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ETHIOPIA: Three Ethiopian journalists beaten and detained in Tigray

Three Ethiopian journalists beaten and detained while covering protest in Tigray

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday called on Ethiopian authorities to hold to account security personnel who assaulted at least three journalists and to desist from harassing and detaining members of the press.

Comittee to Protect Journalists (21.09.2023) – On September 7, security officers in Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray Region, beat and arrested Teshager Tsigab, a reporter with the online news outlet Yabele Media, and Mehari Kahsay and Mehari Selemon, co-founders and reporters with Ayam Media, while they were covering an opposition protest, according to media reports and the three journalists, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.

Mehari Kahsay and Mehari Selemon told CPJ they were released on bail on September 9. They said officials accused them of participating in an illegal protest but did not formally charge them in court. Authorities did not level any specific allegations against Teshager, or formally charge him in court before releasing him on bail on September 11.

“The beating and detention of these three journalists sends a chilling message that authorities in Tigray are unwilling to make room for reporters to cover critical subjects,” said CPJ’s sub-Saharan Africa representative, Muthoki Mumo. “The Tigray interim regional administration must investigate this incident, hold the officers responsible to account, and guarantee that the press can report on opposition protests and dissenting voices without retaliation.”

Ethiopia appointed the interim administration in March as part of a November 2022 peace deal that ended two years of conflict between the federal government and rebels led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front party.

Three opposition parties planned to hold a demonstration in Mekelle’s Romanat Square but authorities said it was not authorized and police dispersed the crowd with beatings and arrested more than 20 people, according to media reports.

The three journalists said they were separately filming the protesters when they were confronted by groups of men in police uniform who ordered them to stop and beat them with sticks and electric cables.

Teshager told CPJ that he ran to a nearby café, but the officers found him there, beat him until he briefly lost consciousness, and took him to Mekelle’s Semien Sub-City police station. Teshager said he had blurred vision and vomited after the beating and sustained wounds to his head, back, and legs.

Mehari Selemon and Mehari Kahsay said they initially escaped but men in police uniforms confronted them while they were having breakfast in a different café later that morning, beat them, and forced them to walk barefoot to a patrol vehicle about 10 minutes away in Romanat Square. They were also detained at the Semien Sub-City police station.

Mehari Selemon told CPJ that he sustained a nosebleed and a headache and had body aches. Mehari Kahsay shared images with CPJ of deep bruises and swelling on his legs, shoulders, and back, which he said resulted from the beatings, and said his head was also swollen.

Teshager said the police took him to a hospital on September 7, where he was given painkillers, and again on September 8, when he was examined by a doctor and given an x-ray at a different hospital. Teshager told CPJ that he did not see the results of the medical examination, which were shared with the police, who told him that he was fine.

Mehari Selemon and Mehari Kahsay said they were given painkillers when they were taken to a hospital on September 8.

The U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America and German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported that security personnel in military and civilian clothes harassed reporters working for their outlets, as well as local media. The outlets did not name the journalists.

One person who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns, said the police told them to stop filming the protest and tried to forcefully delete their footage. Private security guards were also involved in the attacks, that person said.

Press freedom violations escalated in Ethiopia during the 2020-2022 civil war when numerous journalists were arrested and detained for weeks without formal charges.

CPJ’s queries to the communication office of the Tigray interim administration via email and Facebook and to the head of the interim administration, Getachew Reda, via X, formerly known as Twitter, did not receive any replies.

Photo credits: YouTube/Yabele Media

UKRAINE: Journalist Volodymyr Sedov assaulted after investigating crime

Ukrainian journalist Volodymyr Sedov assaulted after investigating crime

Ukrainian authorities should swiftly investigate the latest attack on anti-corruption journalist Volodymyr Sedov and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

CPJ (04.08.2023) – Sedov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Visti Ananivshchyna, told CPJ that unidentified people attacked him from behind in a park near his home in the southern city of Ananiv on July 12, knocked him unconscious and trampled on his right hand, breaking two of his fingers.

“CPJ condemns the attack on veteran journalist Volodymyr Sedov and calls on Ukrainian authorities to ensure timely investigations. No journalist should be subjected to such brutal violence for investigative reporting in the public interest,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Ukrainian authorities must hold the alleged assailants to account and ensure that Sedov can work safely.”

Sedov, 68, posted a video and photographs on Facebook showing his bruised face and bloodied fingers shortly after the attack, which was also covered by local media, Ukrainian press freedom group Institute of Mass Information, and the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine.

Sedov told CPJ that an unknown number of attackers hit him on the head, knocking him out for a few seconds. When he regained consciousness, Sedov said he saw a local gangster—who Sedov has published articles about in Visti Ananivshchyna and on social media—running away.

“I woke up with pain in my fingers,” said Sedov, who was diagnosed with a concussion, adding that he believed his assailants stepped on his fingers to stop him writing.

