PEN International

PEN International calls on the Turkish government to reverse an alarming rise in the number of writers, journalists, translators and publishers imprisoned or on trial.

Songwriters Vo Minh Tri and Tran Vu Anh Binh were sentenced to four and six years in prison in Vietnam respectively, for conducting “anti-state propaganda” via their critical songs posted on the Internet.

MFWA welcomes the move by Gambian authorities to drop charges against two journalists for seeking permission to peacefully protest the execution of death row inmates, but calls for investigation into death threats against journalists.

A coalition of human rights organisations calls on President Bashar al-Assad to release all peaceful activists, media professionals, and humanitarian assistance providers as part of an amnesty announced on 23 October, and give independent monitors access to detention facilities.

IFEX-TMG supports media strike in Tunisia on 17 October to protest media appointments and the failure to guarantee media freedom in the draft Constitution.

Free expression is under threat in Cameroon, according to a report submitted this week to the UN Human Rights Council by PEN International, Committee to Protect Journalists, and Internet Sans Frontières.

Over 40 IFEX members worldwide call for the new President of Somalia to help combat impunity in the killing of journalists, revise media laws and uphold UN and African resolutions to help protect journalists.

The human rights situation in Azerbaijan has deteriorated significantly and the state of freedom of expression in the country is alarming, says a coalition of NGOs.