WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY in the ASIA PACIFIC

Under the theme “Press Imprisoned”, the International Federation of Journalists Asia-Pacific and IFJ affiliates and partners across the region are putting the spotlight on abuses of the rights of journalists and media workers, particularly in relation to media personnel being detained due to their professional work. In South Asia, IFJ Asia-Pacific released its annual South Asia Press Freedom Report on April 30.

Regional affiliates and associates will be engaged in a wide variety of activities for World Press Freedom Day, including the following.

Afghanistan: Campaign Against Tightening Restrictions

The Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association and the Committee for the Protection of Afghan Journalists will campaign against increasing pressure from Uluma scholars and media owners to restrict freedom of expression. Censorship efforts are especially targeting the portrayal and role of women in the media. There will be a focus on the case of Sayed Parvez Kambakhsh, 23, who was sentenced to death in January, accused of downloading material from the internet about the rights of women. Kambakhsh is anticipating an appeal hearing in May.

Australia: Fundraising For Regional Solidarity

The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance in Australia will bring together a diverse range of journalists, entertainers and thinkers for its annual Press Freedom Dinner on May 2. The dinner is the major fundraising event for the Alliance Safety and Solidarity Appeal which raises money to protect journalists and their families working in the Asia-Pacific region. More than $60,000 was raised at last year’s dinner. The 2008 Press Freedom Report, an analysis of the Australian media’s triumphs and setbacks in the past year, will be launched at the dinner.
 
Bangladesh: Monitoring Media Rights Violations

IFJ Asia-Pacific will conduct a workshop with MassLine Media Centre in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on May 3-4. The workshop will strengthen the media community in Bangladesh for monitoring the status of press freedom and reporting media rights violations. The work will encourage greater protection of journalists and media workers, as well as balanced and fair reporting.

Cambodia: Dialogue on Freedom of Expression

As IFJ Asia-Pacific continues working with journalists in Cambodia to develop improved court and political reporting skills, the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ) will join forces with other press freedom organisations to stress the importance of press freedom in the context of reporting on the Khmer Rouge trials. A meeting in Phnom Penh to mark World Press Freedom Day and review the challenges faced by local media will be attended by foreign ambassadors, representatives of international non-government organisations and UNESCO, the Information Minister and about 300 journalists.

Hong Kong: Call For Action in China

As the countdown to the Beijing Olympic Games sharpens the international spotlight on human rights in China, the IFJ joins a four-day series of events co-organised by the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association and other press freedom organisations. IFJ General Secretary Aidan White, as well as delegates from around the world, will address a press conference and participate in seminars focused on press freedom and its limitations in Hong Kong and mainland China. Local and foreign journalists and press freedom representatives will join together at an exhibition, an arts fair and a peaceful street demonstration, culminating on May 3.  

Indonesia: Struggle Against Criminal Defamation

The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) will highlight criminal defamation as one of the most significant struggles faced by journalists and media workers in Indonesia. After a recent directive from the Indonesian Ministry for Communication and Information Technology to block public access to the online video-streaming website YouTube, AJI has identified free access and flow of information as critical aspects of press freedom that are at risk in Indonesia. AJI will also co-host an international criminal defamation workshop in Indonesia on May 9 and 10.

Nepal: Rally for Press Freedom in New Era

Journalists in Nepal will join a peaceful rally on the morning of World Press Freedom Day to call on the newly elected government to respect and uphold the commitments of political parties to support press freedom and human rights. A human rights handbook produced by IFJ Asia-Pacific and the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) will be released during a special program that will also launch two yearbooks detailing the situation of media freedom in Nepal. The opening ceremony of the 21st convention of the FNJ coincides with World Press Freedom Day and will stress the importance of national and regional solidarity among journalists.

Pakistan: A Year of Violence and Repression

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) issued a report ahead of World Press Freedom Day which stresses that violence and curbs on the media were the hallmark of 2007. Nine journalists were killed during the past year, mostly while performing their professional duties in tribal areas, North-West Frontier Province, Baluchistan and Karachi. The threats came from government agencies and non-State actors, it said. However, the PFUJ welcomed commitments by the new coalition government to withdraw anti-media laws, implement the Seventh Wage Award and support measures for the protection of journalists and media workers in the conduct of their work.

Philippines: Wreaths Mark Deaths of Journalists

World Press Freedom Day will be greeted with mixed feelings in the Philippines, following the killing of Pilipino Newsmen columnist Benefredo Acabal on April 8. He is the 56th journalist to be murdered under the administration of President Gloria Arroyo. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) will hold a wreath-laying ceremony at the national shrine of press freedom hero Marcelo H. del Pilar to commemorate the loss of their colleagues. Journalists and NUJP representatives will then hold a mini-concert called Press Jam, where singing will be interspersed with serious discussions of issues of concern to journalists in the Philippines.

Sri Lanka: Stop the War On Journalists

Five journalists’ organisations in Sri Lanka, including IFJ affiliates the Free Media Movement (FMM), the Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association (SLWJA) and the Federation of Media Employees, will hold a silent protest march on May 6 as the culmination of the Stop the War on Journalists in Sri Lanka global campaign. Protesters will hand over a letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa demanding immediate action against suppression of the media. Stop the War on Journalists banners will be displayed across Colombo, reminding Sri Lanka’s Government of the support of more than 45 press freedom and human rights organisations from around the world that have joined the IFJ in demanding an end to violence against journalists.

Taiwan: Journalists’ Day

The Association of Taiwan Journalists will conduct a range of activities and campaigns for its annual Journalists’ Day celebration on May 4. One issue to be raised will be accreditation of Taiwanese journalists at United Nations and World Health Organisation events.

If your journalists' organisation has organised activities for World Press Freedom Day and you would like to tell us about it, please contact ifj@ifj-asia.org