The Bill, approved by Parliament on 3 March 2010 in Kampala aims to create an enabling environment for citizens to freely disclose information on corrupt or improper conduct, both in the public and private sectors. In enacting the law, Uganda is the third country in Africa to adopt such a comprehensive law.

It aims to protect individuals who disclose evidence of law-breaking, maladministration or corruption in government and private bodies. It sets up procedures for disclosures internally and to external government bodies, although those who reveal issues to the press or the public directly are not protected. It prohibits retribution against those who make the disclosures in good faith, and waives criminal and civil penalties for disclosing secret information. Criminal penalties can be imposed on those who harass whistleblowers.

“The adoption of this law is a significant positive step in promoting transparency and accountability in the country. Uganda should be lauded for again taking a lead in the region in adopting legislation to promote transparency,” says Dr Agnès Callamard, ARTICLE 19 Executive Director.

ARTICLE 19 calls on the Ugandan authorities and private bodies to vigorously implement the law to ensure that individuals are protected. At the same time, ARTICLE 19 urges the Uganda Government to fully implement the 2005 Access to Information Act (ATIA) with the same commitment is has shown the Whistleblowers Bill. The ATIA has not been effectively implemented since its adoption.

“It is crucial for the Government to put into operation both this Bill and the Access to Information Act to ensure that transparency is fully recognised. They are both necessary to ensure the development of the nation,” adds Callamard.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• For more information contact

Victor Bwire

Programme Officer

ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa

victor@article19.org

+254 20 3862230/2

David Banisar

Senior Legal Counsel

banisar@article19.org

+ 44 207 324 2500

ARTICLE 19 reaffirms the importance of gender equality as a key component of the right to freedom of expression. As ARTICLE 19 Executive Director, Dr Agnes Callamard, states: “Women’s voices are all too often silent in the media and other public spaces. Women must be heard and must be able to receive information on issues that affect them. Women journalists, activists, community leaders and others must be allowed and encouraged to articulate their views and tell their stores. They must be able to engage freely in their work, without fear of censorship, harassment or violence.”

ARTICLE 19 here reflects the experiences of just a few women who have stood up for freedom of expression in some of the countries in which we work.

Africa

Sudan

Lubna Hussein, a former journalist and United Nations employee, became a symbol of resistance to the oppression of women in her home country of Sudan in 2009, when she defied a ban on wearing trousers in public. She was one of several women arrested in a Khartoum restaurant last July and charged with violating “decency laws”. All the women were convicted and they all paid “admission of guilt” fines and received 10 lashes, except for Hussein who risked a worse flogging to challenge the charges.

The Sudanese Penal Code 1991 states that “whoever does in a public place an indecent act or wears an obscene outfit shall be punished with flogging which may not exceed forty lashes or with fine or with both.”

Hussein launched an email campaign inviting people to witness her flogging. The Sudanese Government offered to drop the charges if she would agree to stop wearing trousers. She refused and was imprisoned overnight, while a pro-government press agency paid her fine, possibly in order to avoid further embarrassment for the Government. Since then, Hussein has been writing actively and risked further punishment when she left the country to campaign for Muslim women’s rights in France earlier this year.
ARTICLE 19 has been working in Sudan for several years, lobbying for more effective press laws and for better human rights protection.

Tunisia

While Tunisia has made remarkable strides in its economic development in recent years, this has not been matched by a similar commitment to democracy and the promotion of human rights. The country has been considered a pioneer for having ratified international conventions protecting women’s rights and these were enshrined in the 1959 Constitution. However, these have not been adequately upheld during the government of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who has been in power since 1987.

Sihem Bensadrine is a journalist and human rights activist who has been subjected to regular physical abuse, including beatings and torture, as well as slander by pro-government newspapers and websites which have called her a “prostitute” and “sexual pervert”. Together with Naziha Réjiba, she runs an independent online journal Kalima, which is censored in Tunisia, along with a radio station, Radio Kalima. Both women are under constant surveillance by police and their phones are monitored. This pattern of harassment has become significantly worse since the 2009 election of President Ben Ali for another term. The pro-government media has begun calling opposition journalists “agents of Israel” and calling for them to be lynched.

