I heard a terrible report on ABC Radio this morning about the number of journalist casualties around the world this year. Apparently there have been 68 so far, the highest ever and up from 42 last year. Even worse is that most of the journalists killed are usually locals, covering their own country’s events.

Many of these journalists actually risk their lives every day by just stepping out onto the street in their home towns. While some are caught up in the crossfire, others are actually targeted by groups who want to control the messages being sent to the outside world – or in this case eliminating them I guess.

The Committee to Protect Journalists reported 31 were killed in the Philippines, nine in Somalia, four in Iraq, four in Pakistan and three in Russia. Only two journalists were not locally based reporters. Nine were freelancers and most were murdered while 11 died covering combat and seven covering other disturbances.

I’m well aware journalists don’t always accurately portray events and have received my own share of abuse, even from friends. But we still need journos out there reporting the news, it’s one way to keep governments and military honest and let us know something about what is going on. I think many of us don’t realize exactly what journalists go through to get their stories. I’ve been a journalist for 12 years but I haven’t covered conflicts. I’ve been in disaster zones, I’ve had guns pointed at me but more for security checks than anything else and I’ve been searched by armed forces. But none of it has been too bad.

I don’t have any desire to cover conflicts but I have interviewed people that have. I did a story on famed British photojournalist Tim Page a few years ago for Capture, a photographic magazine in Australia. I asked Page if he had even been armed with more than a camera in any of the conflicts he’s covered. He’s been in Kosovo, Iraq, Vietnam, Cambodia, Somalia and other places (I heard recently he’s been in Afghanistan). Here’s what he said to me:

“At times you had to pick up a weapon and use it. I mean what do you do when a camp is being overrun, there’s no more mines, there’s no more barbed wire out there, there’s Charlie hurling grenades at you. You don’t say ‘excuse me old boy here’s my passport and my press card’. You’ve got the mother on rock and roll with you, so you drill him. It’s you or me and you’re mad enough to kill me although you don’t know who I am. I’ve got an automatic weapon, excuse me you’re going to be a hamburger.”

He said he had also accompanied small commando groups who insisted no one could look after him, so he had to pack a weapon.

The other terrible thing about war affected places is that the journalists living there, covering the events, often do not have the ability to leave. Foreign correspondents can jump on the next plane out of there if they have been traumatized by an event or been targeted by radical groups. Local journalists simply can’t leave and have no respite from the horrors they see. And it must be far worse seeing atrocities affecting your own family, friends and community.

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Feel free to email Jo at admin@visitedplanet.com with your comments/thoughts/photo aspirations.  See and learn more at www.visitedplanet.com

Oman used to be a well kept secret.

Described as the ‘jewel of the Gulf’, a vibrant, beautiful country, Oman developed rapidly thanks to its vast oil supplies. Now it is making use of the many tourist opportunities available to it. Beautiful hotels have appeared along its shorelines and suddenly more people are visiting this special place.

However a brief encounter often does not always knowledge of a country make.

Oman does not suffer from social poverty, high crime levels or other social problems such as drugs, homelessness or youth delinquency.

At least not outwardly.

Whilst it is true that Oman appears a safe country, it is also true that there are strict restrictions on what the Omani press is able to report.

The Telecommunication Act Article 61(3) makes it a criminal offence (punishable by jail time and/or fines) to publish anything “contrary to public order and common morals”. It has also been deemed illegal by the courts to criticise in print Government officials under (again, criminal not civil) general anti-defamation laws.

Surely any country would appear safe if its crime were not reported.

Everyone is aware of crime in the UK because of the abundance of stories in the UK press exposing it.

This attracts a different sort of criticism, such as accusations that the press is guilty of negative sensationalism in a shameless bid to sell content. Regardless, the UK press operates without restraints.

This freedom is unfortunately lacking in Oman’s press.

Bloggers in Oman’s community are beginning to challenge this. Anonymous and free from the censorship which stifles official news sources, these bloggers are bringing important issues to the public’s attention.

Muscat Confidential, http://muscatconfidential.blogspot.com/2007/09/omani-corruption.html describes, amongst other things, rising corruption in the country.

This blog is proof of how citizen journalism is helping to defeat efforts by authorities to control press freedom.

