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Authorities in Saudi Arabia, Syria and Tunisia prevented four Arab journalists and human rights activists from attending the Arab Free Press Forum, an annual gathering in Beirut, Lebanon organised by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and "An-Nahar" newspaper. The forum, held on 12 and 13 December, examined how independent media can be effective despite widespread repression in the region.
(17 December 2008)
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Several journalists and civil society activists in Kenya were arrested last week while protesting the passage of a new communications bill that would give the authorities sweeping powers, reports the Media Institute (MI).
(17 December 2008)
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Four international bodies that have special mandates on free expression have issued a declaration calling for international organisations to reject the notion of defamation of religion and vague definitions of anti-terrorism, reports ARTICLE 19, the body that brought them together.
(17 December 2008)
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IFEX members have condemned China's quiet return to blocking access to websites that were unrestricted during the Beijing Olympics.
(17 December 2008)
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Amid the Thai authorities' excessive use of defamation laws and laws that restrict media coverage of issues involving the royal family, activists have launched a new civic coalition to promote and protect free expression online, reports the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA).
(17 December 2008)
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The murders of journalists in Bolivia and Mexico and efforts by the Brazilian justice system to put an end to impunity in crimes against the press are the subjects of three new reports published by the Inter American Press Association (IAPA).
(17 December 2008)
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As the world celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights last week, ARTICLE 19 - named after the article in the declaration that protects free expression - aptly celebrated its 20th anniversary. You too can take part in the celebrations, by checking out ARTICLE 19's commemorative book and website, "Speaking Out for Free Expression".
(17 December 2008)
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Human Rights Day, which marks the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is celebrated throughout the world every year on 10 December. Perhaps even more so this milestone year, the 60th anniversary of the declaration. And yet the day was marked in China by the arrests of several human rights activists who were organising activities around the anniversary, report PEN American Center and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
IFEX members and other rights groups are commemorating the occasion by standing up for these activists in China, along with other human rights defenders, journalists and others who speak out for their right to free expression - as enshrined in Article 19 of the declaration - in the face of increasing repression. Here is a sampling of the global events and celebrations.
(10 December 2008)
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Last month, veteran crime reporter José Armando Rodríguez was shot to death at his home in Ciudad Juárez on the Texas border, setting off another round of condemnation from IFEX members about the relentless violence that is stifling critical journalism in Mexico.
(10 December 2008)
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Israel's Ministry of Defence has reinstated a ban on foreign journalists entering the Gaza Strip, despite protests from IFEX members and the heads of major news organisations, and an appeal to the Supreme Court.
(10 December 2008)
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Israel's Ministry of Defence has reinstated a ban on foreign journalists entering the Gaza Strip, despite protests from IFEX members and the heads of major news organisations, and an appeal to the Supreme Court.
(10 December 2008)
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A recent International Press Institute (IPI) mission to Dhaka wheedled a promise from Bangladesh's main political parties to protect media in the run-up to and after the 29 December election.
(10 December 2008)
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In a reflection of the times, more online journalists are jailed around the world than journalists from any other medium, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says in a new report.
(10 December 2008)
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The Thai Journalists Association (TJA), the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) are calling on two warring factions in Thailand to end their targeted attacks on reporters and media outlets and allow all journalists to freely report on the current political crisis.
(03 December 2008)
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A Filipino radio broadcaster who had been receiving death threats was shot dead on 2 December by unknown assailants in the province of Northern Samar, about 500 kilometres south of Manila, report the Center for Media Freedom (CMFR) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). He is the second Radyo Natin (Our Radio) presenter killed in less than a month.
(03 December 2008)
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A reporter who wrote extensively on crime and corruption was gunned down last week in northern India, the third journalist to be killed in eight days, report Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
(03 December 2008)
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The skeleton believed to be that of missing Nepali journalist Jagat Prasad Joshi was found in a wooded area near his home in the west of the country, report the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The press freedom groups fear he may have been murdered.
(03 December 2008)
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The Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights body, approved a treaty on access to information last week, which ignores serious concerns raised by its own parliament as well as ARTICLE 19 and other rights groups.
(03 December 2008)
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The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the European body of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), welcomed last week's defeat in the upper house of Germany's Parliament of an anti-terrorism law that would have given the federal police unprecedented spying powers.
(03 December 2008)
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If the Azeri authorities have their way, this New Year's Eve (31 December) will be the last time major international news organisations the BBC, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and the Voice of America (VOA) will be broadcast on FM radio in Azerbaijan. Join the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) and 24 other IFEX members in condemning the decision, and show your protest by adding a banner to your website.
(03 December 2008)
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Ten years ago on 13 December 1998, Norbert Zongo, a journalist from Burkina Faso, was assassinated.
(03 December 2008)
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Las leyes antiterrorismo se están usando para suprimir el discurso político y polémico en muchas zonas de Europa, encontró un nuevo estudio de Privacidad Internacional. Privacidad Internacional es un miembro provisional de IFEX.
(28 November 2008)
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What do you get for helping survivors of Cyclone Nargis, which tore up Rangoon and the Irrawaddy Delta in May? Extreme jail time, apparently. A popular comedian active in Burma's democracy movement was sentenced to 45 years in jail on 21 November for criticising the junta's slow response to the cyclone, videotaping the damage and organising his own relief efforts - what IFEX members are calling a "historical low point" for free expression in Burma.
(26 November 2008)
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Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should thoroughly and transparently investigate the killing of a journalist from a UN-backed radio station in Bukavu, eastern DRC, the second journalist killed from the station in 17 months, say Journalist in Danger (JED) and other IFEX members.
(26 November 2008)
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Two journalists were killed last week in northeast India, report the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
(26 November 2008)
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Africa