Sedov told CPJ that he believed the attack was related to his journalism as he has reported “many times” on allegations of corruption involving his alleged assailant and local authorities, and posts regularly about crime and graft on Facebook.

The police headquarters for Odesa Region, where Ananiv is located, did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment. In an email to CPJ after publication, Ananiv city council said “in no way are we aware of criminal groups that operate in the territory of the Anani municipality.”

The police said in a statement on July 12 that they were investigating the assault and had opened a criminal case for “violence against a journalist in connection with … their lawful professional activity.”

Sedov told CPJ that he was “convinced that nothing will happen” as crimes committed by the gang usually went unpunished.

Sedov said that armed men in military fatigues burst into his wife’s office about a year ago and “began to insult her and threaten that if I write anything against the authorities, they will kill her, me and the whole family.” The journalist said explosive packages were also detonated on the site of his wife’s office and car tires were slashed, and he reported all of the incidents to the police but no one was arrested.

“I do not rely on the police and the law,” he told CPJ. “I think that my persecution as a journalist will continue more severely, and I may have to leave Ukraine in order not to put my family at risk. I am 68 years old now. I have children, grandchildren, and I do not see any way out of this lawlessness and corruption.”

Sedov told CPJ that he returned to work on August 4.

Separately, on June 15, the car of journalist Vlad Isaev was set on fire by unidentified people in Ukraine’s northern region of Rivne. On the night of June 15, in Rivne, unknown people also attempted to burn down the house of former journalist Oleksandr Namozov. CPJ is investigating both incidents to determine whether they were linked to the reporters’ journalistic activities.

[Editor’s note: This alert has been updated with a response from the Ananiv city council in the eighth paragraph. ]

Photo credits: Volodymyr Sedov

PAKISTAN urged to reconsider bills that could undermine press freedom

CPJ urges Pakistan lawmakers to reconsider bills that could undermine press freedom

Pakistan lawmakers should reject or revise four draft bills likely to undermine press freedom and consult with journalists and other stakeholders in a transparent review process before putting the bills to a vote, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

CPJ (04.08.2023) – On July 20, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb introduced in the lower house of parliament a draft bill amending the ordinance governing the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), the country’s broadcast regulator, according to news reports.

The bill would empower the regulator to oversee the dissemination of “authentic news” and prohibit media organizations from spreading “disinformation,” a loosely defined clause that the nongovernmental Human Rights Commission of Pakistan warned “strays into censorship territory.”

On Wednesday, the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, passed the PEMRA amendment bill, which will be moved to the Senate. The federal cabinet has approved two other draft bills and is soon expected to introduce them in parliament. Another bill, which would amend the 2016 Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), is pending cabinet approval. Local journalists and rights groups fear that these bills would entrench measures to undermine data security and free expression online before Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government is dissolved later this month. The bills would provide sweeping powers to the incoming caretaker government, which Sharif’s ruling coalition and the military are both seeking to control.

“We are alarmed by the Pakistan government’s apparent attempts to bulldoze four draft bills undermining press freedom through parliament ahead of the political transition scheduled for later this month,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “There needs to be a substantive debate on the bills and their far-reaching impacts. Pakistan’s lawmakers must ensure ample time to review the draft bills in consultation with civil society and journalists before coming to a vote.”

Sharif has proposed that parliament be dissolved on August 9, before handing over power to a caretaker administration, paving the way for a general election.

CPJ has documented numerous press freedom violations in Pakistan since former Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from power in April 2022, resulting in an ongoing political crisis. Mainstream news channels have ceased coverage of Khan following a de facto ban and pressure from the military.

On July 26, the federal cabinet approved two of the draft bills, the E-Safety Bill 2023 and the Personal Data Protection Bill 2023, paving the way for a parliamentary vote.

The E-Safety Bill would establish a new regulatory body responsible for registering and monitoring news websites, including those already operated by media outlets, as well as online channels, including those on YouTube. The agency would be empowered to take notice of and impose penalties for alleged cybercrime violations, including publishing “false” news, which the Pakistan Digital Editors Alliance, a local journalists’ association, warns could be used to stifle free speech.

The Personal Data Protection Bill would mandate data localization within Pakistan for companies, including social media platforms. The bill provides for “sensitive personal data” to be handed over to the Pakistan government on grounds of “public order” or “national security,” which may compromise journalists’ privacy, according to a May draft of the bill and Farieha Aziz, a freelance journalist and co-founder of the digital rights organization Bolo Bhi, who spoke with CPJ by phone.

Separately, the government is set to introduce a series of amendments to PECA and the country’s social media rules, establishing a prison term of five years and a fine of 1 million rupees (US$3,484) for disseminating “fake or false information” online.