Lets now hope that Omantel, the country’s internet provider, does not block these sites.

If so, let other blogs simply fill their place.

These posts could get a bit big, so I will split them up, Richard Wilson’s comments are here.

The BBC will probably clear down any criticism, no matter how mild, of Trafigura, so I think it is best to keep a copy of those Trafigura emails which indicate they knew what they were doing and why.

A copy of those emails is at the BBC.

More on journalism.co.uk too.

Trafigura are still at it.

Despite overwhelming and compelling evidence which demonstrate their culpability and negligence in polluting the Ivory Coast, Trafigura are using highly paid lawyers to bully people and silent the media.

In this instance, they’ve managed to intimidate the rather weak will BBC as Left Foot Forward reports:

“Libel reform campaigners have reacted with “dismay” at the BBC’s decision to concede to toxic waste shippers Trafigura in the High Court. In a statement, the BBC said it withdrew “the allegation that deaths, miscarriages or serious or long-term injuries were caused by the waste and apologises to Trafigura for having claimed otherwise.”

The case was brought by Carter Ruck on behalf after the BBC claimed in its Newsnight programme of 13 May 2009 titled ‘Dirty Tricks and Toxic waste‘ that Trafigura had caused deaths by being involved in the dumping of toxic waste in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast. A number of blogs carried the report even after it was removed by the BBC. In February 2007, Reuters reported that “Ivory Coast has confirmed the deaths of a five more people from exposure to toxic waste dumped in Abidjan last August, taking the death toll to 15.”

Readers will remember how Trafigura employed these tactics recently.

Update 1: The BBC has paid Trafigura £25,000. Unbelievable, license payers money going to oil traders. Even they realise how obscene it is, that Trafigura who are positively dripping in money and with blood on their hands should received the money, so they are passing it over to a charity, to assuage their consciences, the Press Gazette has more:

“The BBC has admitted libelling oil company Trafigura on Newsnight and paid it £25,000 as well as making an apology in open court.

Adam Tudor, from Trafigura lawyers Carter Ruck, today told Mr Justice Eady at the High Court in London that the BBC had withdrawn its claims that deaths and illnesses had been caused by Trafigura’s involvement in the dumping of toxic waste.

On 13 May this year Newsnight broadcast a report about the discharging in August 2006 by Trafigura of gasoline waste in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast which was subsequently dumped by a local company. The reports stated that Trafigura’s actions had caused deaths, miscarriages, serious injuries and sickness with long-term chronic effects.”

Update 2:The Guardian reports:

“The BBC today made what it presented as a tactical climbdown in its libel battle with the oil trading company Trafigura.

After negotiations with Trafigura director Eric de Turckheim this week, the broadcaster agreed to apologise for a Newsnight programme, pay £25,000 to charity, and withdraw any allegation that Trafigura’s toxic waste dumped in Africa had caused deaths.”

Update 3: Elsewhere the Guardian is covering the digital side of this issue and how the oil traders are buying adverts on Google to put their contemptible case:

“Several blogs and other online media have picked up the issue of the vanished Newsnight report. On the blog “Don’t Get Fooled Again” Richard Wilson asks “UK’s dysfunctional libel system strikes again? Newsnight feature on Trafigura disappears from BBC website”. Journalist and conservative candidate Ian Dale writes on his blog about “BBC caves in to Carter-Ruck threats over Trafigura film”. On The New Statesman rolling blog, George Eaton reported that “BBC removes Trafigura story after legal threat”.

Last, but not least, Judith Townend asks on Journalism.co.uk “Where has the BBC’s Trafigura feature gone?”, and reports that a spokesperson for the BBC said: “We haven’t got anything to say on this. As discussed earlier we are often not able to comment if there’s a live legal action.”

Meanwhile, Trafigura is buying relevant sponsored links on Google’s search page to promote its side of the story.

As mainstream media has fallen silent, the buzz about Carter-Ruck on alternative media is getting louder again. Links to the BBC Newsnight report to YouTube are blogged, the video has been published on Wikileaks and the keywords “Trafigura” and “Carter-Ruck” are all over Twitter again.

