2005-2014

US federal authorities have confirmed that 92 videotapes detailing the interrogation of detainees at secret prisons were destroyed in 2005 by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) is urging the new Obama administration to lead an investigation into this infringement upon the American people's constitutional rights and punish those who are responsible. "The sheer...

Chinese authorities in Tibet should open the region to foreign journalists and release imprisoned Tibetan journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists has demanded. Tuesday is the 50th anniversary of an uprising against Chinese rule. Foreigners, including journalists, were ordered out of Kangding City, a Tibetan region of Sichuan, today after two homemade explosives were thrown at police...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called for the release of the manager of the Poobalasingam Book Depot bookshop in Colombo, who was arrested by anti-terrorism police at his home in the Colombo suburb of Wellawatte on March 5 for sending copies of Ananda Vikatan, a Tamil weekly magazine published in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, to another branch of the same bookshop in Jaffna, in the...

The is deep concern in Bahrain over the aggressive attitude of the local authorities towards journalists, writers and columnists, as many of them are prosecuted for exercising their professional right to report on issues of public interest. Lamees Dhaif, a well known columnist, journalist and reporter, was recently summoned to the Public Prosecutor's Office on charges brought by the Supreme...

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has condemned the harsh ruling by Tetuan misdemeanours court against Moroccan journalist and blogger Hassan Barhoun for allegedly circulating false news. On March 6, in a hasty trial that took only one hearing session, the court sentenced him to six months in prison and a 5,000 Moroccan dirham fine (approx US$570). Some lawyers withdrew from...

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has condemned Deputy Prime Minister Abdirahman Ibbi's recent statements on Radio Garowe criticising Somalia's independent news media and threatening to combat them. Ibbi is both deputy premier and minister of fisheries and marine resources in the new national unity government. "The deputy prime minister is picking on the wrong people," RSF said. "Somalia's...

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has expressed great concern over the trial of the Omani journalist and internet activist Ali al-Zwaidi who allegedly violated article 61 of the Omani communications law. The crime carries a sentence of up to a year in prison and a fine of one thousand Omani riyals (approx US$2,600). In August 2008, al-Zwaidi, a supervisor of the discussion...

The Ankara bureau chief of Cumhuriyet Daily, Mustafa Balbay, and online Toplumsal Haber columnist, Nerima Aydin, were taken under custody for a second time in relation to the Ergenekon case, involving accusations of overthrowing the government. Both were sent to Metris prison, IPS Communication Foundation (BIANET) has reported. Turkey's Society of Journalists (TGC), Contemporary Journalists'...

More than a year-and-a-half after the murder of Oakland Post reporter Chauncey Bailey, new evidence incriminating Yusuf Bey IV, the former head of Your Black Muslim Bakery, has come to light. Suspected of being the crime's mastermind, he has nonetheless not been charged yet. On March 4, a confidential informant implicated Yusuf Bey IV in the killing of the veteran journalist in August 2007. The...

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has turned down an international call for the reform of lèse-majesté law but hinted some amendment to the enforcement of the law could be considered to allow for expression of academic opinions, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) has reported. Speaking at the 54th anniversary of the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) on March 5, Abhisit said there was...