The amendments would empower the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to order social media companies to block or remove content that “incites or is likely to incite [the] public,” is “known to be fake or false,” or “contains aspersions against the judiciary or armed forces of Pakistan.” Social media companies deemed non-compliant could have their services blocked or restricted.

CPJ has repeatedly documented how the PECA has been used to detain and harass journalists for their work.

It remains unclear when these three bills will be brought to a vote in parliament, Aziz told CPJ.

The PEMRA amendment bill defines “disinformation” as “verifiably false” information disseminated with the intention to “cause harm to the reputation of or to harass any person for political, personal, or financial interest…without making an effort to get other person’s point of view or not giving [that view] proper coverage.”

Aziz and other journalists have expressed concern about that definition, with Aziz saying it could encourage powerful figures to withhold comment and curb the media’s ability to publish critical stories. The draft bill also increases the fine for violations from 1 million rupees to 10 million rupees (US$34,837).

Afzal Butt, president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, told the newspaper Dawn that he believes broadcasters and the journalists’ union should be able to vote on decisions by PEMRA, which has a history of suspending broadcasters and censoring their content. The draft amendment introduced to parliament grants the union and local broadcasters one non-voting representative each at the agency.

CPJ called and messaged Aurangzeb for comment but did not receive any replies.

Photo credits: Reuters/Press Information Department

RUSSIA: Russian troops in Ukraine are compiling lists of journalists for questioning

Russian troops in Ukraine are compiling lists of journalists for questioning

Reporters Without Borders (26.04.2022) – https://bit.ly/3OFg08g – As Russian soldiers in the mostly occupied Zaporizhzhia region draw up “lists of leading local figures to be kidnapped” and search for journalists in order to make them collaborate or to silence them, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reminds the Russian authorities that targeting journalists is a war crime.

The Zaporizhzhia-based news website 061.ua yesterday received its 12th threatening email from a Russian source since the start of the invasion, this one in the form of a children’s fairy-tale about a journalist with a Nazi father.

The preceding one, on 17 April, was very specific: “All journalists will be held responsible for spreading false information about Russia and spreading the Ukrainian Nazi regime’s propaganda […] A military tribunal will be set up for all those who support the Nazi regime led by [Ukrainian President] Zelenskiy.”

061.ua is based in the city of Zaporizhzhia itself, one of the few places in the Zaporizhzhia region that is not occupied. Another independent media outlet, Inform.zp.ua, is receiving similar messages. These news sites are also being subjected to DDOS attacks, in which sites are deliberately swamped with a flood of connection requests in order to block them.

In other cities and towns in the region – Melitopol, Berdiansk, Enerhodar and Tokmak – journalists have received “visits” from Russian soldiers, they have been subjected to interrogations and searches, their equipment has been seized, and in some cases have been taken hostage.

If they refuse to cooperate, their media outlets are forcibly closed or they may even be abducted. That is what happened to Irina Dubchenko, a journalist working for the UNIAN news agency and the Subota-plus weekly newspaper. She was abducted in Donetsk, in the Donbas region, on 26 March and was not released until 11 April.

According to Natalia Vyhovska, the Zaporizhzhia region representative of RSF’s local partner, the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), “the occupiers have lists of journalists and activists who they are watching.”

When a large number of journalists were simultaneously taken hostage in Berdiansk on 8 March, Serhii Starushko, a journalist with the PRO-100 media group, saw soldiers interrogate colleagues to get the names of other journalists and note them down on a list. The soldiers can then get the addresses of their homes from the local government databases they control in the occupied territories.

The use of such methods to track down journalists and others has also been reported by several foreign reporters and by the head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, Oleksandr Starukh.

“By waging this manhunt to track down Ukrainian journalists, the Russian troops aim to terrorise them and force them to remain silent if they refuse to disseminate Kremlin propaganda,” said Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. “We remind the Russian authorities that targeting journalists is a war crime.”

RIA-Melitopol news website editor Svitlana Zalizetska used a false identity to leave Melitopol and avoid being snared by these “lists of leading local figures to be kidnapped.” On 23 March, shortly after her departure, her home in Melitopol was searched by two Russian soldiers and a Russian civilian, who took her ailing, 75-year-old father hostage and said he would be released only if she came to them.

Two days later, they agreed to free him in return for her transferring control of the website to certain third parties. But Zalizetska continues to be harassed by phone, email and social media and to receive threats that are identical to those received by the Zaporizhzhia-based websites 061.ua and Inform.zp.ua.

“The town is small and someone pointed it out,” said Vitaly Golod, the editor of the local newspaper Nashe Misto-Tokmak, referring to his home in the town of Tokmak. On 22 March, just two days after he left for the capital, Kyiv, his home was searched by Russian intelligence officers, who took documents and a digital data storage device.

