Attacks

In this report, Maharat examines the dynamics of the media war taking place in Lebanon surrounding Israel’s military offensive against Hezbollah. It underscores the importance each conflicting party assigns to media as a tool for psychological warfare.

This report aims to highlight the increasing violations faced by journalists and the impact of these assaults on their freedom and their ability to practice their profession under difficult and complex circumstances.

This SCM study highlights the need for effective mechanisms to address widespread abuses against journalists in Syria.

In September – October of 2024 the IMI recorded 27 crimes against the media and journalists committed by Russia: murder, threats, opening fire on journalists and shelling media offices, cyber attacks, and legal pressure.

This report shows the urgent need to focus on the economic reconstruction of the sector and estimates that $96 million is needed over three years to ensure the future of independent media outlets.

Azerbaijan is carrying out a vicious attack on government critics, independent groups, and media. The crackdown has intensified just months before Azerbaijan is to host COP29, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which opens in Baku on 11 November 2024.

The report ranks all 14 Pacific Island nations according to the state of media freedoms in each country.

Included among the concerns raised is the systematic misuse of the country’s legal system to criminalise critical expression towards the government or its policies.

The report explores in detail the 756 media freedom violations recorded by the MFRR partners in the first half of 2024. These violations affected 1,212 media-related persons or entities. 474 of these alerts were recorded in EU Member States while 282 took place in candidate countries.

The report documents increasing violations, as well as a rise in attacks against journalists, activists, media outlets, students, clergy, artists, and political opponents, among other actors.

Authoritarian governments around the world are restricting freedom of movement in retribution for political activism and dissent, subjecting people to a variety of repressive tactics, including travel bans, revocation of citizenship, confiscation of passports. 

This new study from 7amleh reveals how online harassment and cyber surveillance of young Palestinians has sparked a chilling rise in self-censorship.

OpenMedia’s research report sheds light on dozens of secretive businesses that handle people’s sensitive voting behaviour data on behalf of federal political parties in Canada – with few effective rules limiting their actions.

“The Russian government’s dismantling of civic freedoms since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 is a dramatic escalation of its sustained assault on fundamental rights spanning more than a decade” – HRW

7amleh reveals how the EU legislation contains significant loopholes that could exacerbate human rights violations against Palestinians.

Since 2021, Florida has issued laws and policies that censor and distort the curriculum and educational environment of K-12 classrooms in ways inconsistent with international human rights standards on education, access to information, and discrimination.

Politically Motivated Crackdown on Human Rights Lawyers in Belarus

The report highlights that the rise of the internet has led to an increase in blasphemy prosecutions in Pakistan. The misuse of blasphemy laws has a chilling effect on freedom of expression online. Religious minorities are particularly vulnerable to blasphemy accusations.

On World Poetry Day, PEN International released this report, highlighting challenges for writers in global conflicts and emphasizing the need to safeguard freedom of expression, especially in war-torn regions.

A new joint report found that Mexico’s Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists failed to adequately evaluate risks journalists are facing, implements at times ineffective protective measures and lacks specialized knowledge of challenges to press freedom in Mexico.

The report raises concerns about the use of spyware, SLAPPs and journalists in exile.

An average of 23 violent or hateful pieces of content were published against Palestinians every minute after 7 October, reports 7amleh.

An overview of the threats and dangers posed by AI tech on Palestinians and advocates.

More than three quarters of the 99 journalists and media workers killed worldwide in 2023 died in the Israel-Gaza war, the majority of them Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza. The conflict claimed the lives of more journalists in three months than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year.

Journalists who cover climate and environmental stories are targeted by powerful private and state actors who are willing to go to great lengths to protect their lucrative interests linked to environmentally harmful activities.

“The international system that we rely on to protect human rights is under threat as world leaders look the other way when universal principles of human rights are violated.”

A total 52 incidents of press freedom violations were recorded in 2023, while Freedom Forum’s annual media report shows the severe impact of the economic downturn on Nepali media.

The report provides an overview on the reality of the Israeli surveillance systems industry, outlines its impact on the human rights of Palestinians and implications worldwide.

Journalists living in exile face assault, harassment, and unlawful deportation at the hands of the governments they fled.

In this report, EFF explores a new approach to tackling online harms leaving behind strategies based on ill-conceived bills and censorship-driven solutions.

As we publish the investigations from this project, GCHR’s Journalists’ Protection Coordinator Zaynab Al-Khawaja says, “While working on this project I have been overwhelmed by how much my colleagues on the ground have to face and overcome, and I have been very scared for them.”

When PEN America and Meedan asked writers, journalists, and creators about their experiences reporting online abuse to social media platforms, thet heard again and again, over the past three years, about the deep frustration, exasperation, and harm caused by the reporting mechanisms themselves.

Joint press freedom mission to Greece concludes with a call on the government to show political courage and take specific measures to improve the climate for independent journalism.

The report contains previously unpublished data on the obstacles to press freedom, particularly for local journalists, in the Brazilian Amazon, a region at the heart of the global climate challenge.

As London hosts the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit, ARTICLE 19 releases a new briefing assessing the progress made towards meeting the SDG on freedom of expression and access to information.

Two years after historic July 11 Demonstrations in Cuba, the plight of writers and artists forced Into exile underscores the drastic deterioration of artistic freedom on the island.

This report outlines the volume, nature, and patterns of inflammatory and violent speech in Hebrew directed at the village of Huwara on Twitter between the beginning of the year and the end of March, which contributed to the implementation of a number of attacks by settlers on the villagers and their properties and causing harm to them.

