(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a summary of RSF’s report on its recent mission of inquiry to Bangladesh, in which the organisation examined attacks on press freedom since Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s government took office: Escalating Violence Threatens Press Freedom Status of the Attacks on Freedom of the Press Since Khaleda Zia Assumed Power RSF […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a summary of RSF’s report on its recent mission of inquiry to Bangladesh, in which the organisation examined attacks on press freedom since Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s government took office:
Escalating Violence Threatens Press Freedom
Status of the Attacks on Freedom of the Press Since Khaleda Zia Assumed Power
RSF Network Mission Report
June 2002
Inquiry: Vincent Brossel
This report, written with the co-operation of the Bangladesh Centre for Development, Journalism and Communication (member of the RSF Network), was made possible through the financial support of the European Commission. The opinions expressed herein are solely those of Reporters without Borders and therefore should not be construed as representing, in any manner whatsoever, the official views of the European Commission.
Bangladesh, with 145 journalists assaulted or targeted with death threats, one reporter murdered, 16 newsrooms or press clubs brutally attacked and four journalists detained by the authorities in just over eight months, is by far the country with the highest incidence of violence against members of the press. “Not a single day goes by without the press reporting an assault or death threat against a journalist,” stressed Nayeemul Islam Khan, Advisory Editor of the daily Ajker Kagoj. This endemic violence against news media professionals is endangering press freedom. Paradoxically, however, this South Asian country has never enjoyed a greater plurality of information sources. The print and electronic media, especially television, have actually been enjoying very rapid growth over the last five years.
A Reporters without Borders’ (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) fact-finding team stayed in Bangladesh from 3 to 10 March 2002, where representatives had the opportunity to meet with journalists, managing editors, human rights activists, lawyers, the Minister of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs, the Principal Information Officer for the government of Bangladesh, and families of murdered journalists. Their mission was carried out with the Bangladesh Centre for Development, Journalism and Communication (BCDJC), a member of the RSF Network.
Bangladesh is one of the most advanced countries in South Asia in terms of the plurality of its information sources. But the intentionally violent attacks on journalists are threatening the press freedom acquired in 1990. It is the Bangladeshi government’s duty to help the country break free of this escalating cycle of violence by refusing to tolerate a system that protects the criminals responsible for these assaults.
The full report can be read on RSF’s website at http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=2622.
