Protestors gathered in Bratislava on May 2, 2024 to protest against changes to the public broadcaster, RTVS. The placard in the picture reads: RTVS on a flat-screen TV; STVR about a flat earth. Credit: Ed Holt/IPS

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, May 3 2024 (IPS)

A new report has warned media freedom in the EU is close to “breaking point” in many states amid rising authoritarianism across the continent.

In its latest annual report covering 2023, the Berlin-based Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) highlighted widespread threats, intimidation and violence against journalists and attacks on the independence of public broadcasters in the EU, with roll backs in media freedom down to “deliberate harm or neglect by national governments”.

The group says its research confirms a continuation of alarming trends seen in the previous year, including heavy media ownership concentration, insufficient ownership transparency rules, and threats to the independence and finances of public service media,

And it warns the decline in media freedom seen in a number of EU member states has the potential to pose a direct threat to democracy.

“Media freedom is falling across Europe, and what we see, not just in Europe but in many places around the world, is that where media freedom declines, the rule of law declines too,” Eva Simon, Senior Advocacy Officer at Liberties, told IPS.

The Slovak Radio building in Bratislava, part of the RTVS public broadcaster. Credit: Ed Holt/IPS

The Liberties report, compiled with 37 rights groups in 19 countries, comes as other media freedom watchdogs and rights groups warn of growing  concentration of media ownership, lack of ownership transparency, surveillance and violence against journalists in EU countries, government capture of public broadcasters, and rising restrictions on freedom of expression.

Press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released its annual World Press Freedom Index today (April 3, 2024), warning that politicians in some EU countries are trying to crack down on independent journalism. They single out a number of leaders as being “at the forefront of this dangerous trend,” including Hungary’s pro-Kremlin prime minister, Viktor Orban, and his counterpart in Slovakia, Robert Fico.

It also highlights concerns for press freedom in other places, such as Malta, Greece, and Italy, pointing out that in the latter—which fell in the Index’s rankings this year—a member of the ruling parliamentary coalition is trying to acquire the second biggest news agency (AGI), raising fears for future independence of media.

“One of the main themes of this year is that the institutions that should be protecting media freedom, for example, governments, have been undermining it,” Pavol Szalai, head of the EU/Balkans desk at RSF, told IPS.

Like Liberties, RSF has cited particular concern about media freedom in Hungary and Slovakia among EU states.

Media freedom has been on the decline in Hungary for more than a decade, as autocratic leader Orban has, critics say, steadily cracked down on independent journalism. His party, Fidesz, has de facto control of 80 percent of the country’s media, and while independent media outlets still exist, their sustainable funding is under threat as state advertising is funneled to pro-government outlets.

The government’s effective control of Hungary’s public broadcaster is another major concern.

“Capturing public broadcasters limits access to information and that can have a huge impact on formulating political opinions and then how people vote,” said Simon.

Hungary is also suspected of having arbitrarily monitored journalists using the controversial Pegasus software.

RSF and Liberties both say their worry is not just what is happening to media freedom in Hungary, but that what Orban has done has provided a blueprint for other autocratic leaders to follow.

“Leaders in Europe are being inspired by Orban in his war against independent media. Just look at Fico in Slovakia, who has declared war on independent media,” said Szalai.

For years, Fico has repeatedly attacked and denigrated independent media and journalists.

In 2018, investigative journalist Jan Kuciak—who had been looking into alleged corruption by people close to Fico’s government— and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova were murdered. Critics said Fico’s rhetoric against journalists had contributed to creating an atmosphere in society that allowed those behind the killings to believe they could act with impunity.

Independent journalists continue to face harassment and abuse from Smer MPs today.

Since being elected Prime Minister for the fourth time last autumn, Fico and the governing coalition led by his Smer party have continued their attacks. They also refuse to communicate with critical media, claiming they are biased.

It has also approved legislation—which is expected to be passed in parliament within weeks—that will see the country’s public broadcaster, RTVS, completely overhauled and, critics say, effectively under the control of the government.

“If the bill is passed and signed into law in its current form, RTVS will become a mouthpiece for government propaganda,” said Szalai.

The government has rejected criticism over the bill and argued changes to RTVS are necessary because it is no longer objective, is persistently critical of the government, and is not fulfilling its remit as a public broadcaster to provide balanced and objective information and a plurality of opinions. A senior official at the Slovak Culture Ministry who is among the favorites to take over as head of the public broadcaster in its new form has since suggested that people who support the flat-earth theory should be invited onto shows to air their opinions on the broadcaster.

The bill has led to public protests and threats of a mass strike from current RTVS employees.

However, against this grim backdrop, media watchdogs say new EU legislation provides hope for an improvement in media freedom.

