Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA)

In its semi annual report on violations against Palestinian journalists, the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) has monitored 113 violations since the start of the year 2013.

IFEX members sent a joint letter to President Museveni calling for an end to impunity in cases of police violence against the media, after a violent crackdown on a demonstration in May over media closures.

Over 50 NGOs worldwide signed a joint appeal to the U.N. against the ill-treatment and torture of detained human rights defenders, activists and photojournalists in Bahrain, calling for U.N. and Red Cross visits.

IFEX members called on Philippines authorities to reprimand a local police chief who arrested a radio broadcaster without a warrant after he talked about police incompetence on the air.

After increased pressure from the Israel lobby and Jewish institutions in the United States, the Newseum reversed its decision to honor Palestinian journalists Mohamed Salama and Hussam Al Koumi, who were killed by Israeli forces during their coverage of the Gaza offensive last December for Al-Aqsa TV, a Hamas-affiliated TV station.

The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) monitored a number of media freedom violations in Palestine during April 2013, noting that Israeli abuses against Palestinian journalists continue and violations still pose a threat to their lives preventing them from doing their work.

World Press Freedom Day arrives in Palestine on 3 May this year in the wake of tough times. Palestinian journalists continue to struggle for freedom of expression indifferent to the ongoing attempts at silencing them.

Journalists should not be remanded into custody for so-called “publishing crimes” said a participant at MADA’s event in advance of World Press Freedom Day.