ARTICLE 19 is a member of the Tunisia Monitoring Group, which monitors human rights abuses and supports independent journalists, writers and activists in their fight against censorship and violations of freedom of expression.

Asia

Nepal

Uma Singh was the first female journalist to be killed in Nepal: she was stabbed by as many as 15 men in her apartment in Janakpur on 11 January 2009. A radio journalist, Singh had broadcast and written material on themes relating to women’s rights, the caste system and the country’s political situation. While a number of individuals have been sporadically detained, her killers have never been identified or brought to justice.

In a 2008 interview with Republica, a Nepalese news and publishing house, Singh said:

“My name is Uma Singh. My home is in . I am currently working at Radio Today as a reporter and news reader. Working in the Tarai is fraught with problems. Organisations and groups constantly apply pressure on us. They say “broadcast this news, don’t broadcast that news.” They threaten us if we do not broadcast what they ask. Women journalists also face additional social pressure. Society’s views of women journalists matters a lot. Society does not accept us as equal to men. They say that journalistic work is not appropriate for women. On top of that, violent political groups are growing and have been a major challenge for us. We have been compelled to dance to their tunes. Yesterday there was a mainstream political event in Janakpur, but violent groups forced us instead to cover what they were doing and saying instead. This makes us helpless. What do we do? If we do not broadcast what they ask, they threaten to kill us and life becomes very very hard for us. We also have to balance our news rather than bow to their orders. We find ourselves in a really difficult situation. Working as a journalist is a really tough job.”

Nepal has seen an increase in violent attacks against media workers since the start of the Constitution-making process in 2006. ARTICLE 19 has participated in several international missions to Nepal in recent years and has been working to promote freedom of expression in the Nepalese Constitution.

Indonesia

Siti Musdah Mulia is a champion of Islamic and women’s rights, as chairperson of the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace and professor of Islamic Studies at Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic University in Jakarta.

In 2004, Mulia embarked on a project to revise Indonesia’s Islamic Code, which included a ban on polygamy and forced marriages, raising the legal of marriage for girls from 16 to 19 years, and demanding equal rights for husbands and wives. These proposed reforms caused such violent protests from conservative clerics that the Minister for Religious Affairs withdrew them from the parliamentary process.

Mulia has spoken widely on freedom of expression, especially with regard to the rights of women to access information and voice opinions. She is currently challenging the 1965 defamation of religion law, which is under review at the Constitutional Court. ARTICLE 19 is providing an amicus curiae in this case.

Indonesia has enjoyed positive development in democracy and civil liberties following the fall of President Suharto in 1998. However, in recent years, religious conservatism and national security concerns have threatened media pluralism, freedom of expression and human rights. The Indonesia Journalists Association (AJI) has identified press freedom as one of their three main concerns. Despite a relatively free press compared to other countries in the region, journalists, especially those covering environmental issues, still risk being stopped or even arrested. Journalists also face threats of protests and attacks by mobs and hard-line Islamic groups.
New legislation such as the controversial Anti-Pornography Bill and Electronic Information and Transaction Law (with up to six years’imprisonment for defamation on the internet), the enforcement of the 1965 Defamation of Religion Act, and the planned introduction of an internet censorship law, are all worrying signs that freedom of expression is under threat in Indonesia.

Europe

Chechnya

Natalia Estemirova, an award-winning human rights campaigner, was murdered by unknown assassins in July 2009. Estemirova worked for the Russian human rights group Memorial in Grozny, Chechnya, where she documented dozens of human rights violations.

Trained as a history teacher, Estemirova had begun reporting on human rights abuses and casualties during the Chechen War in 1999. She was also instrumental in helping foreign journalists access information and interviews in the region, and was a key figure in helping tell the story of the Chechen conflict around the world.

She was abducted in the morning of 15 July last year and taken away in a car. Her body was found later the same day, with bullet wounds, in neighbouring Ingushetia. Her killers have not been identified and nobody has been charged with her murder, despite an expression of outrage from Russian President Dmitri Medvedev at the time.