Survey finds that 90% of fact-checking outlets in Europe have been the target of online harassment and smear campaigns.

This report analyses two major incidents: the disclosure that Pegasus spyware has been used against journalists from independent media outlets and representatives of civil society, and Bukele’s legal advisor’s threats against two women journalists for not revealing anonymous sources included in a news story.

A methodology for tracking digital authoritarianism around the world.

The May 11, 2022, killing of Al-Jazeera Arabic correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh is part of a deadly, decades-long pattern. Over 22 years, CPJ has documented at least 20 journalist killings by members of the Israel Defense Forces.

The European Union is facing numerous challenges as it seeks new ways to uphold its commitment to press freedom. This special report examines the EU’s response to threats such as murders of journalists, pandemic-related media controls, spyware, and the war in Ukraine.

Analysis of selected court decisions from across the globe.

Perpetrators from a total of 20 states were responsible for 79 incidents of physical transnational repression last year, including the first documented cases originating in Djibouti and Bangladesh.

Marking 50 years in the struggle for democracy

The report reveals a continued degradation of press freedom across the continent. Throughout 2022, the Platform documented 289 alerts concerning 37 countries, with journalists being murdered, imprisoned, physically attacked, legally harassed, and subjected to smear campaigns.

The study showed that Indonesian female journalists have experienced various forms of sexual violence in the workplace and in the course of fulfilling their duties in the field.

The report examines the use of digital targeting by security forces and its far-reaching offline consequences – including arbitrary detention and torture – in five countries: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia.

Lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ+) women and non-binary people around the world face violence from security forces, family members, and others, along with widespread discrimination that prevents them from building relationships, homes, and families, Human Rights Watch said in the report.

Research carried out by the IPC and the MFWA indicates that the challenges faced by women journalists in doing their work include harassment, sexual advances, threats, and prejudice.

140 media freedom violations were recorded in Ukraine alone, which amount to 17.2% of the total registered in all analysed countries. The war in Ukraine also accounted for nine of the 10 killings of journalists during the year.

In Bahrain, much attention is paid to the victims of torture immediately after the event, but those same victims can sometimes be forgotten when new, equally horrible treatment against equally innocent people comes to light.

A rise in serious violations against journalists last year included the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh and Ghufran Warasneh, documents a new report from Mada Center.

The human rights crisis in Egypt has persisted and even worsened over the last three years, as confirmed by the mid-term report submitted by the Egyptian Taskforce for Human Rights{1} to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism at the United Nations.

This report aims to capture the full complexity of how encryption affects children’s lives. It sets out principles for an approach to encryption that recognises and respects the full range of their rights.

Press freedom violations in Bangladesh, April-September 2022.

A New Model for Global Leadership on Human Rights

Freedom Forum’s annual media report for 2022 states that in total 45 incidents of press freedom violations occurred in Nepal, and 120 journalists were directly affected. Compared to the previous year, the number of violations declined, but the number of affected journalists increased, which the report has noted is a worrying trend.

In a country where the press routinely remains under threat and faces attacks from many fronts, the media in Pakistan operated on slippery grounds in 2022 with a flurry of cases against journalists, television channel closures, charged political rhetoric enabling attacks against the media, overreach by media regulatory bodies and the killing of two journalists, including he brutal murder of one journalist on foreign soil that shook the nation.

This database contains information about journalists who have been killed in connection with their work. This could mean journalists who in IPI’s assessment have been directly targeted in retaliation for their work or journalists who have been killed while reporting, including while covering armed conflict.

A record total of 533 journalists are currently detained worldwide, according to the annual round-up of violence and abuses against journalists published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The number of those killed has increased again this year – to 57– while 65 journalists are being held hostage and 49 are missing.

Summary of IPI Africa Press Freedom Monitoring: October 2022

To build on the current momentum, while advancing support for the international justice system worldwide, Human Rights Watch has set out a “checklist” of five areas for action that all governments can take.

The report tracks gaps in the judicial process for the murder of journalists in Pakistan. PPF found that of the 76 cases where journalists were killed — either in targeted killings or while on assignment — since 2002, there have been convictions in only five instances.

Widespread destruction of Ukraine’s museums, theaters and libraries, the persecution of writers and artists, and other attacks against Ukrainian heritage expose the breadth of Russia’s attempts to erase the country’s cultural identity as a tactic of war, according to this report by PEN America and PEN Ukraine.

This report takes stock of progress made towards accountability for the killing and injuring of protesters and activists committed during, and in the wake of, the 2019-2020 uprising across central and southern Iraq.

Gender-based violence has seen a dramatic increase in the Palestinian digital space over the last several years, reveals this new report from 7amleh.

The Unfreedom Monitor is a project to analyze, document, and report on the growing use of digital communications technology to advance authoritarian governance around the world.

This report was written against the backdrop of the need to better understand the dynamics of impunity and the factors that contribute to solving cases of journalist murders on the domestic level. Although cases of full justice are scarce, they demonstrate that justice can be achieved.

A report published by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights to mark the International Day to End Impunity

No one has been held to account in nearly 80% of journalist murders during the last 10 years, CPJ’s 2022 Global Impunity Index found, and governments show little interest in tackling the issue.

The report captures growing anxiety among artists and creative practitioners across South, Southeast, East, and Central Asia around stringent security laws, the lack of unencumbered spaces for free expression, and the impact of authoritarian measures to crack down on artistic production and criminalize free expression.