The recently-passed European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which takes full effect across the EU in August next year,  will, among others, ban governments from pursuing journalists to reveal their sources by deploying spyware, force media to disclose full ownership information, introduce transparency measures for state advertising, and checks on media concentration. It also provides a mechanism to prevent very big online platforms from arbitrarily restricting press freedom.

Another key measure in the legislation is that it enshrines the editorial independence of public service media, setting out that leaders and board members of public media organizations be selected through “transparent and non-discriminatory procedures for sufficiently long terms of office.”

“It is a good law that creates a very important base [for ensuring media freedom], which can be built on in the future. More safeguards [to media freedom] could be added to it in the future,” said Simon.

Szalai agreed, highlighting that the legislation was legally binding for member states. He admitted it had some shortcomings—for example, under some exceptions, journalists could be forced to reveal sources—but emphasized that it would take precedence over any national legislation, “and so governments cannot ignore it or try to get around it.”

But its implementation will be down to individual governments and authorities—something, that media freedom organizations have said must be closely watched.

A new EU body, the European Board for Media Services, is to be set up to oversee the implementation of the laws.

“It is important to make sure that the forces attacking media freedom are held back by this law. It will be up to the European Commission to hold governments to account on its implementation, and the Commission needs to consider press freedom as a priority after the European Parliament elections [in June] and to check on the EMFA’s implementation and take measures against any countries that violate it,” said Szalai.

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Excerpt:

World Press Freedom Day 2024

By Farhana Haque Rahman
ROME, May 1 2024 (IPS)

Journalism is in crisis, again. The challenges to press freedom are enormous and multi-faceted and they are deepening — in “free” and open societies as well as autocracies. And there are no simple solutions.

For individuals and entire media outlets the crisis is existential.

Farhana Haque Rahman

Beyond the threat to life and limb, tens of thousands of media jobs were lost in 2023 and the trend this year is no better. Entire outlets have shut down, or been taken over and/or dumbed down.

In our world of enhanced digital chaos, and the font of bigotry and disinformation which is social media, audiences are as increasingly fractured as the news outlets they choose to turn to.

Bots and AI-generated deep fakes will compound all this politicised confusion and mistrust. Torrents of trivia, subtle scare-mongering and old-fashioned intimidation are a potent combination in the erosion of freedoms and democracy.

Russia has seen a mass exodus of journalists. Hong Kong is a shadow of its former self. Myanmar’s regime is a killer and jailer of reporters. But in an increasingly polarised US, by some counts, over two-thirds of Americans say they don’t trust their mass media. There is excellent reporting happening but much will pass unseen, or dismissed outright.

South Africa’s membership-based Daily Maverick shut down for an entire day in April to draw attention to how market failure was endangering independent journalism.

“Without journalism, our democracy and economy will break down,” the outlet declared.

How all these very different factors are coming together is clearly seen in the media coverage of our global climate breakdown and broader threats to our environment.

The environment is not just a highly dangerous topic to cover – sometimes akin to conflict reporting – but it has become a cesspit of corporate propaganda emitted by polluting industries, some of them giant state-owned entities, as well as their partners in disinformation ensconced in politics, academia, “non-profit” foundations AND the mass media themselves.

UNESCO is dedicating World Press Freedom Day this year to the importance of journalism and freedom of expression in the context of the current global environmental crisis. As UNESCO says: “Independent journalists as well as scientists are crucial actors in helping our societies to separate facts from lies and manipulation in order to take informed decisions, including about environmental policies.”

“Investigative journalists are also shedding light on environmental crimes, exposing corruption and powerful interests, and sometimes paying the ultimate price for doing their job.”

As India, the world’s largest democracy, holds elections 10 years after Narendra Modi first took over as prime minister, Reporters Without Borders noted that at least 13 of the 28 journalists killed in India since then were working on stories linked to the environment, mainly land seizures and illegal mining. Several were killed while investigating the so-called sand mafia, an organized crime network supplying the construction industry.

Reporters Without Borders ranked India 161st out of 180 countries in its 2023 World Press Freedom Index.

In the Global South, indigenous, local, and independent journalists and communicators are particularly vulnerable to violence and intimidation while working in remote areas without adequate backup and resources.

But in the world’s industrialized democracies – those that blazed the trail of bio-diversity mass extinction, pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases overheating our planet – major media outlets are actively aiding and abetting fossil fuel companies by partnering them.

As laid clear in a report by the outlets Drilled and DeSmog, many major media outlets have “an internal brand studio that crafts editorials, videos, even events and entire podcasts for advertisers, many of which are fossil fuel companies.”

“The likes of Politico, Reuters, Bloomberg, the NYT, the Washington Post, and the Financial Times are all creating content for oil companies that directly contradicts what their climate reporters are publishing. And we know from peer-reviewed research that at most one-third of people can actually tell the difference between advertorial content and reporting.”