You wonder if they will ever learn”

Update 4: And before the BBC News site is purged, here’s what they said on the 16 September 2009:

“Trafigura knew of waste dangers

BBC Newsnight has uncovered evidence revealing that oil-trading company Trafigura knew that waste dumped in Ivory Coast in 2006 was hazardous.

Trafigura had persistently denied that the waste was harmful but internal e-mails show staff knew it was hazardous.

On Wednesday, Newsnight learned that Trafigura has offered to pay damages to settle a class action brought on behalf of 31,000 who said they were injured.

Up until now Trafigura has refused to settle, denying it was to blame.

The news of the settlement came as a UN report on claims that people had fallen sick or died as a result of the dump was published.

The report says there is “strong prima facie evidence that the reported deaths and adverse health consequences are related to the dumping of the waste from the cargo ship”.

The chemical waste came from a ship called Probo Koala and in August 2006 truckload after truckload of it was illegally fly-tipped at 15 locations around Abidjan, the biggest city in Ivory Coast.

In the weeks that followed the dumping, tens of thousands of people reported a range of similar symptoms, including breathing problems, sickness and diarrhoea.

Refinery by-product

The story began four years ago at an oil refinery in Mexico, owned by the state company Pemex, or PMI.

In its chemical processes the refinery was producing a by-product – coker naptha, a dirty form of gasoline which could not be treated on site.

The e-mails which Newsnight has obtained reveal that Trafigura executives realised they could make a fortune by buying the dirty Mexican oil for next to nothing.

One e-mail says: “This is as cheap as anyone can imagine and should make serious dollars.”

However, to sell it on at a profit, Trafigura first had to find a cheap way to clean the coker naptha and lower its sulphur levels.

Difficulties

Trafigura chartered the Probo Koala and while the ship was off the coast of Gibraltar poured tons of caustic soda and a catalyst into the dirty oil to clean it – a rough and ready process known as “caustic washing”.

The method is cheap, but it generates such dangerous waste that it is effectively banned in most places around the world.

The e-mails obtained by Newsnight show that in the months before the waste was dumped the company knew about the difficulties they would face in disposing of the waste.

“This operation is no longer allowed in the European Union, the United States and Singapore” it is “banned in most countries due to the ‘hazardous nature of the waste’”, one e-mail warns.

Another e-mail points out that “environmental agencies do not allow disposal of the toxic caustic”.

The process left a toxic sulphurous sludge in the tanks of the Probo Koala.

Costly process

Claiming that the waste was simply tank washings – the standard oil-water mixture produced by routine tank cleaning – Trafigura attempted to offload the waste in the Netherlands.

However, when the waste was offloaded the smell was so strong, the emergency services were called.

Samples were taken and Trafigura was told the waste was toxic and would cost hundreds of thousands of euros to treat safely.

However, Trafigura opted for the much cheaper option of reloading the waste and taking it elsewhere. It ultimately ended up in Ivory Coast.

Evidence seen by Newsnight shows that knowledge of the waste and problems getting rid of it went to the very top of Trafigura and the company’s President Claude Dauphin.

The Trafigura e-mails say that Mr Dauphin was urging his team to “be creative” in how they dealt with the hazardous waste.

The contractor that they found in the end was Solomon Ugburogbu, the owner of a company called Tommy, which had no facilities to handle hazardous waste.

Ugburogbu, is now serving a 20 year sentence for poisoning local people.

Offer

Trafigura has always denied and continues to deny any liability for events that occurred in Ivory Coast.

In a statement to Newsnight on Wednesday the company said: “With regard to Trafigura’s proposals for handling the treatment and disposal of the slops, Trafigura always sought to comply with the laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which it operates.”

In 2007 they paid £100m to the Ivorian government to “compensate the victims” amongst other things.
The government administered fund paid compensation to the families of 16 people whose deaths they believed were caused by the waste.

On Wednesday Trafigura admitted a “global settlement is being considered” for the victims who suffered lesser injuries.

A statement from the Ivorians’ lawyers, Leigh Day and Company, confirms an offer has been made and says: “The claimants are very pleased and are keen to see the issue resolved.”

Watch Newsnight’s full report on Trafigura on Wednesday 16 September 2009 at 10.30pm on BBC Two, then afterwards on the BBC iPlayer and Newsnight website.