Bahrain death sentences follow torture, sham trials.

A new report from Freedom House highlights the Beijing government’s global campaign to shape public opinion and secure both its hold on power in China and its policy priorities abroad.

The report by the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, contains victim accounts that substantiate mass arbitrary detention, torture, cultural persecution, forced labor, and other serious human rights violations, and recommends that states, businesses, and the international community take action with a view to ending the abuses, and advancing justice and accountability.

ARTICLE 19 points out various aspects of the Brazilian electoral process, analyzing the many challenges the country faces from now until October 2022, and then after the elections and the transition, with the recurring threats to the reputation and integrity of the elections made by government officials and members of the armed forces.

With almost all independent media institutions eradicated, Cambodian people have been forced to rely largely on social media and other online platforms to access news and information.

Human Rights Watch documents a range of tactics that, when used together, form an ecosystem of repression, aiming not only to muzzle dissenting voices but to scare off all potential critics.

The report shows how leading pro-government TV anchors and state-controlled media in Egypt are used to launch and then amplify smear campaigns against the few journalists still critical of the government.

Following a visit to Ukraine from 24 May to 3 June to investigate Ukrainian photojournalist Maks Levin’s death, RSF is releasing a report with information and evidence indicating that Levin and his friend and bodyguard were executed by Russian soldiers in a forest near Kyiv on 13 March, possibly after being interrogated and even tortured.

Drawing on interviews with Rohingya and humanitarian workers from 2012 to the present, Human Rights Watch documents how the authorities have capitalized on the ethnic cleansing campaign launched in June 2012 to segregate and confine a population they had long sought to remove from daily life in the predominantly Buddhist country.

Physical transnational repression is only the tip of an iceberg. Digital threats, spyware, and coercion by proxy means that – for millions of people around the world – transnational repression has become a common and institutionalised practice.

Freedom Forum published its annual World Press Freedom Day report which highlighted the attacks against journalists in Nepal over the past year.

The guide was developed in response to the growing threat of digital surveillance and cyber security legislation, used by governments and others to track and monitor journalists in their efforts to harass and muzzle journalists from carrying out their work.

Efforts to Ban Gender and Sexuality Education in Brazil

A mission to Iraq found that human rights defenders, journalists and activists still hold onto hope for an end to the extreme human rights violations, but urgently need international support to help promote human rights, press freedom and accountability.

The report examines how Iranian authorities systematically violate people’s right to protest and assemble, deceive and lie about the violations they commit, and unlawfully keep people seeking transparency and accountability in the dark.

Maharat Foundation and Madanyat Association work with UN Women to monitor television and social media1 concerning violence against women in politics in the period prior to the 2022 parliamentary elections. This summary provides a quick overview of the findings during the months of February and March.

This report from the Cambodian Center for Human Rights outlines the state of freedom of expression, press freedom, and access to information in Cambodia during the first year of the pandemic.

The government has repeatedly bent to pressure from powerful interest groups, including those who advocate the use of violence on the basis of religion, and in doing so has not protected freedom of speech and religion, and the rights of at-risk communities. Police investigations into targeted attacks have stalled, largely because those responsible enjoy political protection.

Writers and public intellectuals have been unjustly locked up for their exercise of free expression; dozens are currently serving sentences of 10 years or more for their words.

The democratic revolution in West Africa over the past three decades has come under a strain in the past few years with serious implications for press freedom and the civic space.

While the presence of women writers and columnists in literature and journalism continues to be a minority in these countries, this reality is changing: new generations of women writers, whether poets, short story writers, journalists or novelists, are making their voices heard more day by day.

According to the BCHR Annual Report, the human rights situation did not improve in 2021. The authorities are still intolerant to dissent and criticism and restrict Bahrainis’ exercise of internationally-guaranteed fundamental rights.

Report of the 1-15 December 2021 joint fact-finding mission. The partner organisations conclude that challenges to the independence of the media and the safety of journalists are systemic in the country. While the problems are not unique, their intensity is highly problematic and sets it apart from most other EU Member States.

This report issued by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) documents over a dozen cases of torture in Iraqi prisons, which are described as some of the most horrific prisons in the world, where continuous torture practices take place in the absence of any effective government measures to prevent or at least limit them.

The 2021 report recorded 51 recorded cases of harassment against 93 journalists (including 5 women); 32 journalists were arrested, 10 journalists face other legal actions and 18 experienced violence and harassment.

This report, supported by UNESCO’s Global Media Defense Fund, provides an overview of violence against women journalists and gender-based attacks on communicators in Brazil in 2021.

A Safer World For The Truth investigation. The murder of Gerry Ortega is indicative of structural problems concerning the safety of journalists in the Philippines; while the hitmen are often arrested, the powerful masterminds behind the killings of journalists often evade justice.

The report is the outcome of an unprecedented comparative analysis of the protective mechanisms in four countries – Mexico, Honduras, Colombia and Brazil – where 90% of the murders of journalists in the past decade took place.

The guide takes readers on a journey all too familiar to many Syrians, from the immediate aftermath of a loved one’s disappearance – and the frantic search for answers – through the painful process of settling the disappeared person’s affairs.

Attacked while covering demonstrations, harassed online for reporting on COVID�19 and measures to fight it, or sued by private companies trying to avoid publication of damaging information. These are just some examples of the threats received by journalists and media workers in Europe in 2021.

