ARTICLE 19

Following is the full text of a letter sent by ARTICLE 19 to the current President of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, urging that the Security Council call an emergency session on Myanmar (Burma), even though China, a close ally of Myanmar’s ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), currently holds the chair. […]

The Indonesian government has banned the book, “Bayang Bayang PKI” (“In the Shadows of the PKI”), which is published by the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI). The book is about the violent political turbulence that occurred in Indonesia in 1965-66 which led to the assumption of power by current President […]

Journalist Necmiye Arslanoglu was arrested at the Diyarbakir offices of the “Ozgur Halk” newspaper on 12 April 1995. The British National Union of Journalists has received alarming reports that she, and members of her immediate family who attempted to protest her arrest, have suffered serious mistreatment. ARTICLE 19 published “Political Speech in Turkey: a Legal […]

Sanh Ekin, the news director of “Yeni Politika”, was reportedly taken into custody in Istanbul on 2 June 1995. ARTICLE 19 is troubled by the pattern of harassment of independent journalists which has long undermined Turkey’s formal commitment to the observance of international human rights standards. Recommended Action Send appeals to Turkish authorities: asking to […]

Zafaryab Ahmed, a journalist known for his reporting about the social problems of bonded labour in Pakistan, was arrested and detained on 5 June 1995. It is apparently as a direct result of his work on this important social issue that he has been accused of acting in a way that is “detrimental” to the […]

Farooq Sumar, a prominent Karachi businessman, has suffered threats against himself and his family because of his courageous and outspoken denunciation of criminal extortion in Karachi. Widespread suspicions that recognized political parties tolerate and profit from these iniquitous practices represent a grave threat to the democratic foundations of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Recommended Action […]

Two newspaper vendors were arrested and another was manhandled in Douala on the morning of 17 April 1995. Emile Kouakam reportedly was manhandled by police; Ernest Ndongmo and Simon also were mistreated and then were taken to the Central Commissariat in Douala. According to ARTICLE 19’s sources, the three vendors were targeted by the police […]

**Update to IFEX CH alerts dated 13 December 1994 and 12 January 1995** Mohamed Bangura, one of the four journalists from “The New Breed” charged with sedition, was released on health grounds on 16 January 1995. The prosecutor entered a “nolle prosequi” — in other words the case against him will not proceed although it […]