Journalists, particularly those covering the climate crisis and collapse of eco-systems, also have to confront those almost intangible contradictions that thwart efforts to engage and inform the public.

How does one communicate the magnitude of the dangers facing us and our planet to a global audience already bowed down under a barrage of awfulness? How does one resist what one US political scientist referred to as the “banality of crazy”?

He was referring to Donald Trump’s violent, sexist and racist rhetoric which has been heard so often that it sometimes barely stirs a media reaction, but the phrase could be used to describe other kinds of dangerously acceptable new-normal.

There is no one easy answer to all this. Freedom of the press rests on just that. It also depends on our own integrity and credibility.

Farhana Haque Rahman is Senior Vice President of IPS Inter Press Service and Executive Director IPS Noram; she served as the elected Director General of IPS from 2015-2019. A journalist and communications expert, she is a former senior official of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

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Excerpt:

World Press Freedom Day 2024

By External Source
May 1 2024 (IPS-Partners)

Journalism is in crisis – again.

The challenges to press freedom are enormous and multi-faceted.

And they are deepening both in “free” and open societies as well as autocracies.

In 2023, 45 journalists lost their lives while pursuing their duty globally.

As of December 1, 2023, 363 journalists were imprisoned worldwide.

Nearly 100 journalists and media workers have been killed since the Israel-Gaza war began last October.

This is the worst death toll in a conflict zone in decades.

Beyond the threat to life, tens of thousands of media jobs were lost in 2023.

In this era of digital dominance, social media has increasingly fractured audiences.

We are witnessing the subtle erosion of freedoms and democracy.

Russia has seen a mass exodus of journalists.

Hong Kong is a shadow of its former self.

Myanmar’s regime is a killer and jailer of reporters.

Over two-thirds of Americans say they don’t trust their mass media.

There is excellent reporting happening, but much will pass unseen, or dismissed outright.

Especially when it comes to reports on climate change and the state of our planet.

But at least 13 of the 28 journalists killed in India were working on stories linked to the environment.
Several were killed while investigating the so-called sand mafia, an organized crime network supplying the construction industry.

This year, UNESCO is dedicating World Press Freedom Day to the importance of journalism and freedom of expression in the context of the current global environmental crisis.

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Diaa Al-Kahlout, pictured after his return to Gaza after more than a month in Israeli detention, said he was interrogated over his journalism by Israel's army and security service. Credit: Courtesy of Diaa Al-Kahlout

By Doja Daoud
NEW YORK, May 1 2024 (IPS)

Diaa Al-Kahlout, the veteran Gaza bureau chief for the Qatari-funded London-based newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, had been covering the Israel-Gaza war for two months when he became part of the news.

On December 7, Al-Kahlout was detained along with members of his family by Israeli forces in a mass arrest in Beit Lahya in northern Gaza. Over 33 days in Israeli custody, he said he was interrogated about his journalism and subjected to physical and psychological mistreatment.

Al-Kahlout is one of more than two dozen Palestinian journalists arrested by Israel since it launched a widespread bombardment of Gaza following the Hamas October 7 raid on Israel. After his release, Al-Kahlout made the “unbearable” decision to leave Gaza for Egypt, from where he spoke to CPJ about his experience covering the war, his detention, and the journalism environment in Gaza. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you manage to report at the beginning of the war, before your arrest?

For the first time, I faced problems covering a war. I had prepared my home for emergencies and wars, like installing solar power, allowing me to work normally in such situations. I lived in a relatively safe area in Beit Lahya. By the third or fourth day of the war, I started losing my journalistic tools like electricity, my phone, and laptop and primarily relied on my mobile phone.

We had to buy an Israeli SIM card at a very high price because everyone needed it. This was the first time this happened in any war, but despite this, I continued to work day and night for 61 days, despite the difficult conditions — and this was before being arrested.

At the start, there were many journalists in the north, but in the second month of the war, I became one of the important sources. I was shooting videos and sending them for publication without compensation; I was helping everyone, including major channels. People in Gaza were very cooperative because they knew I was a journalist, so they gave me priority to charge my phone so my coverage could continue.

You manage a team of journalists. How did the hardships you describe affect that?

My colleagues are also my friends, as we have a personal relationship from years of working and collaborating on coverage from Gaza. Within days, communication with them was almost completely cut off. Unfortunately, I couldn’t play my usual role in assigning tasks, editing stories, and verifying the materials [and had to leave this to colleagues in regional offices].

With great difficulty, we managed to continue our work, although there was no problem finding stories. As a journalist in Gaza now, you find stories everywhere you go, and a thousand stories can be told in a thousand ways.

After about two months of covering the war, Israel detained you for 33 days. What happened?