In 2005, Estemirova was awarded the Robert Schuman medal by Members of the European Parliament, who voted her an “emblematic moral figure”. In 2007, she travelled to London to receive the inaugural Anna Politkovskaya award from the Reach all Women in War campaign. During an interview with the BBC at this time, she was asked whether she felt her life was in danger. She responded: “Sometimes I just can’t even come to feeling that because I have such strong other feelings. I try to be very exact about how I go about things and of course I do have worries about my family and people close to me but I still have to do my work. Of course there are moments when I feel scared.”

ARTICLE 19 works in the North Caucasus to promote freedom of expression and supports journalists and human rights defenders in their work reporting abuses.

Latin America

Brazil

Thais Corral is an expert in social communications, recognised for her leadership on sustainability, environment and gender issues. She is the chairperson of ABDL (Brazilian Association for the Development of Leadership) and co-founder of CEMINA (Communication, Education and Information on Gender).

Throughout her professional life, Corral has been involved starting up organisations, which include WEDO (Women, Environment and Development Organisation), founded with American Member of Congress, Bella Abzug, and Nobel Laureate, Wangari Mathaai. WEDO plays a major role in the United Nations global system and lobbies for economic and social justice. Corral is also a founder member of REDEH (Rede de Desenvolvimento Humano), an organisation that works for the development of public policies on health, sexual and reproductive rights, education and environment. Amongst her accomplishments are the design and implementation of a project to empower women in water management carried out in Northeastern Brazil, selected in 2003 by the World Water Forum as a world best practice.

More recently, Corral conceived and implemented a women’s radio network which links 400 women’s radio programmes and their communities throughout Brazil. The network aims to encourage the use of community radio by women, as a means of airing their views especially in relation to women’s rights. The network empowers women community leaders to develop their own radio programmes.

This network subsequently gave birth to the Cyberelas project, which is a model for capacity-building that links radio and internet communications, facilitating access to communications tools and information exchange through telecentres located in under-resourced and poor areas. These train women in the use of technologies, software and radio, in order to advance awareness of sexual and reproductive rights. When the centres are not being used for radio production, they are open to local communities for free internet use.

Mexico

Maria Esther Aguilar Casimbe, a crime reporter in Zamora for the local daily Cambio, in the central Mexican state of Michoacán, went missing on November 2009. She was last seen when she left home after receiving a phone call. She had been covering stories relating to local corruption and had recently exposed abuses by local authorities.

Michoacán is considered one of the most dangerous states for journalists in Mexico, owing to its high levels of violence, relating to drug trafficking and organised crime. Aguilar is the third journalist to have disappeared in this province and the first woman out of nine other journalists across the country who have disappeared without trace since 2000.

ARTICLE 19 runs a multi-faceted programme to address issues of safety for journalists in Mexico. This includes lobbying the Government to provide better protections for journalists and media workers, and to ensure that perpetrators of crimes against journalists are brought to justice. ARTICLE 19 also monitors and tracks attacks against journalists, and provides safety training for people working in this field.

Middle East

Iran

Shiva Nazar Ahari is an Iranian blogger, journalist, human rights defender and activist who has been in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. Over the past six years, she has been arrested on several occasions under a variety of charges related to her intrepid interviews with international media and her critical blogging. She is a founding member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters.

In June 2009, the security forces searched her house and confiscated personal possessions. The next day she was arrested and kept in solitary confinement for 33 days. During this period, she was allowed only one phone call to her family. On 1 September, her family was informed that bail for her release had been set at USD 500,000, which was reduced to USD 200,000 on 16 September. Her family raised the money and Ahari was released on 23 September.

