IFJ Says End to Persecution of Journalists Is Key to Protection of Human Rights for All

In other regions of the world attacks on the press are common in countries whose human rights records are already under scrutiny. The IFJ highlighted a number of recent cases:

• In Azerbaijan, which has one of the highest rates of jailing journalists in the world, where 10 journalists are in jail for a variety of charges stemming from critical reporting on the government.

• In Tunisia, where journalist Slim Boukhdir was sentenced to a year in jail after a fracas involving police following months of harassment over his journalism critical of the government.

• In Pakistan, where authorities have initiated legal action against Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and its subsidiary union, the Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) for displaying placards and distributing pamphlets during a protest on November 14 against anti-media rules imposed by President Pervez Musharraf.

• In Isreal where the authorities have announced plans to prosecute three journalists for visiting Lebanon and Syria in the course of their work.

• In Nigeria where four media workers are being held, two on defamation charges after they criticised the Minister of Economy and Finance and two others accused of criminal offences following their coverage of the Tuareg rebellion in the country.

• In Venezuela where voters narrowly defeated a referendum that would have, among other changes to the constitution, given President Hugo Chavez the power to declare an indefinite state of emergency and suspend press freedom.

“Cases like this reveal a pattern of routine abuse of journalists’ rights around the world,” White said. “It’s time for an end to this. We cannot hope to make human rights protection truly universal without an end to judicial intimidation of journalism and attacks on press freedom.”

For more information contact the IFJ at 32 2 235 2207
The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries worldwide

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