At about 7 or 8 a.m. on December 7, 2023, the Israeli army ordered all the men in our area to come down from their houses and gather in a nearby area. They stripped us of our clothes, leaving us only in our underwear in the cold, handcuffed us from behind, and blindfolded us. Even so, we were not afraid at all. We are civilians and were taken out of our homes.

A video image shown by the BBC on December 8 depicts the mass arrest of Palestinians from Beit Lahya in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces told the BBC that “IDF fighters and Shin Bet officers detained and interrogated hundreds of terror suspects” on December 7. (Screenshot: Video obtained by BBC)

We stayed at Zikim base [in Israel], where we were interrogated and I was asked about my journalistic work. I was interrogated twice, once by the Israeli army and once by the Shin Bet [Israeli security service]. In the latter, the interrogator asked me about a report published in Al-Araby Al-Jadeed in 2018 about a failed Israeli unit operation in Gaza. [Al-Araby Al-Jadeed published several reports about the botched Israeli operation.]

I was blindfolded and forced to sit in a squatting position on a sand hill, with the soldier behind me continuing to hit me. During the interrogation, they also asked why I was in contact with leaders in Hamas.

I answered that I speak with various personalities due to my work and request statements for publication. Their response was, “You’re a terrorist, you son of a dog,” and they started mocking and bullying me, then put tape around my mouth because I was arguing with them.

After about 12 hours, we were moved by a bus to the Sde Teiman military base belonging to the Israeli army. I stayed in this detention center, moving between several barracks, for 33 days. They assigned me the number 059889. Of course, no one called us by our names, we all had numbers called out in Hebrew, which we do not speak.

Every day in detention, they would separate us and move us between barracks. The food consisted of moldy bread. I spent almost the entire time in a squatting position on my knees, which caused me inflammation and severe pain. When I was arrested, my weight was 130 kilograms [286 pounds], and I lost 45 kilograms [99 pounds] in detention.

During the detention period, I was interrogated three times in the same manner, focusing on [my work with] Al-Araby Al-Jadeed and on Al-Jazeera [where I did not work] with questions about why I was in contact with Palestinian leaders in Gaza, and about my sources that I relied on to publish my journalistic reports in the newspaper.

I told them I was a known journalist, that leaders would send us reports for publication, and that we did not publish everything we received but only what we could verify.

I was subjected to torture called “ghosting” daily, which involves being handcuffed with the hands upward or behind the back while blindfolded, in addition to significant psychological torture alongside physical torture. Even going to the bathroom was on their schedule.

Twenty days after my detention, a new person was detained and told me about the statements issued about me [by my outlet and rights groups] — and I learned that these statements were issued the same days I was tortured.

On the 32nd day, the chief prison officer, prison officials, and Shin Bet came with prisoners from a prison in the Negev [in southern Israel]. They started calling out numbers, and the last name — or rather, number — on the list was mine. They gave us medicine to relax our bodies from the exhaustion of detention, and if they found anyone called out was injured or sick, they would not release them.

On the 33rd day, we were transferred to a bus that roamed around before they removed the blindfolds and unshackled us, and I found myself in front of the Kerem Shalom crossing [into Gaza].

Detention left its mark on me, both psychologically and health-wise. The most significant issue I face is with my vision, as I cannot see well due to being blindfolded for 33 consecutive days and nights. My vision was excellent before my arrest. In detention, we were beaten and “ghosted” if any part of our eyes showed.

I have severe chest inflammation and acute vertebral inflammation, resulting in leg pain, in addition to malnutrition, and lack of sleep. Before my travel, the cracks in my skin caused by detention conditions resulted in pus and severe pain. In addition to the bruises still on my body, I can’t sleep or rest normally since my release.

I behave as if I were still in prison; even my sleep was affected by the prison experience and what I suffered. I would sleep in the same position we were forced into during detention.

After my release, I stayed in the journalists’ tent [a designated area for the press] in [the southern Gaza city of] Rafah for two months, where I tried to get back to work and to make sure my family is okay, but that was hindered by the blackouts and the lack of journalistic devices.

I was hoping to get back to the north to my family, but day after day I lost hope that the war would end and I decided to leave for Egypt, which happened on March 10, and my family joined me on March 13. They arrived tired and sick, and we began the journey of treatment.

[Editor’s note: CPJ could not independently verify Al-Kahlout’s description of torture, but it is in line with human rights groups’ descriptions of the treatment of some Palestinians in Israeli custody. Reached by CPJ’s New York headquarters about Al-Kahlout’s allegations of mistreatment, the Israeli military’s North America spokesperson said: “The individuals detained are treated in accordance with international law. The IDF has never, and will never, deliberately target journalists. The IDF protocols are to treat detainees with dignity. Incidents in which the guidelines were not followed will be looked into.” CPJ in New York also emailed the Shin Bet about Al-Kahlout’s interrogation over a 2018 article, but did not immediately receive a reply.]