Newsnight worked in co-operation with journalists from The Guardian, Volkskrant in the Netherlands, NRK in Norway and Estonian journalists in preparing this report and with access to research papers held by Greenpeace and Amnesty International. “

Illustration by Manos Symeonakis

Perhaps the only surprise when a statuette of a cathedral struck Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on the side of the face on Sunday was that the man who launched it into the crisp Milan air had a history of mental problems and was not one of the millions of perfectly sane Italians who detest their premier.

Few democratic leaders have bred such strong contempt in a large section of their population as Berlusconi has in Italy. A banner at a protest against the Iraq War in Rome in 2003 was indicative of the hatred that has burned for the media-mogul-turned-politician throughout this decade: “Iraq, we’ll have Saddam if you take Berlusconi,” it read.

The physical attack on the 73-year-old prime minister resulted in a few scars that a bit more plastic surgery can fix but it also symbolized the dead-end to which this incessant rage against him has led. Despite opportunities to provide a credible alternative to his governments, the country’s center-left has failed to find the answers to Italy’s problems, many of which are similar to those of Greece, such as the need for widespread structural reforms. Despite the poor state of the economy, his embroilment with more women of questionable repute than Hugh Hefner and accusations of numerous corruption scandals, Berlusconi’s popularity rating remains just above 50 percent and many experts are predicting that sympathy after Sunday’s attack will help it to rise.

Although Italy is no stranger to violence being inflicted on its politicians, it has worked hard to eradicate this element from the country’s political life – the last assassination of a senior politician was in 1978. Berlusconi’s opponents are now caught between a rock and a hard alabaster souvenir as they have to continue chipping away at his surgically enhanced facade without letting their efforts be driven just by hate.

“This clearly shows the degradation of the political clash in Italy,” said Ezio Mauro, editor-in-chief of Rome’s La Repubblica, of Sunday’s attack on Berlusconi. The daily newspaper has been one of the few media outlets critical of the prime minister’s tenure in office. And herein lies the problem for Berlusconi’s opponents: His iron grip on the media hardly allows them the chance to get a word in.

The premier owns the largest Italian publishing house, Mondadori, and three private Mediaset TV channels. He also exercises influence over state TV Rai as most of the broadcaster’s executives are political appointees – the 73-year-old has actually said that it is “unacceptable” for Rai to criticize the government. All this has resulted in the independent watchdog Freedom House ranking Italy 73^rd for press freedom along with Tonga (Greece is ranked 63^rd) out of 195 countries worldwide.

Although Berlusconi’s colorful antics sometimes make him appear like the villain in an Austin Powers movie (Dr Feelgood perhaps), his supremacy is very real in Italy and absolutely relevant beyond the country’s borders.

A mere glance around the world confirms that the dividing lines between the media and politics are becoming increasingly blurred. While Berlusconi was getting whacked in the face, center-right candidate Sebastian Pinera was winning the first round of Chile’s presidential election. Pinera is a successful businessman who owns Chile’s fourth most popular TV channel, Chilevision, which serves up a visual diet of mostly gossip shows, soap operas and news. In Britain, the Conservative Party has come under attack for an alleged secret agreement it has struck with The Sun newspaper, the UK’s most-read daily. In return for the paper’s support in the runup to next year’s general election, the Conservatives have allegedly agreed to reduce state funding for the BBC and slash regulation of private broadcasters.

In Greece, the bonds between the media and the people who run the country are there for all to see – literally – as they have often resulted in the awarding of public works contracts. Now, Prime Minister George Papandreou says he wants the two sides to stand further apart and for there to be more transparency in their dealings.

During his time in opposition as PASOK leader, he often resisted pressure from the media until opinion polls began to swing in his favor and those that had wanted to hand the reins of the party over to someone else wasted no time in jumping on the Papandreou bandwagon. But showing the same fortitude in government will be a different story, especially when events take a turn for the worse and the last thing he’ll need is extra pressure from newspapers and TV channels.

As such, it was interesting to note that the issue of media influence was not among the topics discussed at a groundbreaking meeting on corruption and transparency between parliamentary party leaders on Tuesday. Perhaps it was just an oversight – for Greece’s sake, we should hope so because, as Berlusconi has shown in Italy, when the media and the political system fuse into one, it results in something more painful for the country than just a bloody nose.

