Burma. Released on Tuesday U Win Tin, the longest-serving political prisoner The frail 79-year-old journalist and founding member of the opposition National League of Democracy (NLD) spent 19 years in prison. He was among 9,000 prisoners reportedly ordered released ahead of elections promised in 2010. Five other political prisoners were also freed, says exile-run magazine "The Irrawaddy", including another well-known writer, U Aung Soe Myint, and four members of the NLD. "Journalists across Southeast Asia - indeed, across Asia, around the world - will be cheering U Win Tin's release. If there has to be just one man to symbolise the struggle for press freedom in Southeast Asia in the past two decades, that man would have to be U Win Tin," says the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA).U Win Tin was first arrested on 4 July 1989, sentenced to a total of 20 years in jail on various charges, including anti-government propaganda. He was the editor of the daily newspaper "Hanthawathi" and vice-president of the Burma Writers Association, as well as NLD leader Suu Kyi's political mentor.Shortly after his release from the notorious Insein prison on 23 September, U Win Tin told journalists from a friend's home, "I am going to continue practising politics because I am a political man," he said. "I am going to continue supporting Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD. "I am about to be 80. But I will keep fighting until the emergence of democracy in this country," he said. IFEX , Mizzima News, SEAPA, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), had for years been waging a campaign for U Win Tin's release. He was mistreated on various occasions during his near-two decades in prison, such as in 1996, after the authorities discovered he had provided the United Nations with information about prison conditions, says RSF. Despite widespread reports of his failing health, promises of his release in 2004 and 2005 were not fulfilled, and the International Committee of the Red Cross had been barred from visiting him since 2006. For his commitment towards the struggle for press freedom, U Win Tin received several press freedom awards, including the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize awarded by UNESCO, WAN's Golden Pen of Freedom and the RSF award for press freedom. Burma, ruled by a military dictatorship that refused to recognise the NLD's landslide victory in 1990, continues to be one of the world's worst free expression violators. The country has no independent press. More than 2,000 people are still in jail in Burma for their political beliefs, at least eight of them Burmese journalists and writers, says SEAPA. "The world must continue to push for their unconditional release as well," SEAPA says. U Win Tin's release comes nearly a year after the military junta's brutal crackdown during the "Saffron Revolution", the pro-democracy demonstrations led by Burma's monks. Hundreds were killed, thousands were imprisoned, monasteries were raided, and countless demonstrators are still missing. According to "The Irrawaddy", security has been tightened over the past few weeks, especially in the areas that were home to last year's demonstrations, and monks have complained about being interrogated. Protests are planned worldwide to mark the one-year anniversary of the Saffron Revolution on 27 September. The U.S. Campaign for Burma is calling for people to organise events for Burma - film screenings, educational presentations, "wear red" day - on the day. Meanwhile, eight Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, released a joint-statement on 23 September urging the people of Burma to "maintain nonviolence, determination and vigilance - despite the odds," reports "The Irrawaddy". Visit these links:- Mizzima News:
http://tinyurl.com/3zegwm- SEAPA:
http://tinyurl.com/4vkpyo- CPJ:
http://tinyurl.com/5xh2zv- IFJ:
http://tinyurl.com/42ehzz- RSF:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=28672- WAN:
http://www.wan-press.org/article17878.html- UNESCO:
http://tinyurl.com/48oe2l- "The Irrawaddy":
http://www.irrawaddy.org--------------------------------------------------------
AFGHANISTAN: U.S. FORCES FREE AFGHAN REPORTER HELD FOR 11 MONTHS An Afghan reporter Jawed Ahmad, a 22-year-old reporter who was on assignment for Canadian TV station CTV at the time of his arrest, was freed on 22 September, after spending 11 months in military jails at Bagram in Kandahar. According to news reports, the U.S. military released him because he was no longer considered a threat. Ahmad was never charged with a crime. The U.S. military reportedly accused him of having contacts with local Taliban leaders and designated him an "unlawful enemy combatant", but did not provide information about the allegations or evidence against him. "Jawed Ahmad was held for a year without charge because he was doing his job as a journalist, which is to gather information from all sides to provide balanced and fair coverage," says IFJ. "He should never have been detained, and his long-overdue release proves it." Ahmad, also known as Jo Jo, told AFP his U.S. captors had tortured him by depriving him of sleep, beating him and putting him in a cell with "mentally sick" prisoners who had attacked him and broken two of his ribs. "I want justice. I'll knock on the doors of (U.S.) Congress, I'll go to Bush, I'll go to Obama, to everywhere and everyone until I get justice. "I was tortured and jailed for 11 months and 20 days for doing nothing," he said in Kabul. His allegations could not be independently verified and the U.S. military headquarters at Bagram rejected the charge. "We don't have any evidence of his mistreatment while in detention here," a military spokesperson told reporters. Ahmad's release comes after his legal team in the U.S. filed a lawsuit against U.S. President George Bush and the U.S. military to establish a lawful basis for Ahmad's detention or to release him immediately, says IFJ. CPJ calls again on the U.S. military to end its practice of holding journalists without charge. At least one other journalist remains in U.S. military custody without charge, says CPJ. Freelance photographer Ibrahim Jassam, who was working for Reuters in Iraq, was detained on 2 September by U.S. and Iraqi forces.
MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA MOROCCO: BLOGGER WHO CRITICISED KING FREED On 18 September, a Moroccan appeals court overturned a two-year jail sentence given to a local blogger for criticising the King and the royal family, report the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). On 8 September, Mohammed Erraji was jailed and fined 5,000 dirhams (US$620)for failing to respect the King. The trial reportedly lasted 10 minutes. He was later released on bail pending the appeals court ruling. Erraji had accused Morocco's monarchy of encouraging a culture of dependency in an article for online newspaper Hespress.com. He argued that the King's custom of granting favours, such as taxi licences to a lucky few, encouraged people to rely on handouts. Read an English translation of the article on the Global Voices Online website:
http://tinyurl.com/5lo2olThe presiding judge at the appeals court cited flaws in prosecuting the case of the 29-year-old blogger, including the failure to summon him to attend trial 15 days before he actually appeared in court and his unlawful detention ahead of the trial. "I am very happy with today's court ruling, which came after a summary and unfair ruling," Erraji told CPJ on the day of his release. "But at the same time, my happiness is mixed with feelings of sadness, because it never occurred to me that one day I would be arbitrarily accused of showing disrespect toward the King, which is a grave accusation." A source close to Erraji said, "I cannot overstate the importance of the support by organisations like IFEX and International PEN. I would like to thank them for unconditionally standing by their principles, and would like to state that their moral authority is an inspiration to all of us."
ZAMBIAN ACADEMIC WINS MISA'S 2008 PRESS FREEDOM AWARD A journalism professor from Zambia who has campaigned extensively on the digital divide and other media freedom issues is this year's winner of the Media Institute of Southern Africa's (MISA) Press Freedom Award. Facskon Banda, a Zambian professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, South Africa, is considered "one of the most outstanding academics of his time," says MISA. He has published on a range of media-related subjects in Southern Africa, such as new media, media sustainability, press coverage of electoral campaigns, and community radio broadcasting. Banda has worked at the Panos Institute, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation and the University of Zambia. Most recently, with the BBC World Service Trust and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, he has helped to create a comprehensive African media development framework that includes a strong media freedom and independence component.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS SAFETY INSTITUTE,
HTTP://WWW.NEWSSAFETY.ORG Are you a journalist working in a conflict zone and have sage words for your colleagues? Now you can post them online on the newly launched site of the International News Safety Institute (INSI):
http://www.newssafety.org INSI, the five-year old safety network for media professionals, bills its site as a resource "for all journalists and other news professionals everywhere, staff or freelance, international or local, who may face danger in any circumstances at any time." The new site makes it easier to access INSI's safety resources whether you live in a hostile environment or if work takes you there. With one click, find out if your assignment is based in a trouble zone. For those reporting on conflict, crime and corruption, natural disasters and disease - INSI's got you covered, with constantly updated news and features related to risk awareness, safety, health and training. Plus, any information you share will be posted immediately for the benefitof all. Like INSI says, "It may help save a life." Questions? Contact Rodney Pinder, director, at:
rodney.pinder@newssafety.org or deputy director and project manager Sarah de Jong, at:
sarah.dejong@newssafety.org --------------------------------------------------------
source:
the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX). IFEX is managed by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression ( http://www.cjfe.org ) on behalf of the network's 81 member organisations.Contact IFEX Online Editor Natasha Grzincic at: communique@ifex.org Mailing Address: 555 Richmond Street West, #1101, PO Box 407, Toronto,Ontario M5V 3B1 Canada, Tel: +1 416 515 9622; Fax: +1 416 515 7879;Website: http://www.ifex.org