On 20 December 2009, Ahari was again arrested, along with a colleague, while on a bus from Tehran to Qom to attend the funeral of Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, an influential cleric who had been critical of the Government. A prosecutor later informed her family that the Committee of Human Rights Reporters was affiliated with an armed opposition group, although she has not been charged or given access to a lawyer since her arrest. On 11 February, Ahari told her family by phone that she had been transferred to a cage-like solitary confinement cell where she cannot move her arms or legs. She added that she remains under pressure to accept accusations made against her, although the nature of these accusations is not clear.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the most repressive countries in the world, with tight restrictions on all forms of mass communication, including the print and broadcast media, the publishing sector, the internet, and mobile and fixed line telephone networks. This stifling trend has worsened since the mass citizen protests that escalated following presidential elections in June 2009. Although the Government downplays the means it employs to curtail dissent, with official figures of 2,500 people arrested and up to 30 killed during this period, independent organisations believe the numbers are far greater. Journalists, activists and bloggers face unfair trials, torture and lengthy prison sentences for criminal offences such as mutiny and disruption of public order.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

• For more information please contact:

Nicola Spurr

Senior Communications and Media Officer

nicola@article19.org

+44 20 7324 2500

The concern comes in the wake of tough prison sentences and fines handed to three members of the independent weekly Umuseso, by a court in the Kigali district of Nyarugenge on 22 February 2010.

The court sentenced Charles Kabonero, the publisher of Umuseso, to one year, and editor Didas Gasana and reporter Richard Kayigamba to six months’ imprisonment respectively. The case was brought by the public prosecutor’s office, which charged them with libel and invasion of privacy for reporting that a government minister was having an extra-marital affair.

This is the third time that this independent weekly and its associates have been targeted by the authorities. In August 2006, Rwanda’s High Court upheld a one-year ruling imposing a suspended prison sentence for Kabonero and a US$2,000 fine for damages for defamation allegations against the Parliamentary Deputy Speaker in 2004. In March 2009, Kabonero fled the country following threats on his life.

“ARTICLE 19 is concerned that attacks on opposition leaders and independent journalists threaten the democratic process in Rwanda, especially in an election year,” comments Dr Agnès Callamard, ARTICLE 19 Executive Director. “The Rwandan authorities must allow the media to operate freely and must accept that critical or opposition voices have a right to be heard in a democratic and pluralistic society. This is especially important in a society where the media has previously played such a destructive role, in the context of the 1994 genocide, and now must be a key part of helping to build a united and solid democracy.”

ARTICLE 19 calls on President Paul Kagame to uphold the principles of freedom of expression and the right of the media to report on events in the public interest, and to ensure that journalists, editors and publishers are free to practise their professions without harassment.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

For more information please contact:

Victor Bwire
Programme Officer
ARTICLE 19
Eastern Africa
victor@article19.org
+254 20 3862230/2

In particular, ARTICLE 19 and IMS called on the newly elected President to take immediate and concrete steps to ensure that Ukraine adopts a progressive law on public service broadcasting in compliance with European and international standards. Such a law is still lacking in the country, despite several previous initiatives. The letter also points to the lack of comprehensive legal and policy framework on access to information, the need to privatise state-owned media and the need to ensure transparency of media ownership to address concerns about the control of various political and economic interests over mainstream media in Ukraine.

“We urge the new President of Ukraine to treat reforms related to freedom of expression and media in the country as a priority on his agenda. We also hope he will take all necessary steps to ensure that genuine progress is made in related reforms that have taken painstakingly long time in Ukraine,” notes ARTICLE 19 Executive Director Agnès Callamard.

“We believe that for Ukraine to continue democratic reform of its institutions and economy, the Government should ensure that the media community in Ukraine is protected and regulated by a media policy and legislative environment that is based on international standards,” says Jesper Højberg, Executive Director of International Media Support

IMS and ARTICLE 19 are currently implementing a media programme in Ukraine and are willing and ready to provide full support and expertise in the future development of freedom of speech and freedom of media in Ukraine.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• For more information please contact:

Barbora Bukovska

ARTICLE 19

Senior Director for Law

barbora@article19.org

+44 20 7324 2500

Antonina Cherevko

IMS Programme Officer for Ukraine

ac@i-m-s.dk

+380 50 410 27 68

• The full text of the open letter in is available in English and Ukrainian.

• International Media Support (IMS) is a non-profit organisation working with media in countries affected by armed conflict, human insecurity and political transition. In more than 30 countries worldwide, IMS helps to strengthen professional practices and ensure that media and media workers can operate under challenging circumstances. This statement is issued within the framework of the IMS Media and Democracy Programme for Central and Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. For more information about International Media Support please visit www.i-m-s.dk

Komakhidze reported receiving death threats from the Georgian authorities on 10 February. He had recently returned from a visit to South Ossetia where he has been producing a documentary examining the 2008 Russian-Georgian conflict.

