(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Defence Alain Richard, RSF protested the restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Defence since 8 October 2001 on the Spot Image company concerning the distribution of satellite images of Afghanistan and its neighbouring countries to the press. “Just as in the United States, the Ministry of Defence […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Defence Alain Richard, RSF protested the restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Defence since 8 October 2001 on the Spot Image company concerning the distribution of satellite images of Afghanistan and its neighbouring countries to the press.
“Just as in the United States, the Ministry of Defence is exercising real censorship by banning access to satellite images of Afghanistan. The military’s seizure of images from non-military satellites deprives media outlets of their monitoring role,” stated RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. “We ask that you afford media outlets the opportunity to access these images and to wholly exercise their obligation to inform,” added Ménard.
According to information collected by RSF, Spot Image is no longer distributing its satellite images of Afghanistan and neighbouring countries (Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, etc., with the exception of China) that were taken before 8 October, the day air strikes on Afghanistan began. “We are… subject to the restrictions set by the Ministry of Defence concerning the distribution and circulation of images in the zone that includes Afghanistan,” Spot Image spokesperson Sandrine Franck-May told Agence France-Presse on 19 October. “We have to submit all the distributed data to our director’s office and to the Ministry of Defence, and we no longer give images to the press. Our only client for images of Afghanistan is the French Ministry of Defence,” she explained. No information was given concerning the duration of the ban.