This report documents the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration’s misuse of the PTA against the minority Tamil and Muslim communities, and to suppress civil society groups.

“This report, which is rich with documented facts and detailed case studies, confirms that torture in the UAE is systematic. Furthermore, as a totalitarian state, torture is carried out on direct instructions from the highest authorities in the country.”

The Alliance of Independent Journalists releases its annual report on the state of media freedom in Indonesia. It documented 43 cases of violence against journalists throughout 2021.

PEN America’s report explores the creative response to the February 2021 coup in Myanmar and the brutal retaliation by the military.

According to the RSF annual round-up published today, a record number of journalists – 488, including 60 women – are currently detained worldwide, while another 65 are being held hostage.

Ten years on, the pro-democracy movement leaders are still behind bars, the major opposition political parties are outlawed, and the only independent newspaper in the country is indefinitely suspended. The Government of Bahrain’s (GoB) crackdown on free expression is in full force, as well as attempts to intimidate its critics into silence.

Journalists in most MENA countries continue to face all forms of repression, intimidation, and harassment, including the use of the judiciary to prevent them from carrying out their professional journalistic work. The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has documented many cases of journalists murdered or abused, most carried out with total impunity.

The space for free expression in Pakistan continues to shrink with the media facing attacks on all fronts. Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) has observed an alarming trend during 2021 where not only did physical attacks against the media continue with impunity but the state level push to restrict free expression also grew.

The media in Pakistan works within an increasingly repressive environment with the attacks on press freedom coming from all fronts. While physical attacks including abductions, manhandling, arrests and in some instances killings of journalists for their work continue, as online spheres such as social media platforms are of growing importance to the work of media professionals, journalists become the subject of attacks online.

No one has been held to account in 81% of journalist murders during the last 10 years, CPJ’s 2021 Global Impunity Index has found.

The study indicates a noticeable increase in the use of hate speech among Palestinians on social media platforms, influenced by events and tensions in regional politics, as well as by global events generally. Hate speech is influenced by internal disturbances and changes in the Palestinian scene, particularly at the social and political levels, whether In the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, or in the 1948 territories.

This report by the Free Media Movement provides an overview of the state of media freedom in Sri Lanka in 2020.

In the high-stakes battle between states and technology companies, the rights of internet users have become the main casualties. A growing number of governments are asserting their authority over tech firms, often forcing the businesses to comply with online censorship and surveillance.

This Bytes for All report maps Pakistan’s internet landscape highlighting digital trends and their impact on socio-economic developments, as well as challenges and threats in the digital age during 2019-20.

The report describes the types of violence and threats journalists encounter, along with the nature and frequency of different types of violations.

Around 80 cases of political and civil rights violations were documented by Globe International Center in its latest media freedom report in Mongolia.

Despite credible and consistent evidence that Bangladesh security forces routinely commit enforced disappearances, the ruling Awami League has ignored calls by donor governments, the UN, human rights organizations, and civil society to address the culture of impunity.

Throughout the reporting period of May-June 2021, the government continued its verbal commitment to reform and introduced a set of legislative changes. But in practice, thanks to repressive government policies combined with discriminatory practices of politicized public institutions and judicial violations, the situation of freedom of expression and the media deteriorated further.

The last six years have been extremely repressive for the media in Nigeria as impunity reached a new high under  President Muhammadu Buhari. About 300 press freedom violations including the unresolved killings of seven journalists were recorded over the period.

• Almost half of women respondents had been sexually harassed at work (47%). • Women were twice as likely to experience sexual harassment at work than men. • Only 30% of cases of sexual harassment were ever reported to management.

The Slovenian government of Prime Minister Janez Janša is overseeing an increasingly systematic effort to undermine critical media, a coalition of press freedom organisations and journalism groups warn in this report.

In the five years since the coup attempt, dozens of writers, artists, and other creatives have been targeted, prosecuted, and jailed by Turkish authorities.

Digital sex crimes are crimes involving non-consensual intimate images. These crimes are a form of gender-based violence, using digital images that are captured non-consensually and sometimes shared, captured with consent but shared non-consensually, or sometimes faked.

As the Expression Interrupted platform, which has been operating as part of the Platform for Independent Journalism (P24) since 2017, we present our first periodic report with the aim of sharing the results of our efforts to track violations of freedom of expression and the press in Turkey with the general public more effectively.

The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 further threatened the already precarious safety of journalists and media sustainability challenges in West Africa. Despite the obvious risks and challenges, journalists and other media workers navigated partial and full lockdowns to gather news about the coronavirus disease and filed reports often using unstable internet connections, to keep the public informed.

A new report by Aliansi Jurnalis Independen Indonesia looks into the impact of the pandemic on the welfare of journalists. The report also explored the state of press freedom in Papua.

This report looks into the legal status, structure, formation mechanisms, and performance of four bodies to determine their shortcomings and to explain why they have not been able to achieve a noticeable improvement in the human rights scene in Bahrain – namely, the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), the Prisoners and Detainees Rights Commission (PDRC), the Office of the Ombudsman at the Ministry of the Interior (MOI Ombudsman), and the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR).

The 19th Annual South Asia Press Freedom report goes inside the key media issues of the Covid-19 pandemic and documents the stories of struggle, courage and resistance of a media industry in crisis and under attack on economic and political fronts in almost every country of the region.

The report reviews ten years of violations against media and media professionals (from March 2011 until the end of 2020), and presents the implications of the conflict for media freedom and the impact on the work of the media.