Have you returned to work? What are your plans?

Mentally, I am not capable of resuming work. I am still pursuing treatments and medications, and monitoring my health condition and that of my family. I don’t even have the basic work tools like a laptop.

We are currently waiting for visa procedures and to travel to [the Qatari capital of] Doha. But Doha will also be unknown to us. I hope my family and I can adapt to the new situation. My media institution supported me, but the situation in Gaza and the constant worry for the rest of my family in Beit Lahya kept me in perpetual terror. I feel anxious and tired.

I lost all my possessions; my house and my family’s house were destroyed, I lost my new car, and my small piece of land. Suddenly, we lost everything.

How do you compare covering this war to previous ones?

From the first day, it has been impossible to comprehensively cover the war. We lost our main sources of information [as blackouts hindered reporting and official sources became harder to reach] and no one can document all this destruction.

Unfortunately, there is a significant lack of information and an inability to grasp the extent of the bombing and strikes happening in Gaza. This has prevented journalists from fully performing their jobs.

Dozens of very important stories of victims have been missed amid the killings and madness. The truth is, that the outside world sees only 10% of the actual reality in Gaza, and what we see is unimaginable. As journalists, we should simply apologize because we can’t cover everything. I used to be able to get all the news, and today, many significant stories haven’t been covered.

Given the scale of the genocide, the lack of empathy has been striking. I’ve been working in journalism since 2004 and have never seen this level of destruction in any war I covered, and I have covered all the wars on Gaza since then.

In the past, we treated the killing of five people as a massacre, but today in Gaza, a massacre means 100 and more. People have become numbers and we don’t know the details of their stories, that is if we even know of their deaths.

Unfortunately, the absence of the internet and the lack of quick alternatives pose a real dilemma, and a journalist who loses his equipment cannot replace it. Almost all press offices were lost, and hospitals have become the main headquarters for journalists.

Journalists in Gaza have found no respect. Amid all these difficulties in covering and reporting events, there was another challenge: trying to survive, securing food and drink, and protecting the family. Moving even an inch in Gaza now is madness.

The Palestinian journalists couldn’t fully deliver the picture due to the massive bombings and communication blackouts that stopped stories from getting out. What was shared were just bits of breaking news, and the deeper stories were lost or silenced because journalists were targeted, there was no security, and essential supplies like electricity and the internet, and work tools like laptops were missing.

The people of Gaza and the journalists there suffered injustice in this coverage, which was made worse by the absence of foreign journalists who could have helped complete the story.

Doja Daoud is CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa representative. Before joining CPJ in March 2022, Daoud worked for the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Araby al-Jadeed as a writer and news editor focusing on press freedom and media monitoring. She also contributed to Lebanese news outlets and co-founded Alternative Press Syndicate, a local union group for journalists.

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Excerpt:

World Press Freedom Day 2024

Over 120 journalists have lost their lives in Gaza since 7 October. Credit: Unsplash/Engin Akyurt

By Alon Ben-Meir
NEW YORK, May 1 2024 (IPS)

It is only fitting, against the backdrop of World Press Freedom Day, to recount the horror being inflicted on journalists and reporters around the world, which is increasing day by day. To tell the story of the mounting death of journalists in Gaza, it is essential to put into perspective the plight of journalists around the world.

The random imprisonment of journalists is rampant in many countries; more than 800 journalists have been incarcerated, and nearly 550 marked the beginning of 2024 from prison; hundreds have been killed, and countless others are harassed to prevent them from decimating information deemed unfavorable to their respective governments.

More than half of these journalists are detained in just four countries – China, Myanmar, Belarus, and Vietnam. Other than these four countries, others do not lag much behind, including Turkey, Russia, China, Afghanistan, and Mexico, which is one of the deadliest countries for journalists. In this regard, it is also important to point out the danger and death that journalists are facing in another war zone in Ukraine.

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), since the start of the war in February 2022, Russian forces have reportedly killed 11 journalists and wounded at least 35; 12 others were detained, and two journalists are currently missing, while 233 media outlets were ordered to close down.

Regardless of how egregious these violations are against journalists, tragically, these statistics pale in comparison to what has and still is taking place in the Israel-Hamas in Gaza.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that 97 journalists and media workers were confirmed dead in Gaza: among them, a staggering 92 Palestinian journalists, which has by far exceeded the death toll of journalists in any other war zone in recent memory.

In comparison, only two Israelis and three Lebanese journalists were killed. Overall, according to CPJ, 16 journalists were reported injured, four are still missing, and 25 journalists were arrested. On top of that, there are routine assaults, threats and intimidation, cyberattacks, crippling censorship, and even the killing of family members to prevent journalists from doing their job.

