Chinese journalist, a Bo Xilai critic, reportedly jailed
New York, March 30, 2012–Authorities in Chongqing must clarify the status of a journalist who reports say was secretly sentenced to prison in 2010 for criticizing a government official in a personal blog, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ has not been able to independently confirm the journalist’s jail sentence or his whereabouts.
In Burma, press freedom remains an illusion
Just ahead of this weekend’s highly anticipated Burma by-elections, opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi today denounced the vote as not “free and fair.” Indeed, Thein Sein government’s harassment of opposition media in the run-up to the polls raises disturbing questions about the country’s reputed new democratic direction after decades of repressive military rule.
Mumbai police, media have failed Jyotirmoy Dey
New Delhi-based Tehelka weekly news magazine has published a scathing indictment of the police investigation into the 2011 killing of Mumbai crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey–and of the Indian media’s coverage of it. Beneath the allegations and the rumors, we still don’t know exactly why he was killed, while the self-confessed mastermind is a fugitive from…
In the Philippines, two murders that should be solved
The investigation into the notorious murder of muckraking Philippine journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat in Mindanao is now seven years old. A separate hunt for conspirators in the January 2011 killing of Palawan radio journalist Gerardo Ortega is just getting started. The Regional Trial Court in Puerto Princesa City issued arrest warrants against three suspects in the…
How to stop rumors in China: Stop censorship
The sacking of Chongqing party leader Bo Xilai has sparked some entertaining gossip this month, leaving journalists covering China with the difficult task of reporting on unconfirmed reports. The Chinese government blames the international media, not its own lack of transparency and comprehensive censorship apparatus, for the burgeoning rumors.
Eknelygoda’s wife latest victim of Sri Lankan intolerance
On Thursday and Friday, we wrote about the ugly government backlash to last week’s U.N. Human Rights Council resolution calling for an investigation into Sri Lanka’s alleged abuses of international humanitarian law during its war with Tamil separatists.
Amid Sri Lankan denial, threats rise for journalists
In the wake of the U.N. Human Rights Council resolution calling for an investigation into Sri Lanka’s alleged abuses of international humanitarian law during its war with Tamil separatists, the government has resorted to outright threats of violence against journalists who might dare to return home after taking part in the Geneva discussions.
Sri Lankan government calls journalists ‘traitors’
New York, March 22, 2012–The Sri Lankan government must immediately halt its intimidation of journalists who supported the adoption of a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution calling for an investigation into the country’s alleged abuses of international humanitarian law during its war with Tamil separatists.
Ahmed Rashid on U.S. policy in South Asia
At Columbia University on Monday evening, CPJ board member Ahmed Rashid held forth to a full house in a conversation with Steve Coll about U.S. foreign policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. If you’re reading this blog, there’s most likely no need to explain who Rashid is–or Coll, for that matter. The earliest reference I could…
As Chinese politician censored, exiled journalist triumphs
The political ouster of Bo Xilai, Chinese Communist Party top dog in the major southwestern city of Chongqing, has been making headlines around the world. Bo notoriously silenced critics like investigative journalist Jiang Weiping, but the shoe is now on the other foot, at least for a while.Many China watchers are familiar with Bo because…