocked for Internet users in China or abroad.

Even Tianshannet.com, a Xinjiang-based website that was held up by the authorities as an example of a site that respected the regulations, is no longer accessible. Xinjiang residents have been cut off from the Internet for almost three months and Uyghurs are being deprived of all news and information that is independent of the official media.

Three China-based Mongol websites – Mongol Ger Association (http://www.mongolger.net/), Mongol People Chat Room (MGLhun), which is hosted on the Sina.com site (http://www.sina.com.cn/), andMongolian People (http://www.mongolhun.com/) – have been rendered inaccessible in the past few weeks.

The Mongol Ger Association site had become very active in promoting the Mongol language and had referred to sensitive subjects such as arbitrary arrests and the right to land access for Mongols. The site’s owner, identified as Sodmongol, was arrested by the Chinese authorities on 13 June.Mongol People Chat Room, which covered politics, culture and the environment and organised events centred on the rights of Mongols in China, was closed without prior warning.

The Mongolian People site offered a range of services to Mongols in China, putting people in touch with each other and organising charity events. The authorities accused all three sites of conspiring with hostile and separatist foreign forces – the same grounds that have been cited for censoring dozens of Tibetan websites and forums (release http://www.rsf.org/Authorities-tighten-grip-on.html).

Chinese hackers have meanwhile posted crude messages and xenophobic slogans on Taiwanese and Australian film festival websites in protest against the screening of “The 10 Conditions of Love,” a documentary about Uyghur exiled activist Rebiya Kadeer, who is blamed by the Chinese authorities for stirring up the violence in Xinjiang. The hackers, who did not hide their affiliation to the Communist Party of China, called on the festival organisers to apologise to the Chinese people for including the film in their programmes.

China-based foreign journalists have also been the target of hacker attacks. Emails containing viruses have been sent to French, American, Singaporean and Italian correspondents. The Chinese assistants of foreign reporters have received booby-trapped emails that try to establish a parallel control over the recipient’s computer. At the same time, Chinese websites based abroad such as Boxun have received very aggressive distributed denial-of-service attacks DDOS (in which targeted servers are swamped by simultaneous communication requests).

Police have used violence against foreign journalists trying to cover the preparations for the 1 October parade. Three journalists employed by the Japanese news agency Kyodo, for example, were attacked in their hotel room by plain-clothes men after a parade rehearsal on 18 September. They were hit about the head and their computers were smashed.

This occurred after the authorities warned more than a dozen of foreign news media not to film or photograph the preparations. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China has asked the foreign ministry to explain the ban, which is not based on any rule or law.

Archiviato in: @ INTERNET, Cina | Commenti disabilitati

MESSICO: Rapporto di RSF: crescente offensiva contro i media in termini di sicurezza e macchinosa burocrazia

Pubblicato il 28 settembre 2009 da RSF Italia

arton34603-ffe32Reporters Without Borders is today releasing the report of its latest visit to Mexico, which took place from 4 to 12 July. The release coincides with a Reporters Without Borders news conference in Washington at which the speakers will included Emilio Gutiérrez Soto, a Mexican journalist who fled to the United States and is now waiting to be granted refugee status (see video :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYyR… ).

With a total of 55 deaths of journalists since 2000 that were clearly or probably linked to their work, and eight journalists missing, Mexico is the western hemisphere country where press freedom is most endangered. The creation of a Special Federal Attorney’s Office for Combating Violence against the Media in February 2006 has unfortunately changed nothing and has not helped to combat impunity.

The purpose of this Reporters Without Borders visit was to examine the investigations into several recent murders and disappearances of journalists with the aim of gaining insight into the workings of the Mexican criminal justice system and what causes it to malfunction.

Led by secretary-general Jean-François Julliard, the Reporters Without Borders delegation met with journalists, press freedom activists and government officials, including secretary of interior Fernando Francisco Gómez-Mont Urueta, the number two in the federal government

The report’s findings are unfortunately damning for the authorities, both local and federal. The passivity or negligence of the excessive number of entities dedicated to defending press freedom in all branches of the government (executive, legislative and judicial), and their tendency to cancel each other out, are not the only reasons why the Mexican media’s ordeal continues.

The authorities are also accomplices, if not responsible, for serious human rights violations including the right to report the news.

The scale of this tragedy is the result not only of organised crime’s infiltration of certain sectors of the state apparatus but also the escalating security measures and the military offensive on the drug cartels launched in December 2006. The number of deaths resulting from this undeclared war now stands at 14,000.

The federal offensive is being waged with particular determination in the southwestern states of Michoacán and Guerrero, which are as much in the grip of drug trafficking and violence as the regions along the US border. After visiting the capital, the Reporters Without Borders delegation spent most of its time in these two states.

In the report’s conclusions, Reporters Without Borders calls for a complete overhaul of the Mexican judicial system and major legislative changes concerning the press. The press freedom organisation is nonetheless convinced that a solution to the tragedy is impossible unless the United States imposes controls on firearms.

Archiviato in: Messico | Commenti disabilitati

HONDURAS: Le ultime vestigia di notiziari indipendenti sono in pericolo dopo la emanazione ieri da parte del governo “de facto” di un decreto da al governo il potere di chiudere i media “che danneggiano l’ordine pubblico”

Pubblicato il 28 settembre 2009 da RSF Italia

arton33697-dcba5 (1)Reporters Without Borders said today that the last vestiges of independent news were under threat after the de facto government signed a decree yesterday banning “unauthorised” public meetings and giving itself the power to close media “damaging public order”

“Three months to the day after the 28 June 2009 coup, basic rights and public freedoms are just empty words in Honduras”, the worldwide press freedom organisation said.

The coup government was trying to justify these steps in response to “calls to insurrection” from ousted leader Manuel Zelaya, who has called on his supporters to “march on the capital”.

“There is nothing now missing from the dictatorial arsenal of a government that took power by force and is deaf to the appeals of the international community”, the organisation said. “What little news there was outside of the control of the Micheletti administration is in danger of disappearing from one moment to the next, after three months of suspensions and constant intimidation of all media critical of the coup.”

The emergency decree, which should theoretically be approved by the Congress, is supposed to last for 45 days, but the organisation fears that the situation will degenerate into further repression and even greater threats to the safety of journalists. The director of Radio Progreso, the priest Ismael Moreno, said yesterday he had received death threats through texts sent to the mobile phones of radio staff, suggesting that a price had been put on his head.

“We hold the de facto government fully responsible for the least assault, including on Father Ismael Moreno and his staff”, added Reporters Without Borders’ Secretary General, Jean-François Julliard. Employees on Radio Progreso said that police were posted around the premises staking out the building ahead of a total closure of the media.

The incomplete list of media threatened with closure includes Radio Globo (now closed), Canal 36,Radio Uno, El Libertador, Cholusta SUR, as well as the civil society’s mailing list Red de Desarrollo Sostenible RDS – Network for Sustainable Development). The National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) has notified the RDS that it is has the power to inspect and suspend all activity registered under the domain name (.hn). This step could allow Conatel to control all news sent over the Internet, not just by the media but by any other civil organisation based in Honduras.

Meanwhile, amidst continuing chaos in the country, journalists have been illegally detained.Agustina Flores, of Radio Libertad, has been held by the security forces since 22 September and has been maltreated. She had provided live coverage of violent crackdowns on several demonstrations.

Archiviato in: Honduras | Commenti disabilitati

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