IFEX member Globe International Center has released its annual report which details the activities, campaigns, and programs it implemented in 2020.

PEN America’s Writers at Risk Database is a searchable catalog of the writers, journalists, artists, academics, and public intellectuals under threat around the world. The database includes historical cases PEN America has worked on from 1987 onwards; non-active cases are color-coded black.

The Ministry of the Interior, through the prison administration, continues to discriminate among prisoners, based on the prisoner’s background and the reasons for imprisonment.

Hate speech has long been pervasive in Pakistani society, especially directed towards individuals and groups belonging to minority faiths (and those of no faith). Those not following the majority’s Sunni faith, are given different titles and labels while several stereotypes are associated with different faiths, sects and religions, including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis, Sikhs and Shias. However, when it comes to online spaces where more and more people are joining different social media platforms to express their views and share their opinions (or those of others whom they support), these labels, titles and stereotypes get hugely amplified, attracting widespread attention across whole communities.

Drawing on first-hand witness statements by survivors of torture, the report is a comprehensive study on the specific ways and means by which torture is perpetrated in Bahrain, with a particular focus on the period since the 2011 popular movement and the violent crackdown that followed.

The Arab Spring erupted a decade ago, yet the reasons behind this wave of uprisings remain unaddressed. The Arab Spring’s aftermath continues to ripple across the region, even in Tunisia, the only country that had progressed to democratic transition. These ripple effects have coalesced into unique forms, depending on the country. In countries such as Egypt, political repression has deepened, while the struggle over societal values are simply surface indicators of deeply entrenched issues. Meanwhile, armed conflict prevails in Yemen, Libya, Syria, and Iraq, where civil society has embraced a heroic role in its traditional and modern forms of organization. In Tunisia, Sudan, and Lebanon, where there is relative freedom, the political frontlines are clearer.

In this annual report, GCHR presents a summary of our e#orts in advocating for HRDs, activists, journalists and citizens in exercising their human rights and freedoms and protecting these rights in the region.

This paper by the Cambodian Center for Independent Media surveys the challenges facing journalists in Cambodia and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on media reporting.

To mark International Women’s Day, RSF has published this report that reveals the extent of the dangers of sexist and sexual violence for women journalists, and its impact on journalism.

The conclusions outlined in this report reflect the findings of the recent joint press freedom mission to Poland carried out between November and December 2020 by the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR).

The Global Scale and Scope of Transnational Repression

The information presented in this report is the first public account of Mansoor’s trial proceedings. It is based on statements from a source with direct knowledge of Mansoor’s case and it demonstrates the gross unfairness of both Mansoor’s trial and his appeal hearing– and how little the rule of law matters in the UAE when the country’s powerful state security agency is involved.

In creating this manual, ARC aspires to offer concrete recommendations and provide a comprehensive tool kit to help artists navigate, counter, and overcome threats and persecution.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has tallied 50 cases of journalists killed in connection with their work in 2020 (from 1 January to 15 December).

Freedom Forum recorded a total of 96 press freedom violations during 2020. Although the number of violations declined slightly compared to the previous year (111 in 2019), the country still awaits an improvement in the press freedom atmosphere.

In 2020 Pakistani media was confronted with unique new challenges, both in terms of content to cover as well as in the nature of the measures restricting press freedom and the free flow of information in the country.

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, celebrated on 25 November, BCHR issued this report which seeks to address the deterioration of the human rights situation in Bahrain, particularly concerning women.

Journalists in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region continue to face grave violations of their civil and human rights, including murder by governments or armed groups, usually with total impunity. Countries such as Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen continue to be classified among the most dangerous places for journalists.

Incremental progress toward reducing the murders of journalists worldwide is fragile and could be thwarted by legal appeals and lack of political leadership, CPJ found in its latest report on impunity in retaliatory media killings.

The protesters’ complaints about the government’s anti-democratic nature have been underscored by the authorities’ response to the protests. The government has harassed and obstructed protest organisers at every turn. At least 173 individuals have been charged because of their role in protests this year.

The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled a crisis for democracy around the world. Since the coronavirus outbreak began, the condition of democracy and human rights has grown worse in 80 countries.

Media networks have faced closing operations, job losses, and a weakened watchdog role for independent media. This report details the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the state of media in Nepal.

More than 50 human rights groups have written to the UN’s Special Rapporteurs on freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, and human rights in Belarus over disruptions to the internet that took place during the presidential elections.

Press freedom has clearly become a key issue for Australians. MEAA’s third annual press freedom survey has found that when asked if press freedom in Australia had got better or worse over the past decade, an overwhelming 98% of respondents said it had got worse, compared to 90.9% in 2019.

The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented lockdown to protect citizens in almost all countries in the world is enormous. Apart from the economic, political and societal consequences, it exposes and exacerbates all inequalities that existed before and it discriminates more against those who were already marginalized.

Writers and intellectuals are often among the canaries in the coal mine who, alongside journalists and human rights activists, are first targeted when a country takes a more authoritarian turn.

The October 17 uprising in Lebanon – fueled by rampant corruption and the country’s worst economic crisis since the end of the civil war in 1990 – has sparked a newfound collective consciousness  where the rights and identities of marginalized groups are part and parcel of the protests.

Given the emergence and spread of COVID-19, it is all the more critical that we have access to news and information that we trust and can help in understanding the crisis and what is required to protect ourselves, as well as independent information on how our government is responding to the pandemic.

