State Impunity

On a sweltering summer day of August 11, 2003, Reda Helal left his office like any other day, but this time never to reach home. No one knows where he disappeared, nor is anyone bothered to know. Today, Reda Helal, a senior editor at Egypt’s daily Al-Ahram, has been long forgotten. Four years after Helal disappeared in central Cairo, in a special report 'The Forgotten Man', the Committee to

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed its shock at the news that two volunteer radio announcers for Radio Ukay in Digos City narrowly escaped death after having shots fired at them. According to IFJ affiliate the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Marlan Malnegro and Ruben Oliverio had just finished their morning program and were riding tandem on a...

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 International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is outraged at the continued detention of six journalists in Burma and is concerned for the safety of a photographer who has been missing since early October. IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said she is very concerned that journalists have been targeted in the latest crackdown on anti-government protests in Burma. Despite the UN General...

Press freedom and human rights organisations have renewed calls for a thorough investigation into the murder of crusading Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya and an end to impunity. October 7 marked the first anniversary of the brutal murder of Politkovskaya, a renowned Kremlin critic who exposed human rights abuses by Russian forces in Chechnya. Politkovskaya, who worked with the Novaya Gazeta

Two Turkish policemen went on trial Friday for their role in a scandal which saw security forces pose for pictures with the suspected murderer of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, the official Anatolia news agency reported. The trial in the northern city of Samsun is the first time that members of the security forces have been brought before a court over the January 19 murder, which the

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the attack on an Afghani television reporter who was covering the Taliban-Korean hostage crisis in Ghazni province on August 28. According to IFJ associate the Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA), Ariana TV reporter Qasim Rahimi was assaulted by security officials on his way to where the negotiation talks concerning...

The conviction and subsequent sentencing of the mastermind behind the murder of Paraguayan journalist Samuel Román is being seen as an out and out victory of justice in the battle for violent conspiracies against journalists in the country. The 450-mile-long Paraguay-Brazil border is known as a hotbed of corruption, smuggling and organised crime. After deliberating for more than 12 hours, a jury...

Ten suspects have been arrested in the October 2006 assassination in Moscow of investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya. Russian Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika told reporters Monday that the detained suspects include current and former police and Federal Security Service (FSB) officers, along with members of a criminal gang that “specialises in contract killings” and is led by a Chechen crime...

Palestinian journalists on Sunday announced a series of protests to demand that Hamas and Fatah stop targeting them. The announcement, made during several journalist demonstrations, came after a crackdown on newsmen in both the Fatah-controlled West Bank and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Embattled Palestinian reporters said such attacks had become the norm in the Palestinian territories. “Both Hamas...