This commentary was written by Nick Malkoutzis and first appeared in Athens Plus on December 18, 2009.

So its happened again, an injunction has been issued to protect Tiger Woods‘ “right to a family life” within the UK. Everyone knows Woods is a love rat but yet our ‘privacy by the back door‘ laws have gagged the press from not only saying it but also saying exactly what they can’t say.

And whos behind this undemocratic gagging? Cash hungry Keith Schilling, drunk on the smell of his own hair dye and the seemingly deranged, paranoid Justice David Eady…….typical.

You live by the sword, you die by the sword; Woods has taken every oppurtunity to reinforce in all of our minds what a role model he is. He has become his own commodity, whoring himself out to the highest bidder and now he has been exposed as a fake, his reputation is in tatters and rightly so.

It is the media’s responsibility to tell the world that this commodity was false all along, but due to a crusading Judge with a skewed sense of morality and a team of amoral, cash hungry lawyers it cannot do this.

What next? Injunctions preventing the press from saying the sky is blue as it would be deemed offensive to the colour blind? Injunctions against sound as it could be seen as undemocratic towards the deaf?

Keith Schilling and David Eady are stood at the top of a slippery slope about to shove the whole UK press down it, here we come China!

The news that Tiger Woods has successfully obtained injunctions preventing the UK media from publishing information widely available in the USA is another blow for freedom of speech.

While the lurid details of the Woods saga are not really too savoury – although it is impossible to sympathise with someone who has earned hundreds of millions from selling a wholesome image – the issue is that again the UK’s draconian libel laws have been used to silence opinion.

What is the bigger issue is that wonderful firms such as Carter Ruck (see <I>Private Eye</I> most weeks)  earn huge sums from using the UK system to silence crictism of some of the world’s most odious regimes.  Woods is about one man’s fall. But when the law is used so often to silence valid debate and examination then the government has to step in.

If things continue to slide at the rate they are then issues such as the MP’s expenses scandals would never see the light of day.

The crazy thing is that the law means the papers cannot even hint at what they cannot report or report that the injunction has been granted.

Speculation is that it concerns the alleged UK affair. And yet a surf shows the following in Australia: “British media yesterday named TV presenter and former pin-up Kirsty Gallacher, a household name there, as a friend of Tiger’s.
She is now married and pregnant. But in an interview several years ago when she was single, she described him as “wonderful, kind and talented – not to mention incredibly handsome”.”

Meanwhile, such an injunction has limited value in this day and age. Surf the web and find out what the authorities don’t want you to know.  And stick a cyber two fingers up at the lawyers and judiciary.  And then there’s always good old Fox News, available on most satellite channels 24 hours a day!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

LONDON, Dec. 11 (UPI) — A law firm representing Tiger Woods said a British court issued an injunction that forbids the publication of nude photos of the professional golfer.

The Schillings law firm said the injunction granted Thursday by the High Court in London would block the release of any nude photos of the U.S. golfer should such images exist, CNN reported Friday.

“For the avoidance of doubt, this order is not to be taken as an admission that any such photographs exist, and in the event that these photographs do exist, and it is not admitted, any such images may have been fabricated, altered, manipulated and or changed to create the false appearance and impression that they are nude photographs of our client,” Schillings said in a letter to publications in Britain.

The court’s ruling comes in the wake of allegations that Woods, 33, had extramarital affairs.

The married golfer, a father of two, who was involved in a single-car accident in Florida last month, has admitted to unspecified “transgressions,” CNN reported.

Written by Arsalan Barmand and Bardia Mehrabian

Paris, France – “Iranian authorities regard photographers as spies,” said “EM,” an Iranian photojournalist who has recently sought refuge in France with the help of Reporters Without Borders. “The police came to my home. I was lucky because I was out reporting. I fled the country the same day. I left with my camera and a small bag. I crossed the border after nightfall.”

Reporters Without Borders (RWB), an international non-governmental organization based in France, has recently launched a campaign to aid fleeing journalists, like “EM” and bloggers in their struggle for a safe passage toward freedom. “In view of the scale of this exodus, [we are] launching an appeal for financial support for these journalists and bloggers, who find themselves utterly destitute as they search for a safe refuge.”

