Press Freedom

Prominent Lawyer Defending the Poor Gunned Down in Mozambique

By Lisa Vives
As billions pour into Mozambique from foreign investors scooping up fields of coal and natural gas, the signs of newfound wealth are impossible to miss.

Burundi-Watchers See Erosion of Human Rights and Civic Freedoms

By Lisa Vives
The bad old days of the 1980s and 1990s when Burundi was widely considered a police state may be making a comeback.

U.N. Member States Accused of Cherry-Picking Human Rights

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has criticised member states for ‘cherry-picking’ human rights – advocating some and openly violating others – perhaps to suit their own national or political interests.

Reporting on Violence in Mexico Brings Its Own Perils

By Lyndal Rowlands
Organised criminals in Mexico are forcing the media to stop reporting on crime, by turning their violence against journalists.

Human Rights in Asia and the Pacific: A “Regressive” Trend, Says Amnesty International

By Kanya D'Almeida
The cradle of some of the world’s most ancient civilizations, home to four out of the planet’s six billion people, and a battleground for the earth’s remaining resources, Asia and the Pacific are poised to play a defining role in international affairs in the coming decade.

OPINION: Can the Violence in Honduras Be Stopped?

By Lisa Haugaard, Sarah Kinosian, and William Hartung
Honduras is one of the most violent nations in the world. The situation in the country’s second largest city, San Pedro Sula, demonstrates the depth of the problem.

Threats, Deaths, Impunity – No Hope for Free Press in Pakistan

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
It is no surprise that most Pakistani journalists work under tremendous stress; caught between crime lords in its biggest cities, militant groups across its tribal belt and rival political parties throughout the country, censorship, intimidation and death seem almost to come with the territory.

Sri Lanka Gets Temporary Reprieve Over U.N. Report on War Crimes Charges

By Thalif Deen
The 47-member Human Rights Council (HRC), responding to a request by the newly-elected government in Colombo, has deferred the release of a key U.N. report on human rights violations and war crimes charges against the Sri Lankan armed forces and Tamil separatists who fought a devastating decades-long battle which ended in 2009.

“Drastic Decline” Seen in World Press Freedom

By Leila Lemghalef
A leading advocacy group warns of a "worldwide deterioration in freedom of information" last year.

Sri Lanka Seeks U.S.-U.N. Backing for Domestic Probe of War Crimes Charges

By Thalif Deen
Sri Lanka’s newly-installed government, which has pledged to set up its own domestic tribunal to investigate war crimes charges, is seeking political and moral support both from the United States and the United Nations to stall a possible international investigation.

Battling Terrorism Shouldn’t Justify Torture, Spying or Hangings, Says U.N. Rights Chief

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations, which is the legal guardian of scores of human rights treaties banning torture, unlawful imprisonment, degrading treatment of prisoners of war and enforced disappearances, is troubled that an increasing number of countries are justifying violations of U.N. conventions on grounds of fighting terrorism in conflict zones.

Twiplomacy Gets Its Day in the Sun at U.N.

By Josh Butler
Formerly derided as the domain of time-wasting and self-obsession, social media has emerged as an unlikely shining light for international relations and social activism.

Glimmer of Hope for Assange

By Gustavo Capdevila
There is a window of hope, thanks to a U.N. human rights body, for a solution to the diplomatic asylum of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, holed up in the embassy of Ecuador in London for the past two and a half years.

OPINION: Looking Two Steps Ahead into Saudi Arabia’s Future

By Emile Nakhleh
Much has been written about King Abdullah’s legacy and what Saudi Arabia accomplished or failed to accomplish during his reign in terms of reform and human rights. Very little has been written about the role that Muhammad bin Nayef, the newly appointed deputy to the crown prince, could play in the new Saudi Arabia under King Salman.

OPINION: After the Terrorist Attacks in Paris

By Johan Galtung
What happened in Paris on Jan. 7 – known all over the world – is totally unacceptable and inexcusable.

U.N. Helpless as Saudi Flogging Flouts Torture Convention

By Thalif Deen
Flogging a dead horse, as the old idiom goes, is far removed from flogging a live Saudi blogger.

Press Looks at Future After “Charlie”

By A. D. McKenzie
In the wake of last week’s attack on French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead, a heated battle of opinion is being waged in France and several other countries on the issue of freedom of expression and the rights of both media and the public.

OPINION: Islamic Reformation, the Antidote to Terrorism

By Emile Nakhleh
The horrific terrorist attack on the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo has once again raised the question about violence and Islam. Why is it, some ask, that so much terrorism has been committed in the name of Islam, and why do violent jihadists seek justification of their actions in their religion?

In Sri Lanka Cartoonists Aren’t Killed – They’re Disappeared

By Kanya D'Almeida
Scenes from the brutal shooting of 12 journalists with the French satirical weekly ‘Charlie Hebdo’ have monopolised headlines worldwide ever since two men opened fire in the magazine’s Paris office on Jan. 7.

OPINION: The Paris Killings – A Fatal Trap for Europe

By Roberto Savio
It is sad to see how a continent that was one cradle of civilisation is running blindly into a trap, the trap of a holy war with Islam – and that six Muslim terrorists were sufficient to bring that about.

Attack on French Magazine a “Black Day” for Press Freedom

By A. D. McKenzie
“They are cowards who react to satire by going for their Kalashnikovs.” That was how renowned French cartoonist Plantu described the killers of 10 media workers and two policemen in Paris Wednesday.
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