The question is why such a disproportionate number of Palestinian journalists were killed in Gaza, and if there is anything that can be done to minimize this inexcusable death that transcends reason and even the horrific reality of a war that crossed the threshold of inhumanity. There are four reasons behind the astounding number of Palestinian journalists who were killed in particular.

First, many Palestinians who were embedded in civilian communities were killed by the initial Israeli bombing that leveled dozens of buildings, killing hundreds of civilians and, among them, many journalists.

Second, many journalists who were trying to report from the front line of the battles between Israel and Hamas were killed in the crossfire. Sadly, they threw caution to the wind and ended up paying with their lives.

Third, many other Palestinian journalists were killed as collateral damage for being in the wrong place and at the wrong time.

Finally, several journalists were deliberately targeted to prevent them from reporting on the scene. There is no definitive number of journalists in this category, as Israel vehemently denies the deliberate killing of Palestinian journalists.

Sadly, other than the need for Palestinian journalists to exercise extra caution, it is critically important to increase the pressure on both Israel and Hamas to take every precautionary measure to prevent journalists from being killed simply because they are dedicated to reporting on what they see and hear.

This is, of course, easier said than done. Nevertheless, RSF and CPJ should leave no stone unturned to expose the culprits behind this atrocious murder of journalists. The UN and the EU should also take every measure at their disposal to prevent the undue death of Palestinian journalists.

The freedom of the press is the heart and soul of any true democracy, and Western democracies must answer the call.

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

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Excerpt:

World Press Freedom Day 2024

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, May 1 2024 (IPS)

The seven- month-long war in Gaza is perhaps the only military conflict in contemporary history which has claimed the lives of over 100 journalists, including targeted killings.

As of April 26, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), preliminary investigations have shown at least 97 journalists and media workers were among the more than 35,000 killed since the war began on October 7—with more than 34,000 Palestinian deaths in Gaza and the West Bank and 1,200 deaths in Israel.

And, according to a count by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), at least 103 journalists have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza in the past five months, “one of the deadliest ever wars for the media” compiled by RSF.

Christophe Deloire RSF secretary-general, said these 103 journalists are not numbers, they are 103 voices that Israel has silenced, 103 fewer witnesses of the catastrophe unfolding in Palestine, 103 lives extinguished”.

If the numbers show anything, it is that since 7 October, “no place in Gaza is safe, no journalist in Gaza is spared, and the massacre has not stopped. We reiterate our urgent appeal to protect journalists in Gaza”, he added.

CPJ said it is investigating all reports of journalists and media workers killed, injured, or missing in the war, “which has led to the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.”

Dr. Simon Adams, President of the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT), which works with torture survivors and human rights defenders around the world, told IPS the more egregious the atrocity, the greater the necessity to bury the truth under the rubble of airstrikes or hide it away in a dark prison.

Israel is targeting journalists because it fears their ability to expose the horrors unfolding in Gaza, he said.

“For far too long Israel has been able to operate with impunity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and this has included occasionally killing reporters, like the Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, in 2022”.

But since 7 October, Dr Adams pointed out, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have elevated this to a whole new level: routinely bombing, shooting or arresting journalists just for reporting from the frontlines and bearing witness to war crimes.

He said far too many of these deaths have resulted from precision airstrikes on reporters who are clearly identified as such.

“With almost 100 journalists and media workers now dead, to claim these deaths are accidental is not only incredulous, it is insulting to the memory of professionals who lived their lives in service of truth and accuracy,” said Dr Adams whose organization has a number of refugee clients who are former journalists and have been arrested and persecuted in their home countries.

These cases, he said, should all be reported to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and those responsible should be held accountable. Being a journalist is not a crime, but systematically killing them is.

And he added: “World Press Freedom Day (May 3) should be celebrated with a black armband this year.”

“Since the Israel-Gaza war began, journalists have been paying the highest price— their lives—to defend our right to the truth. Each time a journalist dies or is injured, we lose a fragment of that truth,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna.

“Journalists are civilians who are protected by international humanitarian law in times of conflict. Those responsible for their deaths face dual trials: one under international law and another before history’s unforgiving gaze.”

Expressing deep concern last month, the Human Rights Council-appointed experts* highlighted the alarming toll on journalists and media workers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in Gaza.

“We are alarmed at the extraordinarily high numbers of journalists and media workers who have been killed, attacked, injured and detained in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in Gaza, in recent months blatantly disregarding international law,” the experts said.

They said they noted “disturbing reports” of attacks against media workers despite being clearly identifiable in jackets, helmets and vehicles marked “press”, seemingly indicating a “deliberate strategy” by Israeli forces to obstruct and silence critical reporting.