“The press freedom situation is getting worse by the day in Iran,” states RWB in their recent press release. “Journalists who have chosen not to the leave the country are being constantly threatened or summoned by the intelligence services, including the intelligence service of the Revolutionary Guards. Some have been given long prison sentences at the end of completely illegal judicial proceedings.”

As a result, the large exodus of Iranian journalists that due to the crackdown facilitates the silencing program of the Iranian regime and creates a humanitarian crisis where many journalists flee to countries such as Turkey, Iraq, or Afghanistan where they are subject to harassment, surveillance, and possible extradition back to Iran.

Donations to this campaign “will help to pay for their air tickets and other forms of travel, and for food, lodging and medical care.”

While also helping journalists seek refuge during trouble times, RWB has also supports those journalists whose fates have not been so fortunate. RWB is seeking justice for Zahra Kazemi, the Iranian-Canadian journalist who died while being held by Iranian authorities, by supporting her son, Stephan Hashemi, in his lawsuit against the Islamic Republic. Hashemi is seeking reparations in a Montreal court for “the detention, torture and death of his mother… in a Tehran prison in July 2003.”

If you would like to donate or find out more about these worthy causes, please visit Reporters Without Borders’ website here.

Africa is not the world’s graveyard of journalists, stated the Committee to Protect Journalists.  The Africa Program Research Associate of the CPJ Mohamed Keita said more reporters had died elsewhere than Africa.
Below is the full interview:

Africanews.com: How does the CPJ works i.e do you just create awareness etc?

CPJ: CPJ is an independent advocacy organization that investigates, documents, reports and speaks out against censorship and attacks against news gatherers worldwide since 1981.Our board members participate in our advocacy missions with heads of states and members of government and in coordination with other organizations, we assist persecuted journalists with relocation and funds for legal assistance and medical care following attacks. Each year, we honor courageous journalists with CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award. The award’s aim is to draw attention to the plight of journalists worldwide.

Africanews.com: What have been some of the achievements of CPJ in Africa?

CPJ: The most immediate impact of our work is the assistance we have provided persecuted journalists, particularly journalists from the Horn of Africa, Zimbabwe and Gambia. In coordination with other organizations, we have facilitated the relocation and resettlement of dozens of journalists since 2001.

Without the continuing documentation and reporting of press freedom abuses by CPJ and other organizations, who knows what number of journalists who would face imprisonment, threats, censorship and murder without any support? It is difficult to provide figures for the number of journalists released from prison because of our advocacy, but in our evaluation, we are continuing to sensitize governments from Gambia to Ethiopia about adhering to press freedom as guaranteed by their national constitutions and the African Charter on Peoples and Human Rights.

Africanews.com: How would you respond to the saying that “Africa is now the graveyard of journalists”?

CPJ: Actually, since 1992, when CPJ began keeping detailed death records of the fallen members of the media, more journalists have gotten killed in other regions of the world (Iraq, Asia, and Latin America) than in Sub-Saharan Africa. Historically, the conflicts in Algeria, Somalia, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda claimed the most journalists in the line of duty on the continent, but Africa is not the world’s graveyard of journalists.

Africanews.com: A lot of people say African journalists in particular deliberately engage in activities that could cause them their lives just for the sake of cheap popularity/fame. How is CPJ dealing with this?

CPJ: CPJ is strictly an advocacy organization and our mandate does not involve editorial policy, labor issues or journalism ethics. However, we acknowledge that unethical practices linked to poor training, low salaries, and financial and political pressures, are realities plaguing the free press in Africa and perhaps reflect the larger socio-economics problems of the continent. We believe these problems should be addressed by media self-regulation (for instance a professional media association for instance with disciplinary powers) and NOT by government regulation.

Africanews.com: Could you tell us briefly about the state of journalist abuse in Africa?

CPJ: Officials, government supporters, security forces, rebels routinely threaten and assault journalists over their coverage.

Imprisonment of journalists under libel, defamation, vague national security or anti-state laws or spurious criminal charges is common. This year, over 90% of journalists in prisons in Sub-Saharan Africa are behind bars without charge or trial and held in secret locations.

