Ethics and Freedom

Unlawful arrests, detention, torture and unfair trials are increasing in the Gambia, repressing already restricted freedom of expression in the country, say journalists and human rights organizations. "Since 2004 the situation has been getting worse and worse," Amnesty International's Gambia researcher Tania Bernath told IRIN, "with unlawful detention, torture, arrests, journalists being targeted

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed alarm by the harassment of international journalists covering last week's disputed presidential elections in Republic of Congo. On Wednesday, police smashed the camera of videographer Marlène Rabaud of France 24 while she was filming the dispersal of an opposition demonstration in the capital, Brazzaville, according to local journalists and...

Reporter Aweys Sheikh Nur was attacked on Wednesday last by security guards during a court session in Bosaso, in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. Five security guards beat the reporter with their AK-47 rifle butts after he took photographs in Bosaso Court, he told CPJ. Puntland officials in the court, including Judge Mohamed...

Two European journalists were fined on Friday by a court in Namibia for filming the annual seal hunt along the coast of the southern African nation, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported quoting their lawyer. From the AFP report: [ Link] British investigative journalist Jim Wilckens and South African cameraman Bart Smithers were found guilty of violating the Marine Resources Act by entering a...

The Yemeni government's crackdown on independent media now extended to satellite television stations, according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). Al-Jazeera was the first to be targeted after a ruling party official, Mossaad Allahbi, called for the closure of the local Al-Jazeera office for allegedly broadcasting news "hostile to the unity and security of Yemen." The...

President Rafael Correa called the El Universo newspaper a "travesty of a paper, the voice of the most pernicious political mafias in the history of Ecuador." The president's comment came in response to a July 10 editorial in the newspaper which criticised the replacement of the Deposit Security Agency's (Agencia de Garantía de Depósitos, AGD) manager and announced the newspaper would be...

Al-Jazeera journalist Sami al-Haj, who was imprisoned in Guantánamo Bay, plans to launch a joint legal action with other detainees against former US president George W Bush and other administration officials, for the illegal detention and torture he and others suffered at the hands of US authorities, the Guardian has reported. The case will be initiated by the Guantánamo Justice Centre, a new...

Police officers have led organised attacks against Alaa Al Gamel, a reporter for weekly Sout Al Ouma, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has reported. Security forces repeatedly stormed his house in Giza between June 30 and July 11. Between July 10 and 11, they broke into his house six times. Moreover, the perpetrators spread rumors in Alaa's neighbourhood that the journalist...

The Órbita TV station, which operates in the northern region of the Venezuelan state of Anzoátegui, has ceased to operate. The station was in financial trouble due to the pressure exerted by the regional government on advertisers, the Lima-based Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS) has reported. The station ceased operations on July 10. The station's Operations Manager, Marcos Figueroa, told IPYS...

Canal Plus Bénédiction (CB Plus), a faith-based television station broadcast from Brazzaville, was reauthorised to broadcast on July 3 following a five-month suspension, Journaliste en danger (JED) has reported. CB Plus was suspended on February 12 on orders from the state-run national media regulator, the High Council on Freedom of Communication (CSLC), after it aired archival footage of a 1991...