A s the novel coronavirus made a deadly sweep across the globe from the beginning of 2020, governments in South Asia tightened their iron grip over the media and democratic institutions.

A study on the conditions of prisons in Bahrain from 2011 to 2020, and it includes a commentary on the violated rights of prisoners, the most dangerous of which is the denial of treatment.

The Committee to Protect Journalists submitted a call to several U.N. special mandate holders encouraging them to join CPJ’s effort to secure the release of all jailed journalists globally in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

In this study, incidents related freedom of opinion and expression are documented in three categories: oppression campaigns against freedom of opinion and expression; freedom of expression is the weapon of the revolution; and, media institutions amidst the revolution

A brief reading of human rights trends in the Arab region.

Online media at receiving end; press freedom violation highest in seven years according to the 2019 report of Freedom Forum

IMPUNITY, JOURNALIST SAFETY AND WORKING CONDITIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA

The use of disproportionate, excessive force to disperse protests in violent repeated crackdowns, without ensuring that security operations pose a minimal risk to life, according to many people Human Rights Watch interviewed, was a deliberate attempt to intimidate the movement and break the resolve of protesters.

Identify, Expose and Hold Accountable those responsible for past crimes to prevent future crimes and protect journalists in the region

Across Africa, governments and nongovernmental political actors repeatedly deploy tactics to interfere with users’ rights to freedom of expression and access to information online, particularly during events of major political significance.

Between January 2017 and January 2019, about a dozen journalists in Cameroon were arrested, intimidated or threatened by state and non-state actors in the country. This was largely as a result of ongoing unrests in the country’s Anglophone regions who have accused the government of discrimination with regard to state policies and infrastructure.

Repressive governments use sophisticated digital censorship and surveillance alongside more traditional methods to silence independent media. A special report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The annual report of the Hong Kong Journalists Association documents events in the past 12 months related to freedom of expression and the press in the city.

A report documenting human rights violations committed by the regime in 2018.

The mission sought to gather information about challenges to freedom of expression and press freedom in Albania and bring concerns directly to Albanian government representatives.

Freedom Forum’s press freedom report from May 2018 to April 2019

A comprehensive look at the core security agency driving Bahrain’s human rights crisis, Anatomy of a Police State is the first full study of the Ministry of Interior (MOI) police force’s integral role in the kingdom’s repression of dissent.

Informe sobre el estado de la libertad de prensa en Colombia 2018

In 2018, Freedom in the World recorded the 13th consecutive year of decline in global freedom. The reversal has spanned a variety of countries in every region, from long-standing democracies like the United States to consolidated authoritarian regimes like China and Russia. The overall losses are still shallow compared with the gains of the late 20th century, but the pattern is consistent and ominous. Democracy is in retreat.

Freedom Forum recorded a total of 98 press freedom violations that directly affected at least 223 journalists in 2018.

Organized crime knows no borders, scorns the rule of law in democracies, and leaves little choice to journalists, who have limited resources and are extremely vulnerable. The only choice for reporters is often to say nothing or risk their lives.

Thirty-five violations were recorded in 12 countries with Nigeria recording the highest number. The findings show a slight reduction in the cases of violations compared to the previous quarter (April June, 2018) which recorded 40 violations.

Arbitrary Arrest and Torture Under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas

Civil society leaders in Egypt are urging the U.S. government to continue to condition and withhold military aid to Egypt until the Egyptian government makes meaningful reforms to its human rights practices.

The Indonesian press has not been free from violence and abuse against journalists. There were more than 60 cases recorded from 2017 to March 2018, with at least 20 percent of the cases involving women journalists.

In recent years, press freedom organizations have become increasingly concerned by the challenges faced by the media in the United States (US).

Hostility against the press continues to rise.

Despite state-sponsored repression and social stigma, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the Middle East and North Africa are finding ways to speak out. They are telling their stories, building alliances, networking across borders, developing national and regional movements, and finding creative ways to combat homophobia and transphobia.

The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) documented during March 2018 a total of 46 violations against media freedom in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

In view of the examination of Guatemala before the Human Rights Committee in March 2018, the Centre for Informative Reports on Guatemala (CERIGUA), with the support of IFEX and the International Network for Human Rights (RIDH), produced an alternative report on the aforementioned issues covering the time- period between 2012 and February 2018, the month in which this report was completed.

Cambodia’s facade of media freedom collapsed in 2017. Authorities shut- tered 32 radio stations carrying opposition, U.S.-funded or independent content,1 hit often-critical media outlets with tax investigations that closed down newsrooms, and threatened and arrested journalists for “incitement” and “espionage” amid heated rhetoric that claimed foreign agents were attempting to topple the government.

Covering women’s issues does not come without danger. A female editor was murdered for denouncing a sexist policy. A reporter was imprisoned for interviewing a rape victim. A woman reporter was physically attacked for defending access to tampons, while a female blogger was threatened online for criticizing a video game. For International Women’s Day, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) wants to turn the spotlight on violence against journalists covering these issues. This report does not address the status of women journalists, equal employment of women in journalism or sexist (or non-sexist) attitudes in the media. These issues have been widely covered and debated elsewhere. This report focuses specifically on threats and violence against both men and women reporters covering women’s rights.

Freedom Forum recorded a total of 66 press freedom violations during this passing year 2017, which is a sharp rise compared to the previous year, 2016. Only 25 incidents were recorded in 2016.

According to Freedom Forum, anti-press incidents have declined in Nepal since April 2017 but the policy environment is still regressive.