Journalists are murdered in quasi-total impunity and the killers are likely to walk off. In very few instances do investigations and prosecutions are carried out professionally and thoroughly to apprehend not only the killers but the masterminds.

Governments are also using more subtle methods of suppression of independent media, including pulling advertising from critical outlets, asking for exorbitant civil damages in defamation cases or bankrupting media companies with legal defense fees, or administrative restrictions on. Government enact media legislation criminalizing critical coverage and restricting press freedom

Africanews.com: Is there any improvement as compared to previous years?

CPJ: The rapid development of new technologies (internet, mobile phones) has allowed average citizens in only a few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to freely share testimonies and photos with a worldwide audience. In countries like Madagascar and Uganda for instance, we saw bloggers and citizen journalists offer unfiltered news, photos and video about the unfolding events there, circumventing the mechanisms of censorship that the traditional media is subjected to. There is also a significant portion of Africans in the Diaspora who have started news web sites and online fora to either track what is happening in their home countries, or advocate a particular political, social or religious opinion that cannot be freely expressed at home. There are questions that can be raised about the quality and accuracy of this kind of information, but it should be a positive development. At the same time, governments like Ethiopia are noticing these movements online and moving to block the sites at home.

Africanews.com: Why do you think most African governments “oppress” the press?

CPJ: African governments, like governments around the world, understand the power of the media in shaping public opinion and we see that most journalists are attacked for reporting bad governance (corruption, abuse), or challenging the official position on a sensitive topic. Many governments justify their repression by linking critical coverage with incitement to violence and undermining national security or development interests, but those are excuses.

Africanews.com: What has been the cooperation between CPJ and government institutions that you send petition letters to?

CPJ: Just last month, we received a response from the president of Senegal after we raised concerns about criminal libel laws used to jail journalists and a culture of impunity for those assaulting or threatening the press. We strive to engage officials in a constructive dialogue and we always seek to hear their side of the story, but there are some governments which refuse to be engaged.

Africanews.com: What do you forecast in terms of press freedom, journalists safety in Africa in the next five to 10 years?

CPJ: Hard to answer, but we remain optimistic, especially when we think of countries that experienced brutal civil wars and have come a long way in terms of their press freedom records, countries like Liberia or Burundi.

First published in my company network – africanews.com

The International Federation of Journalists today issued a new call to journalists across the world to join the Global Day of Solidarity on Wednesday, 9 December, to demand justice for the 31 journalists slaughtered in Maguindanao province of the Philippines on 23 November.

“Filipino journalists need to hear our voices expressing solidarity with the victims and anger at the Philippine government that allowed this to happen,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “106 journalists have now met a violent death since President Arroyo was elected in 2001. Her government has created the circumstances for this massacre by allowing a culture of impunity to flourish.”

The IFJ is currently leading an international mission to bring support to the victims and investigate the circumstances of the mission, hosted by its affiliate, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP). The mission has just returned from meeting the families of the victims based in the city of General Santos and is now focusing on talks with the authorities.

On Wednesday the mission will attend a protest rally in Manila and issue a preliminary report at a press conference.

In a statement reproduced below, NUJP chairman Nestor Burgos says Filipino journalists are grateful for the flood of support that has already been expressed from around the world. “It has helped enormously. But we want all journalists to join us, to band together, to end this culture of impunity over journalist killings. Filipino journalists are now trying to function in a violent atmosphere in the lead-up to crucial elections on May 10, 2010,” he says.

30 journalists have been confirmed dead and one missing out of a total 57 people massacred by around 100 armed men on the 23^rd November. The convoy was travelling across country to nominate a candidate for the May elections when they were confronted by gunmen from the Ampatuan clan who subsequently murdered everyone and buried their bodies in shallows.

This is the biggest single atrocity against journalists on record.

“It is six months before the May 10 elections and the mission hopes that this horrific start to the electoral process is countered by a determination from the President and her administration to ensure that justice and journalism will be allowed to flourish without impediment.” said Mike Dobbie, on the IFJ Mission. “Until those things are done, then the perpetrators of this mass murder will be considered to have achieved some of their aims. That is, to intimidate by multiple acts of violence the people of their community.”