ARTICLE 19 has issued a joint statement with the South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, the Human Rights House Foundation, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.

The organisations condemn the use of threats against Komakhidze, and call upon the Georgian government to ensure his safety and to cease harassment of journalists. The joint statement also calls for a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the incident and the creation of an environment safe and conducive to diverse voices.

“The use of intimidation and scare tactics to silence dissent is unacceptable, and the lack of investigation by the Georgian government calls into question its commitment to freedom of expression”, comments ARTICLE 19 Executive Director Agnès Callamard.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• For more information please contact:

Rebecca Vincent

rebecca@article19.org

+44 20 7324 2500

• The full text of the joint statement is available here.

The overthrow of President Manuel Zelaya on 28 June 2009 by opposition members led by Roberto Micheletti caused the worst political crisis that Central America has experienced in years. Micheletti and his supporters accused Zelaya of trying to push through a constitutional change that would have allowed him to be re-elected for an extended term.

Although this recent political crisis reflects deeper historical divisions in Honduras, it has had a detrimental effect on the media from all sides of the political spectrum. Members of the high-level mission collected testimonies from journalists, broadcasters, editors and civil society activist which revealed many cases of human rights abuse.

There were at least 127 cases of violations of freedom of expression between 28 June, when the coup took place, and 15 November, when this high-level mission visited Honduras. Media outlets were censored and prevented from covering the unfolding political events, and there has been a high level of self-censorship from media workers afraid of being physically attacked, harassed or threatened with defamation.

There is also evidence that the military authorities put in place after the coup manipulated funds reserved for official advertising in order to control information. This was made easier by the reality that there is a high concentration of media ownership in Honduras, which means that most media outlets are in the hands of a few members of the economic and political elite.

The mission finds two main obstacles for the full exercise of freedom of expression in Honduras:

• A conflict of interest between some parts of the media and a sector of the ruling class that tends to subscribe to a narrow set of economic and political interests.
• A high level of insecurity and self censorship exacerbated by an ongoing “media war”.

“The press in Honduras is used to a hostile and insecure environment,” comments Dario Ramirez, ARTICLE 19 Mexico Director. ”Nevertheless, the political crisis which was unleashed on 28 June has given new impetus to the threats facing those who exercise their right to freedom of expression through the media.”

The mission report makes a number of recommendations for the government of Honduras to promote the right to freedom of expression. These include:
• A stop to all threats and attacks against media workers, and any practices that restrict freedom of expression or access to government information, or that influence editorial independence.
• A reformation of media laws and practices to strengthen media diversity and independence, guarantee transparency in the issuing of media licenses, and abolish those parts of the penal code that criminalise libel and defamation.

The mission also calls on the Honduran media to promote dialogue with civil society and other actors, to foster a spirit of reconciliation and the exercise of free and vibrant journalism. The government and media employers should also strive to ensure safety for journalists working in media outlets.

This high-level mission comprised ARTICLE 19; the World Association of Newspapers / Argentine Association of Journalistic Entities (Asociación de Entidades Periodísticas de Argentina); World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters; the International Federation of Journalists; Free Voice; International Media Support and Reporters Without Borders.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• View the full text of Honduras: The “media war” and the polarisation of the media in English or Spanish

• For more information in Spanish or English, please contact

Ricardo Gonzalez

Ricardo@article19.org

+52 55 1054 6500 ext. 103

Charlie Brooker’s Newswipe often carries out cutting features on how news reporting is driven by celebrity and the desperate need for anything that would constitute an “exclusive”.

So it seemed obvious that Brooker would team up with the people behind Starsuckers for a segment on the News of the World’s treatment of their film, in which they sold fake “scoops” to the tabloid.

But the segment never appeared. Why?