Since 7 October, by their count, 122 journalists and media workers have lost their lives in the Gaza Strip, with many others sustaining injuries.

Four Israeli journalists were killed by Hamas on 7 October, when fighters from the extremist group which controls Gaza and other Palestinian militants, attacked Israeli communities in southern Israel.

“We condemn all killings, threats and attacks on journalists and call on all parties to the conflict to protect them,” they said.

Dozens of Palestinian journalists have also been detained by Israeli forces in both Gaza and in the West Bank where harassment, intimidation and attacks on journalists have increased since the Hamas terror attacks.

According to the Paris-based UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, more than 1,600 journalists have been killed since 1993.

Other threats against journalists, online and off-line, continue to grow, especially in non-conflict zones.

It is at a record high, while online violence – particularly against women journalists – and harassment spurs on self-censorship and, in some cases, physical attacks.

Journalists have also increasingly been attacked while covering protests, by various actors, including both security forces and protest participants.

Numerous reports and studies confirm that threats inordinately affect women journalists and those who represent minority groups, said UNESCO.

*The UN experts include: Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the protection and promotion of freedom of opinion and expression; Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967; Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; and Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism.

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Excerpt:

World Press Freedom Day 2024

Journalist Qurban Mamut (left) visited his son Bahram Sintash in Washington, D.C. in 2017. Shortly after Mamut's return to China, he was arrested. Credit: Courtesy of Bahram Sintash.

By Iris Hsu
TAIPEI, Taiwan, Apr 30 2024 (IPS)

The last time Bahram Sintash saw his journalist father was in 2017. Qurban Mamut, an influential Uyghur editor had come to the United States for a visit but upon his return to Xinjiang in northwest China, he disappeared.

Sintash later learned that his father had been swept up in China’s 2017 crackdown on Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups. China has said its policies in Xinjiang, which involve reeducation camps, forced sterilization, and family separations, are in the name of counter-terrorism, but 51 United Nations member countries have accused the government of “crimes against humanity.”

Mamut, as a prominent intellectual who edited the state-owned Xinjiang Civilization and Tepakkur magazines, was sentenced to 15 years for “political crimes,” according to news reports. According to Sintash, his father’s decades of journalism drew the attention of the Chinese government in its efforts to quash the Uyghur cultural industry.

After initially fearing that speaking out could harm his 74-year-old father’s case, Sintash decided to go public about the detention in 2018; in 2020, he joined the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) in Washington, D.C. to be a “voice of voice-less Uyghurs.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) spoke with Sintash about his father’s love of journalism, restrictions on the press in Xinjiang, and what he knows of Mamut’s detention.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. The Chinese foreign ministry did not reply to CPJ’s email requesting comment on Mamut’s arrest and sentencing.

What can you tell us about your father’s detention?

I initially thought my father was detained in 2018, but later learned it was actually in late 2017. Communication with my family in Urumqi [the capital of Xinjiang] has been severed since then, with China cutting off our ability to talk in late 2017 and early 2018. My mother told me, “We can no longer talk to you,” leaving me without any information about my father.

In September of the following year, I sought to find out what had happened to him. Eventually, one of my neighbors who also lives overseas informed me that my father had been taken away from our neighborhood. This neighbor had heard the news from their family who witnessed my father being taken from his home. I was shocked by this revelation.

At the same time, I was considering what actions to take. I felt that raising my voice was the right decision, but I was extremely cautious. I was unsure of the exact steps to take or the words to use, as anything I said could potentially endanger my father further, given China’s unpredictable actions.

What was the media environment like in Xinjiang before your father’s arrest?

In 2016, a well-known writer, Yalqun Rozi, was detained and later sentenced to 15 years [for attempting to subvert the Chinese state], a fate similar to that of my father. My father visited the United States in January 2017 and stayed for a month, during which time he learned about the detention of Yalqun, a close friend. Yalqun had not been sentenced at that point but was under arrest, likely due to his publication of sensitive topics.

Yalqun had written extensively on various subjects, including Uyghur welfare, and had contributed many essays to my father’s journal, Xinjiang Civilization. Their past collaboration made my father concerned that Yalqun’s arrest might not be an isolated case.

Yalqun’s detention marked the beginning of a broader crackdown on Uyghur intellectuals. China targeted Uyghur intellectuals first in order to more successfully repress Uyghur identity. They began by arresting individuals and then expanded their investigation to a larger network of Uyghurs.

My father understood that this could happen, but we were uncertain about China’s next steps. After 2017, under [Chinese President] Xi Jinping’s leadership, the situation became increasingly dire, reflecting the tense atmosphere of that time.

Can you tell us about Xinjiang Civilization, the magazine your father edited from 1985 until 2017?