The mission also includes representatives from the Indonesia’s Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), Australia’s Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance, the Thai Journalists’ Association (TJA) Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), International News Safety Institute (INSI), International Media Support (IMS), the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI) and Union Network International (UNI).

For more information contact the IFJ Asia Pacific office on   +612 9333 0919

or IFJ Brussels on   +32 2 235 22 00

The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has made an emotional appeal for solidarity and support in the wake of the Ampatuan Town Massacre in which 31 journalists and media workers were murdered.

NUJP chairman Nestor Burgos says Filipino journalists are grateful for the flood of support that has already been expressed from around the world. “It has helped enormously. But we want all journalists to join us, to band together, to end this culture of impunity over journalist killings. Filipino journalists are now trying to function in a violent atmosphere in the lead-up to crucial elections on May 10, 2010,” he says.

“No one knows if another Filipino journalist will be killed or if continued government inaction will mean justice is denied to those who have been murdered already. If we are to overcome this decades-old problem, we need help from our journalist colleagues around the world.

“We need to stand together to stop these atrocities from spreading to other countries. We need to demand that governments take action to ensure journalist safety, and justice for our slain colleagues,” Burgos says.

A day of protests has been called for Wednesday, December 9 and the NUJP, an affiliate member of the International Federation of Journalists, is seeking strong demonstrations of solidarity from other journalist unions and media groups around the world as it battles for justice for the slain media representatives. A massive public rally and march will take place in Manila on the day, with other protests planned across the Philippines.

The NUJP fears that the Philippines Government will continue to take insufficient action to end a culture of impunity in relation to the killing of journalists. More than 100 Filipino journalists had been killed in the 23 years prior to the massacre in Ampatuan Town in the province of Maguindanao on the island of Mindanao on Monday, November 23.

Burgos says: “We are worried that, despite the magnitude of this atrocity, President Gloria Arroyo’s administration will not ensure that a full, open and transparent investigation takes place. Already prosecutors have told us that they have received death threats and have asked for proper security in order for them to carry out their vital work. Meanwhile, Mindanao journalists are operating in a climate of fear and the imposition of martial law in provincial Maguindanao has raised fears that massive human rights violations may occur on top of the tragedy which has already beset the province,” he says.

“The relatives of the murdered journalists demand justice, and are desperate for aid and support as they try to continue their lives without their slain loved ones,” Burgos says,

The massacre of 57 people included the family members of the local governor, lawyers, passers-by and a media crew of 31. The group were travelling in six vehicles when they were stopped by armed militia, driven to a secluded site and murdered. Tragically, of the people killed one journalist’s body, that of Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay of The Midland Review in Tacurong City remains missing despite a second search yesterday.

An international emergency mission led by the IFJ arrived in the Philippines last week to support local journalists and NUJP. The delegation comprises representatives from leading journalists’ rights and press freedom organisations including the IFJ, the Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Indonesia’s Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), Australia’s Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance, the Thai Journalists’ Association (TJA), International News Safety Institute (INSI), International Media Support (IMS), the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI) and Union Network International (UNI).

The mission, organised at the request of the NUJP, has visited General Santos City in Mindanao and met with the relatives of the slain journalists, the chief city prosecutor, and local media to learn more about their pressing needs. The mission also visited General Santos City cemetery where 12 of the murdered journalists are now buried. The mission has now returned to Manila for meetings with government officials. To date, there has been no response to a request to meet with President Gloria Arroyo so that the mission can press home international and local demands for a full and credible investigation into the massacre.

“The entire media profession in the Philippines is in pain. Journalists are traumatised and are operating in a climate of fear. The relatives of the victims are seeking urgent funds to support the livelihood of the dependents and also for their children’s’ education. And there is a pressing need for a thorough investigation to take place, one where the prosecutors are afforded proper protection and are fully resourced,” Burgos says.

“We also heard from one of the colleagues of the murdered journalists who escaped being caught up in the roadblock and abduction and we believe he and others are in urgent need of protection from those implicated in the massacre.”

The NUJP hopes that journalists the world over will join them in solidarity on December 9 to help justice prevail for all those victims, living and dead, of the Ampatuan Town Massacre. “We can only move on if we can ensure that those responsible for this monstrosity are called to account for their crime,” Burgos says.

For more information, contact Nestor Burgos on

+63 917 725 6333