West Asia - North Africa

Israel has released two Palestinian journalists employed by the Iranian Arabic-language TV station Al-Alam after being held for 10 days on spying charges. However, they were freed on bail on January 15 and are still accused of “revealing secret information” and “transmitting information to the enemy in war time.” Khader Shahin, a Jerusalem resident and Al-Alam correspondent, was summoned for...

The International News Safety Institute (INSI) has backed a call by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) for the United Nations to investigate the targeting of media by Israeli forces in Gaza. Israeli military actions in Gaza appear to amount to a clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1738 which demands all parties in armed conflict comply with their obligations under...

Yasser Abu Hilaleh, the Al-Jazeera network's bureau chief in Amman, was beaten by riot police while he was covering a demonstration in Rabia on January 9. Abu Hilaleh, who was reporting on the protest involving clashes between demonstrators and the Gendarmerie Forces, was approached by two individuals dressed in civilian clothing who asked him to leave the scene and threatened to assault him, the...

Two east Jerusalem employees of a production company servicing various media outlets worldwide, including one based in Iran, were indicted in Israel Tuesday for breaking Israeli military censorship, the Ynet news site reported. Kadir Shahin, a reporter with Iranian Arabic-speaking Alalam television station, and producer Muhammad Sarhan are accused of reporting that Israeli ground troops had...

A number of prominent Israeli human rights groups have slammed local media outlets for muzzling criticism of the army's deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip. "Opinions criticising the decision to launch the offensive or the army's conduct during the war are hardly heard," the heads of eight rights organisations wrote in a letter to the editors of Israeli papers, television news channels, radios and...

Algerian authorities have been urged to ensure an effective investigation into a murder attempt against Hafnaoui Ghoul, a journalist on the daily Al-Wassat and a human rights activist, at his home in Djelfa (250km south of Algiers) overnight on January 6-7. A group of hooded assailants armed with a knife were lying in wait for him, gagged him and ripped his clothes. They fled without being...

Iranian authorities are using security laws, press laws, and other legislation to arrest and prosecute Iranian Kurds solely for trying to exercise their right to freedom of expression and association. The use of these laws to suppress basic rights, while not new, has greatly intensified since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in August 2005. The findings have been documented in a 42-page

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has condemned officials from Al-Ahram Press for their refusal to print the latest edition of the opposition weekly Sout al-Ummah, until its editor, Abdel Halim Kandil, had removed his article criticising Egypt President Hosni Mubarak and the country's stance on the crisis in Gaza. Sout al-Ummmah was finally published on January 5 after the...

Press freedom groups have called for a full "independent and exhaustive" inquiry into the shooting of an Iraqi woman journalist in Baghdad by American soldiers. Hadil Emad, 25, an editor with Biladi TV was shot and critically wounded by America soldiers as she was heading home in the al-Karrada district of Baghdad on January 1, 2009. A statement by the US military said that on New Year's Day US...

International press freedom groups have urged the Israeli military to put an end to targetting Palestinian media in the Gaza Strip and allow international journalists to enter the region to cover the conflict. On Monday, the eighth day of its military campaign, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) fired two missiles into the offices of the Hamas-affiliated Al-Risala newsweekly, according to multiple...