Freedom Forum monitored FoE during the elections as it concerns citizens’ freedom of expression through the ballot box. Therefore, any action creating an unfavourable atmosphere for the elections is also a violation of freedom of expression.

A recent HKJA survey indicates a slight rise in the Hong Kong Press Freedom Index after two consecutive years of decline. Journalists on the ground believe that the situation has worsened in 2016, compared to the year before. HKJA chairperson Sham Yee-lan explained that the slight increase in the Press Freedom Index was likely to be related to the emergence of online media, which has led to some diversity in the industry.

This investigation focuses on the techniques, tools and culture of Kenyan police and intelligence agencies’ communications surveillance practices.

This report presents the findings of a three-month study focused on mapping, observing and analysing online harassment of journalists in Hungary. The study aimed to identify the types of harassment journalists are subject to, which journalists are typically harassed, who the harassers are, and how journalists cope with harassment.

Cuando hablamos de libertades en este in- forme no nos referimos solamente a valo- res abstractos que por lo general se nos ha dicho que debemos defender. Más bien, lo que narramos son historias de trabajo que se desenvuelven en el día a día y que están resistiendo a esas condiciones permanentes de marginación, opacidad y agresión.

Combining both violent and nonviolent methods, the Communist Party’s policies are designed to curb the rapid growth of religious communities and eliminate certain beliefs and practices, while also harnessing aspects of religion that could serve the regime’s political and economic interests.

A series of repressive attacks against rights and human rights defenders

Many journalists increasingly practice self-censorship, fearing retribution from security forces, military intelligence, and militant groups. Media outlets in 2016 remained under pressure to avoid reporting on or criticising human rights violations in counterterrorism operations. The Taliban and other armed groups threatened media outlets and targeted journalists and activists for their work.

Chinese authorities’ enforced disappearance of critics from Hong Kong and other countries in 2016 garnered headlines globally. Beijing’s decision to interfere in a politically charged court case in Hong Kong in November undermined judicial independence and the territory’s autonomy. In the ethnic minority regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, Beijing continued its highly repressive rule, curtailing political activity and many peaceful expressions of ethnic and religious identity.

Bangladesh witnessed a spate of violent attacks against secular bloggers, academics, gay rights activists, foreigners, and members of religious minorities in 2016. Several laws were proposed during the year to increase restrictions on freedom of expression.

2016 was the bloodiest year for journalists since 2001; 12 were killed in the first nine months of the year. Access to information has yet to be implemented satisfactorily.

Freedom Forum observed a relatively peaceful atmosphere for the media this year (2016) with a significant decline in the number of press freedom violations. FF recorded only 25 incidents of press freedom violations during 2016 versus 83 in 2015.

Pakistan is among the countries that do not properly investigate and prosecute crimes against media professionals. Because of the near absolute level of impunity, most of the people who attack, injure or even murder media journalists in Pakistan remain free.

This research report documents human rights issues faced by transgender women in Cambodia’s urban centres, and recommends actions to secure their rights to equality, dignity, health and security.

2016 is a highly significant year for Cambodian democracy. Looking back, 2016 marks 25 years since the conclusion of the Paris Peace Agreements (the “Paris Agreements”), which brought an end to 20 years of conflict in the Kingdom of Cambodia (“Cambodia”) and laid the framework for a political settlement based on human rights and liberal democracy; looking forward, 2016 marks the unofficial start of the lead‐up to the local and national elections in 2017 and 2018, respectively, as political actors across the spectrum begin to position themselves.

In the 27 cases of journalists murdered for their work in India since CPJ began keeping records in 1992, there have been no convictions. More than half of those killed reported regularly on corruption. The cases of Jagendra Singh, Umesh Rajput, and Akshay Singh, who died between 2011 and 2015, show how small-town journalists face greater risk in their reporting than those from larger outlets, and how India’s culture of impunity is leaving the country’s press vulnerable to threats and attacks

Latin America is, by far, the most dangerous region of the world for environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs). The lack of effective guarantees of human rights protection in Latin American States has created this dire situation.

Violence against journalists in Europe increased in the second quarter of 2016, reports submitted to Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom platform show, as a government crackdown in Turkey intensified and protests turned violent in countries from France to Finland.

Somalia’s journalists have long been forced to work under difficult and dangerous circumstances, and the year 2015 offered them no respite.

Media under the chilling effect of political unrest

With the environment now recognized as a major challenge for humankind, Reporters Without Borders believes that particular attention should be paid to the journalists who take greats risk to investigate sensitive, environment-related subjects. The report highlights a steady deterioration in the situation for environmental reporters, who are increasingly exposed to many kinds of pressure, threats and violence.

In 2014 Cambodian journalists increasingly found themselves in the news, as reporters faced injury and even death for covering the news. 2014 proved the deadliest year for Cambodian journalists since the political turmoil of 1997, with two Cambodian journalists confirmed murdered in relation to their work and a third, foreign journalist found dead under suspicious circumstances.

Press freedom in the Philippines continued to be under attack from 2014 to 2015. The killing of journalists is continuing, with four journalists killed from May 2014 to May 2015. The trial of the accused masterminds of the Ampatuan (Maguindanao) Massacre and their supposed henchmen is continuing, but with a primary accused was released, while a witness in the same case was killed.

