When rape is inevitable: Surviving imprisonment in Iran
As I read the account of Saeeda Siabi in an Iranian prison it became hard for me to breathe. Her descriptions of being raped in front of her 4-month-old son stopped the air in my chest. “They took me to a torture room and tied me to a bed,” she said. “I was wounded and…
Google+ for journalists at risk
When they’re creating new features, software designers talk in terms of “use cases.” A use case describes steps that future customers might perform with a website. “Starting a group with friends,” would be a use case for Facebook. “Buying a book” would be case for Amazon’s designers.
Belarus police detain and beat a dozen reporters
New York, June 30, 2011–In a new crackdown against the independent press, Belarusian police briefly detained and beat more than a dozen reporters, and broke their equipment at a Wednesday protest rally in Minsk and Brest, according to news reports and CPJ sources in Belarus.
Puntland authorities arrest online journalist
New York, June 30, 2011–Police arrested Faysal Mohamed, at left, a reporter for the Hiiraan Online website Wednesday morning in the port town of Bossasso in the semi-autonomous republic of Puntland, local journalists told CPJ. No official charges have been brought against him, although the deputy commander of the Bossasso District Police told journalists that…
Kings, queens, and torture in Bahrain
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark visited Bahrain in February at the invitation of King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa. As part of the official program, the queen honored Hamad with the “Storkorset af Dannebrog,” the second highest Danish royal order. Although the visit took place about two weeks before Bahraini authorities began a violent crackdown…
On food safety, China misapplies a ‘blacklist’
Sarcasm reflects how aware the Chinese public has become of the dangers of adulterated food. After Japan’s Fukushima nuclear crisis, a rumor circulated in China that table salt could prevent radiation. In spite of the government’s efforts to curb the rumors, tons of overpriced table salt were sold overnight. Chinese netizens reassured the public in…
Syria’s Assad gives tacit OK to online attacks on press
On Monday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave his third public address on the vast unrest that has roiled his nation. Reporters described him as nervous. He, the reporters, or perhaps both, may have been thinking about the significance of speech No. 3. Both Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak were overthrown…
Syria must prove jailed blogger is alive, well
New York, June 23, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists and the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information today called on the Syrian government to produce immediate evidence showing that unjustly imprisoned blogger Tal al-Mallohi is alive and well. The demand follows several recent news reports saying that al-Mallohi died in a Syrian prison a month…