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39
Predators of the Press Freedom
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| Source
: www.press-freedom.org |
Eight
new names on the RSF list: Joynal Hazari (Bangladesh),
Issaias Afeworki (Eritrea), Shaul Moffaz (Israel),
Mahathir Mohamad (Malaysia), Palestinian security
forces (the Palestinian Authorithy), Mswati
III (Swaziland), Gnassingbé Eyadéma
(Togo), Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe).
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Reporters
without Borders (RSF - Reporters sans Frontières)
today publishes its list of the thirty-nine
predators of the press freedom. After having
revealed on 3 May 2001 a list of thirty-one
predators, RSF adds eight new names:
- The Palestinian Authority Security Forces.
They have arbitrarily questioned or detained
several journalists who were critical of the
Palestinian Authority. These foreign reporters,
some Israeli, run risks if they wish to go to
territories controlled by the PalestinianAuthorities.
Some international media correspondents have
been prevented from covering celebrations after
the 11 September terrorist attacks.
- Joynal Hazari, Bangladeshi politician of the
Awami League. Once again selected by his party
for the 2001 elections, this former parliament
member, involved in arms smuggling, ordered
several attacks against journalists.
- Issaias Afeworki, Eritrea President. Since
the 18 September 2001, Eritrea is the only African
country where private press no longer exists.
- Shaul Moffaz, Israeli army Chief of Staff.
Since the beginning of the second Intifada,
more than 30 journalists have been wounded,
sometimes seriously, by Tsahal gunshots.
- Mahatir Mohamad, Malaysian Prime minister.
The government has changed the press law and
the interior security law to restrict the opposition
press. Some international magazines are banned.
- Msawti III, king of Swaziland. All criticism
directed against monarchy is banned and the
use of censorship is large. The king has issued
decrees allowing him to ban any publications
without justification.
- Gnassingbé Eyadéma, president
of Togo. The oldest African president, he accepts
no criticism. A journalist was sentenced recently
to eighteen months' imprisonment and numerous
newspapers are often seized.
- Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe President. The independent
press and foreign reporters are the government's
target: some lists of journalists to "kill"
are circulated among followers of Mr Mugabe,
and eight media professionals were arrested
in August 2001. |
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Many
people are responsible for these press violations:
presidents, ministers, public prosecutors, heads
of state, Revolutionary Guides or simply army
group leaders, they have the right to jail,
kidnap, torture and, in the worst cases, kill
journalists. Since these predators have faces,
we must know them to better denounce them. Reporters
without Borders has decided to draw their portraits.
Today, in addition to eight new names, we see
Mullah Mohammad Omar (Afghanistan), Eduardo
dos Santos (Angola), Alexander Lukashenka (Belarus),
François Compaoré (Burkina Faso),
Than Shwe (Burma), The Kidnapping Mafia (Chechnya),
Jiang Zemin (China), Carlos Castaño (Colombia),
Manuel Marulanda and Nicolás Rodríguez
Bautista (Colombia), Fidel Castro (Cuba), Joseph
Kabila (Democratic Republic
of Congo), Teodoro Obiang Nguema (Equatorial
Guinea), Meles Zenawi (Ethiopia), Ali Khamenei
(Iran), Saddam Hussein (Iraq), Kirsan Iliumjinov
(Kalmykia Republic Russian Federation),
Khamtai Siphandon (Laos), Moammar Gadhafi (Libya),
Kim Jong-il (North Korea), Vladimir Putin (Russia),
Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Fahd ibn al-Saud (Saudi
Arabia), ETA (Spain), Bashar el-Assad (Syria),
Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali (Tunisia), Huseyin Kivrikoglu
(Turkey), Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenistan),
Leonid Kuchma (Ukraine), Islam Karimov (Uzbekistan),
Nong Duc Manh (Vietnam). |
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| Since
the publication of the first list last May,
some predators have intensified their repression.
In Tunisia, president Ben Ali jailed journalist
Sihem Bensedrine for six weeks. In Afghanistan,
mullah Omar, after banning the Internet, has
ordered the arrest of five foreign journalists
since 11 September. Chinese president Jiang
Zemin jailed more than ten dissidents. In Cuba,
Fidel Castro jailed a cyber-dissident. In Russia,
President Putin took control of national media.
Finally, in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
security services arrested some ten journalists
in the past four months. |
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| Several
of these predators have ordered murders of journalists.
They have never been implicated by the justice.
This is why Reporters without Borders created
the Damocles network, set up to struggle against
past and present predators to prevent them from
living in peace in their country or outside.
Dictators must be responsible for their crimes,
and face international justice. It is time to
put an end to their impunity. |
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| The
portraits of the predators are online on www.rsf.org |
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Photo
: Altaf Hossain/ Drik
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