The first months of 2014 saw a continuation of the political unrest that rocked the capital city of Phnom Penh in the months following the disputed July 2013 national elections. Political protests continued throughout the city in 2014 as the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) boycotted its National Assembly seats over alleged widespread irregularities in the previous year’s election, which maintained control of the legislative body under the Cambodian People’s Party, and its long-ruling leader Prime Minister Hun Sen, who in 2014 marked 30 years as head of state.

As the election looms for later this year, incidents in 2014 and in early 2015 involving the press raises serious questions on the genuineness of media freedom in Burma. The situation is alarming as the state seems to have heaped all the faults and fines on the media in the past year, which has seen a media worker being killed in October on the pretext of national security. International assistance has poured into the country to develop the media aimed at lifting and sustaining the state of media freedom. However, a viable press freedom environment seems unlikely to materialise in Burma before the end of this administration.

Among other developments, civil society organisations remained deeply concerned at the lack of protection provided by authorities for activists and journalists

Highly publicized murders of journalists heighten awareness of the grave dangers that reporters and photographers face around the world. Less widely known are the myriad other risks to journalists, including imprisonment, cyberattacks, harassment, frivolous lawsuits, and censorship.

The media in Tripura is still dependent on the government for financial help, giving them an unprecedented upper hand to control press freedom in the state. As long as the political party in power is satisfied, the media is deemed to be okay otherwise there is an incredible pressure on the journalists as they have to not only endure insults but also face demotion in rank as well as being refused accreditation. – See more at: https://samsn.ifj.org/media-in-north-eastern-state-of-tripura/#sthash.0GypROMb.dpuf

Despite protecting human rights defenders (“HRDs”) falling under the protection of legally binding international instruments, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”), many HRDs in the Kingdom of Cambodia (“Cambodia”) remain at high risk of a plethora of threats including arbitrary arrest and detention, physical violence and murder, and threats and intimidation and harassment.

Journalists reporting on corruption were prone to more threats in 2014, Freedom Forum found

Political intolerance, activities of fundamentalists and drug trafficking groups, government impunity, and the continued existence and application of repressive speech laws, continue to limit FoE rights in many countries of the region.

The year under review has been the darkest for press freedom for several decades, with the media coming under relentless assault from several directions. There have been attacks on journalists, sackings and personnel changes affecting critical personalities and the withdrawal of advertising, which places pressure on the editorial integrity of publications.

This report documents 45 cases from Caracas and three states, involving more than 150 victims, in which security forces have abused the rights of protesters and other people in the vicinity of demonstrations.

There has been some improvement in the state of press freedom, reports Freedom Forum. At the same, the State’s strict vigilance of new media is disappointing

Journalism in South Asia is far from an easy profession, as the 12th annual review of journalism in the region “The Campaign for Justice: Press Freedom in South Asia 2013-14” portrays. But this year’s report also tells the story of the courage of South Asia’s journalists to defend press freedom and to ensure citizens’ right to information and freedom of expression in the face of increasing challenges to the profession and personal safety.

The report details violent protests by opposition activists who called for an election boycott. In response, the government unleashed a brutal crackdown.

RWB report is being published ahead of the presidential election scheduled for 5 April. It is the fruit of a fact-finding visit to the northern provinces of Parwan, Kapisa and Panjshir in September 2013

The Turkish authorities severely restricted the right to freedom of expression of journalists and writers during and after the Gezi Park protests in 2013, English PEN and PEN International said in their joint report.

The report is the first created by the South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) looking specifically at the experience of women journalists in the South Asia sub-region

This factsheet provides an overview of the recent rubbish collectors’ protests and subsequent negotiations with garbage collection company CINTRI. The strike for an increased minimum wage and improved working conditions went ahead in spite of the current ban on all demonstrations, assemblies and marches, and remained peaceful, despite heavy military police presence

New investigations are needed into cases of violence against journalists and those at risk need immediate protection, according to a new ARTICLE 19 report.

Russia is the sixth deadliest country in the world for journalists in the last 16 years. Moreover, as impunity for attacks on journalists in Russia remains the general rule and the vast majority of cases remain unsolved, the true tally could be even higher.

The report examines the growing perils of journalism in Syria, analyzing the evolution in the dangers and identifying the origins of the threats and difficulties that Syrian and foreign news provider have encountered during the 32 months of the conflict.

CMFR has issued a monograph report on the issues of journalists’ safety, from the perspective of owners/their representatives. The report included discussions on how the owners see their responsibilities and their capacity to provide protection, the problems and what they perceive to be the most serious challenge to the protection of journalists

This joint submission by ARTICLE 19, IPA, SEAPA, PEN International and others focuses on Cambodia’s compliance with its international human rights obligations in respect to freedom of expression

The report by ARTICLE 19 and the Cambodian Center for Human Rights is part of the larger CCHR Human Rights Defenders Project, which aims to complement and reinforce the existing civil society network in support of human rights defenders at risk

As political turmoil continues between Islamists and secularists in Bangladesh, the climate for press freedom is rapidly deteriorating. The tensions stem from an ongoing war crimes tribunal tasked with prosecuting genocide, crimes against humanity, and other crimes dating back to the 1971 war of independence.

Documenting human rights abuses during the pro-democracy movement

South Sudan’s government should investigate and prosecute attacks on protesters, activists, and journalists, Human Rights Watch says.

Incidents of verbal and physical harassment of journalists were some of the human rights abuses recorded by Human Rights Watch in Croatia in 2012.

Incidents of verbal and physical harassment of journalists were some of the human rights abuses recorded by Human Rights Watch in Serbia in 2012.

Crisis in East Africa