Press Freedom

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit in the State Department

EGYPT: Mubarak’s Critics See Hypocrisy in U.S. Support

By William Fisher
The Egyptian government's crackdown on political opponents continues unabated in advance of parliamentary elections Nov. 28, even as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week hailed the "partnership" between the two countries as "a cornerstone of stability and security in the Middle East and beyond".

KOSOVO: Dragging Corruption Into the Net

By Claudia Ciobanu
Kosovo youths looking to address issues treated as taboo by mainstream media are taking increasingly to online activism. The new platform is being used particularly to fight high-level corruption.

Burma’s Junta Switches from Fatigues to Plain Clothes

By Kanya D'Almeida
On May 30, 2003, the Depayin Massacre in Burma (Myanmar) left at least 70 people dead. A failed attempt to assassinate opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the attack was carried out by the pro-junta political militia, the Union Solidarity Development Association (USDA).

Egypt Cracks Down as U.S. Stands By

By William Fisher
In the face of police brutality, crackdowns on political parties and media, and a host of other violations ahead of Egypt's Nov. 28 parliamentary election, human rights advocates are calling on President Barack Obama to use U.S. leverage to persuade Egypt to reform its electoral process, allow international monitors to assess the election, and conduct transparent and accountable balloting.

Torture Orders Were Part of U.S. Sectarian War Strategy

By Gareth Porter
The revelation by Wikileaks of a U.S. military order directing U.S. forces not to investigate cases of torture of detainees by Iraqis has been treated in news reports as yet another case of lack of concern by the U.S. military about detainee abuse.
A week of action against what activists describe as a Secrecy Bill concluded with a march on parliament. Credit: Davison Makanga/IPS

SOUTH AFRICA: Draft Bill Is ‘A Charter for Rogues’

By Erna Curry
A coalition of civil society groups marched to South Africa's Parliament on Oct. 27 to protest against the draft version of a new Protection of Information Bill. "This bill is a betrayal of all the democratic principles we fought for," anti-apartheid stalwart Kader Asmal told the crowd.

CHILE: Documentary Reveals Injustices Endured by Mapuches – and Filmmaker

By Daniela Estrada
Finally, her documentary film about the indigenous Mapuche people has reached theatres in Chile and in other countries. Elena Varela was in the midst of making the film when she was imprisoned on charges for which she has now been completely cleared.

EGYPT: Gag Tightens on Media Ahead of Elections

By Cam McGrath
Media watchdogs see the "invisible hand" of the ruling party behind a string of firings and resignations that have removed some of Egypt's most prominent government critics from their soapboxes just weeks before parliamentary elections.

Risking Death to Report the Truth

By Kanya D'Almeida
Alma Guillermoprieto was one of only two journalists to investigate rumours of the notorious massacre in El Mozote, El Salvador in December 1981. Because the slaughter of 1,000 unarmed civilians was perpetrated by the U.S.-backed Salvadorian Army, the Ronald Reagan administration attempted to discredit her work.
"Dialogue is possible," says Gustavo Andújar, vice-president of Signis. Credit: Courtesy of Gustavo Andújar

Q&A: Cuba’s Catholic Media Multiply, But Change Is Slow

By Patricia Grogg
In the context of ongoing conciliation between the Cuban government and the Roman Catholic Church, the communications media of the latter are growing quickly on this Caribbean island where the press remains under strict state control.
Friends and colleagues say they warned Derakhshan in 2008 that traveling to Iran could be dangerous for him. Credit: Courtesy of Hossein Derakhshan

Iran’s “Blogfather” Gets 20-Year Prison Sentence

By Omid Memarian
A week after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told heads of state gathered for the U.N. General Assembly in New York that his government does not jail its citizens for expressing their opinions, Iran's Revolutionary Court sentenced Hossein Derakhshan, an internationally known Iranian-Canadian blogger, to 19 and a half years in prison.

U.S.: Librarians Lead Fight Against Banned Books

By IPS Correspondents
Penguins are indisputably cute. And a children's book about such inoffensive animals could hardly be expected to trigger a nationwide controversy. But then came "And Tango Makes Three" and a heated debate was fired up.
Shirin Ebadi, centre, has endured hostile mobs outside her home and offices as a result of her work as a human rights lawyer in Iran. Credit: Solmaz Sharif/IPS

Activists Warn of Rights Crisis Ahead of Ahmadinejad Visit

By Omid Memarian
Speaking at a press conference in New York Friday, Shirin Ebadi, a highly-regarded Iranian attorney and the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, warned that the human rights situation in Iran is deteriorating, particularly for the many journalists and civil society activists considered political prisoners.

CHINA: Journalists Risk Their Lives to Expose Corruption

By IPS Correspondents
Despite what are often overwhelming obstacles, a gutsy minority of investigative reporters in China continues to expose official corruption and criminal behaviour. But they do so at their own peril.

MEXICO: The Voice of the Community Faces Numerous Threats

By Emilio Godoy
The Jenpoj ("winds of fire) community radio station in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, which plays an important role in keeping the Mixe indigenous community informed, has had its equipment confiscated and has fought and won a court case to get a broadcast license.

Fears for South Africa’s Press Freedom

By Chris Stein
International media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks South Africa's press as among the freest on the continent. Two proposed new measures are drawing unfavourable comparisons to repressive laws in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.
Protest by journalists in Tijuana, Mexico Credit: Courtesy of Eileen Truax

MEXICO: Threats Against Journalists: “You’re Vulnerable, and It’s Hard to Accept”

By Daniela Pastrana
"The threats change your whole life," said Jade Ramírez, a journalist who has been living for months with that burden, which also hangs over a growing group of her colleagues in Mexico.

U.S. Journalist To Be Deported From Turkey

By Sanjay Suri
Jake Hess, a U.S. freelance journalist who also wrote for IPS on Kurdish rights within Turkey, is to be deported following a government order.

HONDURAS: Rights Situation Deteriorates

By Jim Lobe
Six months after the inauguration of President Porfirio Lobo, the human rights situation in Honduras continues to deteriorate, according to two major New York-based groups.

SUDAN: Fear Campaign Reported Ahead of Referendum

By Eli Clifton
With less than six months before the residents of southern Sudan vote on a reform which is expected to result in the cessation of South Sudan from the north, a new report implicates Sudan’s security services in "carrying out a brutal campaign of arbitrary detentions, torture, and mental and physical intimidation" against opponents of the government.

CNN’s Objectivity Questioned in Sacking of Mideast Reporter

By Eli Clifton
CNN's firing of Octavia Nasr, the editor responsible for the network's Middle East coverage, over a Twitter post in which she expressed her sadness over the death of a Lebanese cleric has set off a firestorm of debate about what the decision says about CNN's fairness in reporting on the region.
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