A couple of months ago I filmed a piece for Charlie Brookers excellent Newswipe, the intention being to expose the gaping hypocrisy and contradiction of the NOTW’s stance. The piece gained even more potency after the NOTW broke the John Terry story, and Tom Crone had been publicly claiming that News International were ruthless defenders of free speech. Brooker’s team had specifically asked us to hold back the story of our legal battle, to give Newswipe the exclusive. Last week we were told that the Starsuckers vs NOTW story would definitely be in this weeks final show, neatly coming after the John Terry section.

This afternoon we were told that the piece has been cut, and we have heard from several sources that this is due to the BBC caving in and avoiding a fight with the NOTW.

Read the rest at the Starsuckers blog

UPDATE: Brooker says on Twitter: “Just to be 100% clear, the BBC hasn’t blocked Starsuckers piece. We ran out of room and edit time. No conspiracy & it may be used in future”

Organised jointly by ARTICLE 19 and its partners, the Media Defence Centre, based in Voronezh and the Centre for Media Protection in Dagestan, based in Makhachkala, the conference explored ways to sustain media and NGO activities, and promote freedom of expression in this troubled region.

There has been a significant deterioration in security, overall, and of freedom of expression situation, in particular, in the North Caucasus in recent years. There have been a series of killings of journalists and civil society representatives, as well as attacks, intimidation and legal harassment of media outlets and individual journalists.

This situation has negatively impacted the ability of NGOs to work safely in the region. Human rights defenders and journalists regularly expose themselves to great personal risks in their attempts to monitor abuses and report from the region. It is not only journalists and activists who are under threat – indeed, recent events show that any individual who expresses critical or independent views risks being targeted.

Participants in the conference also expressed disappointment that the official end of the Russian “counter-terrorism operation” against separatist rebels in Chechnya in April 2009 has failed to improve the human rights situation in the region.

Participants included prominent human rights defenders, such as Lyudmila Alexkseeva (Moscow Helsinki Committee), Oleg Orlov and Svetlana Gannushkina (Memorial), Nicolay Svinadze (Member of the Public Chamber of Russia), Aleksey Simonov (Glasnost Foundation), Olga Bobrova (Novaya Gazeta newspaper) and Ali Kamlov (representing the Journalists’ Union of Russia and the Union of Journalists of Dagestan).

Despite the gravity of the situation, participants identified several possibilities for international and Russian organisations to work jointly in the region, especially through strengthened capacity building for local media and NGOs, joint national and international advocacy, and support in individual cases of violations. ARTICLE 19, the Media Defence Centre and the Centre for Media Protection in Dagestan will actively follow up on these plans in the upcoming months.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• For more information, please contact:

Barbora Bukovska

Senior Director for Law

barbora@article19.org

+44 20 7324 2500 or

Galina Arapova

Media Defence Centre

gala@media.vrn.ru

Chávez replaces Octavio Orellana, who was widely regarded as ineffective at stemming the number of attacks and murders of media workers in Mexico. Orellana claimed that the frequent murders of journalists, eleven in 2009, were not related to their work.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor for Crimes Against the Media (FEADP) was established in 2006 but has lacked the political will to investigate crimes and bring their perpetrators to justice. Organisations such as the National Human Rights Commission have complained that FEADP is ineffective. The limited and ambiguous mandate of FEADP together with a lack of political will has resulted in a large number of cases being declared “on reserve” whereby all investigations are suspended until new evidence arises. Only a few cases are being formally investigated and just four cases in four years have seen charges brought.

According to international standards, Special Prosecutor Chávez must:
• Be independent
• Be impartial
• Have the necessary capacities and knowledge to develop his post
• Base FEADP investigations on a human rights perspective, protect the rights of victims, and avoid re-victimisation
• Train FEADP personnel on the right to freedom of expression.

ARTICLE 19 calls on Chávez to reform FEADP’s legal framework in line with international standards, and implement prosecution and protection mechanisms based on the right to freedom of expression. ARTICLE 19 also calls on FEADP to meet its obligations in the area of transparency and accountability.

ARTICLE 19 reiterates its call to the Mexican Congress to approve such necessary reforms in order to empower the federal authorities to investigate crimes against those practicing journalism.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• For more information please contact:

Cynthia Cárdenas

Legal Adviser

cynthiac@article19.org

+52 55 10546500 ext. 107