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AFGHANISTAN: 1 Ali Mohaqqiq Nasab, Haqooq-i-Zan (Women’s Rights) Imprisoned: October 1, 2005 The attorney general ordered editor Nasab’s arrest on blasphemy charges after the religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai, Mohaiuddin Baluch, filed a complaint about his magazine. “I took the two magazines and spoke to the Supreme Court chief, who wrote to the attorney…
AFGHANISTAN: 1 Ali Mohaqqiq Nasab, Haqooq-i-Zan (Women’s Rights) Imprisoned: October 1, 2005 The attorney general ordered editor Nasab’s arrest on blasphemy charges after the religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai, Mohaiuddin Baluch, filed a complaint about his magazine. “I took the two magazines and spoke to the Supreme Court chief, who wrote to the attorney…
Free Expression Takes a Back SeatBy Alex Lupis To gain military footing and access to energy resources in the former Soviet empire, the United States has diverted its attention from human rights and press freedom issues in Eurasia. The U.S. policy of close cooperation with the region’s authoritarian leaders has undermined free and independent reporting in…
NEPAL King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev seized direct power on February 1, dealing an unprecedented blow to press freedom. He cut all telephone lines, blocked Internet service, and sent the army to major media outlets to censor the news line by line. Hundreds of political leaders, civil activists, and journalists were detained. The king…
RUSSIA President Vladimir Putin and his allies continued to expand control over the media, using methods that critics called reminiscent of the Soviet era. Journalists who took on powerful political or business interests sometimes paid with their lives. Two journalists were killed in 2005 for their reporting. In the five years since Putin took power,…
ZIMBABWE In the run-up to parliamentary elections in March, the government of President Robert Mugabe further tightened repressive legislation that has been used to drastically reduce the independent media and its freedom to operate. Independent journalists continued to face police harassment, official intimidation, and the constant threat of arrest under the draconian laws. Several more…
July 2005 From 10 to 16 July 2005, twelve international organisations, including UN agencies, global media associations, freedom of expression advocates and media development organisations, undertook a mission to Nepal concerning freedom of expression and press freedom. These twelve organisations met with persons and institutions with a broad spectrum of opinion on the current media…