The content in the magazine mainly focuses on culture, history, current affairs, the identity of Uyghurs, examining the shortcomings of the Uyghur nation and society, and opinion pieces. This was the main content before 2017, primarily when my dad was the sole editor-in-chief.

Interestingly, all the names of the journal’s editorial board members were removed in the third issue of 2017 just half a month before the mass detentions began in 2017. The content of the journal dramatically changed in its last publication. It now became filled with red Communist propaganda.

Many of the members on the board were subsequently taken to re-education camps, including my dad. At least two of other members, Abduqadir Jalalidin and Arslan Abdulla, as well as my dad were sentenced to long prison terms.

Before the magazine’s third issue in 2017, its content mainly focused on Uyghur culture and literary works. However, after that issue, it primarily began publishing political content, which mostly revolves around studying Xi Jinping’s ideology.

The next editor even wrote an open letter titled “Protecting the security of the ideological sphere is my priority,” in which he promised not to publish anything promoting “separatism,” “terrorism,” or “two-faced” behavior. The letter followed two articles written by Uyghur officials calling the readers to “protect the unity of the nations with hearts and protect the homeland with loyalty.”

What was your father’s relationship to his journalistic work?

My father was the sole editor; there were no secondary editors. However, he had two assistants who could be considered as secondary editors, but their main role was typing and assisting with computer-related tasks. My father worked tirelessly, often putting in 16-hour days. He would work at the office, come home for a quick meal, and then continue working late into the night, spending countless hours at his desk.

Qurban Mamut (left) and Bahram Sintash (second from left) with their family in Xinjiang, China in 1989. Credit: Courtesy of Bahram Sintash

Your father was quite well known for his journalism. How was he seen in the Uyghur community?

My father was an exceptional teacher, not through writing himself, but by curating and compiling works from other writers. He focused on selecting the right topics, aiming to present the truth without imposing his own opinions on the journal.

He steered clear of politics, especially avoiding any praise of the Chinese Communist Party or spreading its propaganda, which some writers and editors did to secure better positions and ensure their safety. My father, however, sought out authentic voices who could present genuine work, which is why the journal promoted many unknown writers who eventually became famous. The platform allowed them to express the truth.

While my father didn’t publicly express his own views, he was frequently interviewed on TV talk shows due to his extensive knowledge of Uyghur culture. These appearances contributed to his fame. During the 1990s and 2000s, there was a period when Uyghurs enjoyed a degree of freedom to discuss their identity, language, and other aspects of their culture — a stark contrast to the current situation.

Did your father face retribution for his journalism before his imprisonment?

My father was called in for questioning in 2004, although he didn’t face persecution or punishment. This was related to an opinion piece published in his journal about the Uyghur language. At that time, Xinjiang authorities were starting to phase out the Uyghur language from schools and universities, replacing it with Chinese in subjects like mathematics and other majors.

The writer of the piece was arrested, and my father was questioned by the security bureau and China’s intelligence department. To avoid worrying us, my father never shared the full details of what happened.

You believe your father was arrested for his journalism. Why?

After his retirement in 2011 [from Xinjiang Civilization], my father didn’t stop working. He continued to serve on the editorial board of Xinjiang Civilization, and became the head editor of a newly established magazine called Tepakkur. The magazine, published by the state-run Xinjiang Juvenile Publishing House, or Chiso, gained popularity due to my father’s reputation. “Tepakkur” means “think.”

My father, invited to be the editor-in-chief, established this magazine to have more freedom and flexibility in selecting topics.It was not available digitally, only in print, and this was just before the mass arrests began around 2014-2015. As a result, I don’t have a copy and haven’t read the articles, but the journal was well-regarded by its readers.

Can you tell us about your work at RFA? Has your father’s imprisonment made you rethink your personal safety, especially while covering Xinjiang?

I joined RFA because my fear diminished as I became more vocal in advocating for other Uyghurs. I couldn’t remain silent; I had to speak the truth. My mindset became open, ready to face any challenge. Many Uyghurs, concerned for their safety and their families’, avoid RFA and don’t pursue journalism there. But for me, there were no limits. I saw RFA as the only true voice for Uyghurs worldwide, so I joined to work for my people.

As for my efforts to free my father, it’s been an emotionally challenging task. I’ve been in constant communication with organizations, governments, NGOs, and even the United Nations, explaining my father’s situation and speaking to the media. My work extends beyond my father to all Uyghurs and our culture, which I learned to preserve from my father.

Iris Hsu is CPJ’s China representative. Prior to joining CPJ, Hsu interned at Human Rights Watch, Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, and the Atlantic Council. Hsu obtained her master’s degree in international affairs from American University. She speaks Mandarin and French and lives in Taipei.

IPS UN Bureau

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Excerpt:

World Press Freedom Day 2024