Conflict Journalism

Reporters Without Borders has condemned the lack of progress in the Afghan official investigation of Zakia Zaki’s murder. The head of radio station Sada-e-Sulh (Peace Radio) was killed exactly five months ago. Police have arrested six suspects but released four. The security forces have not made any serious investigation that could lead to the arrest and conviction of the killers and the family...

(FNJ/IFEX) - Maoists threatened and attacked three journalists in Rukum in response to news published recently in the local weekly "Jantidhara". Narayan Shah, president of the Federation of Nepali Journalists' (FNJ) Rukum chapter, received a death threat from Raj Kumar Sirpahi "Subodh", a cadre of the Maoist-aligned Young Communist League (YCL), on 30 September 2007 and from Maoist District...

(FNJ/IFEX) - Bhasa Sharma, treasurer of FNJ's Baglung district chapter, was attacked by a group of youths led by Khim Bahadur Purja, of Sukhaura village, Baglung district, in central Nepal, on 23 October 2007. The group broke into Sharma's house at night and beat her. They also attacked her with a "khukuris" - a sharp weapon. Her mother, Harimaya Sharma, and brother, Pawan, sustained injuries in...

Reporters Without Borders calls on the government to redouble its efforts to obtain the release of Birendra Shah, a journalist who was kidnapped in the Bara region on 5 October. “The authorities and the leaders of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) must do everything possible to ensure that Birendra Shah is rescued,” the organisation said. “The absence of any news about Shah is very...

Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the prolonged detention of journalist Ata Farahat, who was arrested on 30 July and is being held in Al-Jalama prison (14 km southeast of Haifa). The organisation has been told he could be prosecuted for “collaborating with an enemy nation” but this has never been confirmed by the Israeli authorities. “Three months have gone by since Farahat’s arrest and we...

NEW DELHI: The Press Council of India on Friday urged the governments of Assam and Manipur to take steps to ensure that the media in the two States is able to function free of its fear of threats from militant organisations as well as the pressure of law enforcing agencies. The council said no restrictions or pre-censorship should be imposed on the media in the name of fighting militancy. At the...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is gravely concerned for the safety of Pakistani journalist Riaz Mengal who has been missing for 21 days. Before his disappearance, Mengal, who is based in Balochistan, had written articles for the newspaper Intikhab about trafficking of stolen cars. Local reports stated that Mengal received death threats because of his investigation for these...

The kidnapping of a Nepali journalist has highlighted the dangers for reporters covering the fragile peace process of the Himalayan state. The former rebel Maoists have been blamed for the abduction and other attacks against the press, but Nepal's media have also been threatened by militant groups in the country's south. Liam Cochrane reports from Kathmandu. There has been no word from the radio...

Physical attacks against journalists have been the most common form of press freedom violations in Palestinian areas, according to a recent report. On many occasions, reporters and cameramen have been exposed to teargas and arrested. A report on press freedom in the Palestinian territories between January 1 and September 30 this year by the Palestine Partners Centre for Media Development has found

(FMM/IFEX) - 17 October 2007, Colombo, Sri Lanka - It was reported to the Free Media Movement (FMM) that on two recent occasions Sri Lankan security forces openly censored media and barred photojournalists from carrying out their duties. FMM expresses its concern that such actions are detrimental to freedom of expression and further erode media freedom in Sri eLanka. In one incident, security...