Industrialne Zaporizhzhia correspondent Kateryna Danilina-Levochko had also already left Melitopol when Russian soldiers went to arrest her on 21 March at her parents’ home, which was her registered address. They asked about her activities and about Mikhailo Kumok, the owner of the Melitopolskie Vedomosti (MV)media group, for whom she had worked in the past.

Kumok, Evgenia Borian, the editor of Melitopolskie Vedomostinewspaper, and two of the newspaper’s journalists, Yulia Olkhovskaia and Liubov Chaika, were all arrested at their homes the same day and were held for several hours. The media group’s activities were then suspended and its printing press was closed. The Russian occupiers published a fake issue of the newspaper, full of propaganda, on 7 April.

All the print media outlets in Melitopol, Berdiansk, Enerhodar and Tokmak have stopped appearing because their staff refused to cooperate with the Russian occupiers. At the start of March, the Russian army cut off the broadcasting of Ukrainian TV channels in these four cities.

Ukraine is ranked 97th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2021 World Press Freedom Index. Russia is ranked 150th.

Photo credits: BBC

WORLD: Attacks on the press: The deadliest countries in 2021

Attacks on the press: The deadliest countries in 2021

By Jennifer Dunham/CPJ Deputy Editorial Director

Committee to Protect Journalists (19.01.2022) – https://bit.ly/3nMV8QG – At least 27 journalists were killed due to their work in 2021, with India and Mexico topping the list of countries with the most media worker deaths, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists’ final data for the year. Of the total – which has risen by three since the publication of CPJ’s December 9 report on attacks on the press – 21 were singled out for murder in retaliation for their reporting. Four more were killed while reporting from conflict zones, and two others were killed covering protests or street clashes that turned deadly.

CPJ is still investigating the deaths of 18 other journalists – including six from Mexico – to determine whether their killings were work-related .

While the overall total of journalist deaths dropped from 2020’s number of 32, the number of confirmed retaliatory murders remained roughly the same, suggesting that journalists continue to be seen as targets. The two countries with the highest number of murders – India and Mexico, which registered four and three confirmed murders, respectively – both feature on CPJ’s Global Impunity Index, which spotlights countries where members of the press are singled out for murder and the perpetrators go free.

At least two journalists were killed in Myanmar, amid the military junta’s brutal crackdown on the press that also saw at least 26 journalists imprisoned for their reporting as of December 1, 2021. The two deaths, both in December, represented CPJ’s highest yearly recorded tally for journalist killings in Myanmar since 1999, and the country emerged as the world’s second-worst jailer of journalists after China in CPJ’s 2021 prison census.

Other findings from CPJ’s research on journalist killings include:

Political groups, such as anti-government parties or combatants, were the most frequently suspected killers of journalists in 2021, while politics was the most dangerous beat.
Afghan television anchor Mina Khairi – who was killed in June in Kabul when unidentified attackers detonated an improvised explosive device attached to a van she was riding in – was the only female journalist confirmed to have been targeted for murder in 2021. Another reporter, Yemeni photojournalist Rasha Abdullah al-Harazi – who was pregnant at the time – was killed by a car bomb on November 9, 2021, but it’s believed that the attack was aimed at her husband, Mahmoud al-Atmi. Al-Atmi, also a journalist, was seriously injured in the explosion.
The vast majority of killed journalists were locals covering the news in their home countries. Three foreign journalists were killed in 2021: Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who died in Afghanistan from injuries sustained while covering clashes between Afghan forces and the Taliban in July; and Spanish documentary film crew David Beriain and Roberto Fraile, who were kidnapped and killed in Burkina Faso in April.
Lebanese journalist Lokman Slim – who was murdered in February – was the only confirmed killing in the Middle East and North Africa in 2021, a sharp decrease after record-high levels of journalist deaths in the region over the last decade.

Learn more about CPJ’s 2021 data on killed and imprisoned journalists from our interactive map and annual prison census.

Methodology

CPJ began compiling detailed records on all journalist deaths in 1992. CPJ staff members independently investigate and verify the circumstances behind each death. CPJ considers a case work-related only when its staff is reasonably certain that a journalist was killed in direct reprisal for his or her work; in combat-related crossfire; or while carrying out a dangerous assignment such as covering a protest that turns violent.

If the motives in a killing are unclear, but it is possible that a journalist died in relation to his or her work, CPJ classifies the case as “unconfirmed” and continues to investigate.

CPJ’s list does not include journalists who died of illness or were killed in car or plane accidents unless the crash was caused by hostile action. Other press organizations using different criteria cite different numbers of deaths.

CPJ’s database of journalists killed in 2021 includes capsule reports on each victim and filters for examining trends in the data. CPJ maintains a database of all journalists killed since 1992 and those who have gone missing or are imprisoned for their work.

Jennifer Dunham is CPJ’s deputy editorial director. Prior to joining CPJ, she was research director for Freedom House’s Freedom in the World and Freedom of the Press reports.