Impunity

When intimidation, threats, attacks and murders go unpunished, resulting in a climate of injustice and insecurity for those exercising their right to free expression.

1693 articles
Indian journalists hold placards during a 17 January 2016 protest in Mumbai against an attack on journalists in New Delhi, AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool

The road to resilience: Press freedom in South Asia 2015-16 report

Thirty-one journalists, bloggers and media workers were killed in South Asia in the period under review (May 2015 to April 2016) with India emerging as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists.

Link to: Honduras journalist survives two attacks in one day

Honduras journalist survives two attacks in one day

Radio journalist Felix Molina said that he was twice accosted by armed assailants while travelling by taxi on Monday. He was hospitalised with non-life-threatening injuries following the second incident, in which he was shot twice in each leg.

People look at the wreckage of a car at the scene of an explosion where a local journalist Yusuf Keynan was killed in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, 21 June 2014, REUTERS/Feisal Omar

“Like fish in poisonous waters”: Report documents attacks on Somali journalists

Al-Shabab has targeted journalists as part of its campaign against the Somali government and for reporting deemed unfavorable. Government authorities have failed to adequately investigate and prosecute those responsible for abuses, leaving journalists to live in fear.

Anonymous collective GreatFire received an award from Index on Censorship on 13 April 2016 for its work related to fighting Internet censorship in China.

Free expression updates from Asia-Pacific: April

In the April round-up: horrific attacks against secularists in Bangladesh, journalists arrested while protesting criminal defamation in the Maldives, crackdown on opposing voices in Cambodia, plus advocacy, awards and much more.

Copies of the "South China Morning Post" and other newspapers are sold at a news stand in Hong Kong, 11 December 2015, AP Photo/Kin Cheung

Beijing’s invisible hand reaches ever deeper into Hong Kong media

RSF is publishing a report about media freedom in Hong Kong, where self-censorship and editorial interference have been growing steadily in recent years and where another newspaper editor was summarily dismissed two weeks ago.

UN General Assembly

Free expression groups call on UN to appoint Special Representative for the Safety of Journalists

34 IFEX members are supporting RSF’s initiative to create the position of a Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for the Safety of Journalists.

Children hold candles during a rally by Uganda's opposition parties in memory of the nine people who died during a government crackdown on protesters taking part in the "walk to work" campaign in Masaka town, Uganda, 10 August 2011, REUTERS/James Akena

Five years on, still no justice for ‘walk to work’ killings

The government of Uganda has utterly failed to hold security forces accountable for nine killings during protests in April 2011. Families of those killed have tried – unsuccessfully – to push for justice and seek compensation.

In this 21 October 2006 file photo, a Honduran indigenous woman prays at a ritual for the earth and water during a rally against the planned construction of the El Tigre reservoir, 300 km north of Tegucigalpa, AP Photo/Edgard Garrido

Why Honduras is the most dangerous place in the world to defend the environment

The assassination of prominent environmental activist Berta Cáceres has demonstrated that anyone who opposes the powerful interests in Honduras is in serious danger. How did we get here?

Link to: Council of Europe adopts guidelines to protect journalists

Council of Europe adopts guidelines to protect journalists

The guidelines contain specific measures to be taken by states to prevent violations of media freedom – including physical violence against journalists – to effectively protect journalism and journalists, and to prosecute crimes committed against them.

President Enrique Peña Nieto, REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

Mexico must defend its human rights defenders from smear campaign

In the face of a smear campaign against human rights defenders in Mexico, IFEX asks President Nieto to speak out in support.

A month after he was injured in an attack, journalist Hamid Mir waves to a woman as he leaves the Supreme Court in Islamabad, 19 May 2014, AP Photo/Anjum Naveed

Pakistani group calls for release of official report into 2014 attack against journalist Hamid Mir

PPF appealed to the Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Pakistan, to direct the concerned authorities to clarify if the leaked report on the 2014 attack on a journalist is authentic, and if it is to release it officially along with all annexures and appendixes.

On 7 April 2016, students protest in Dhaka seeking the arrest of three motorcycle-riding assailants who killed student activist Nazimuddin Samad, AP Photo

Global calls for Bangladesh to investigate killing of student targeted for secular views

The attack on university law student Nazimuddin Samad marks the sixth killing of secular writers or activists in Bangladesh since February 2015, and must serve as a catalyst for the authorities to do more to protect its writers and free thinkers.

In this 26 October 2014 file photo, a leader of the Myanmar Prominent 88 Generation Students Group speaks in Yangong during a protest against the killing of journalist Par Gyi, AP Photo/Khin Maung Win, File

Burmese court decision to drop journalist murder case “totally unacceptable”

“It’s totally unacceptable,” said Burma’s incoming information minister on the court recommendations to close the case of freelance journalist Par Gyi, who was killed while in military custody in 2014.

Wen Yunchao, a Chinese US-based blogger, has reported that is family members were questioned and taken away by the authorities over the controversial letter calling for the president to resign , By shi zhao (originally posted to Flickr as 北风) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Ensnared netizens and Pacific summits

A breakdown of the events that are changing the free expression landscape in Asia and the Pacific.

A newscaster reads the news during a broadcast of Guinea-Bissau's national television in the capital, Bissau, 29 October 2012, REUTERS/Joe Penney

West African governments must prioritise safety of journalists, access to information

At the West Africa Conference on Media and Participatory Governance, participants deplored the continuous attacks on journalists and the impunity with which such crimes are committed. Participants also noted that more countries in the region have yet to pass right to information laws.

Activists hold signs that read "#Justice for Berta" to protest against the murder of environmental rights activist Berta Cáceres, outside the Embassy of Honduras in Mexico City, REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

Honduras: Where impunity reigns and activists face mounting dangers

Are the escalating violence, deteriorating human rights climate and shocking rates of impunity enough to wake people up to the current reality in Honduras?