10 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost
On March 4, a reporter and camera operator for Milenio Televisión were kidnapped in Reynosa, Tamaulipas state (northeastern Mexico) while covering a wave of violence caused by a dispute between two of the regions rival drug trafficking groups. The journalists were later released with a warning, “Don’t come here to heat things up.”
Ciro Gómez Leyva, Assistant Editorial Director for the Milenio Group, who sent the crew to Reynosa, wrote in a column: “Every day in more regions in Mexico it is impossible to do reporting. Journalism is dead in Reynosa, etcetera. I have nothing else to say.”
“In the past 14 days, at least eight Mexican journalists have been abducted in Reynosa”, Alfredo Corchado reports. “One died after a severe beating, according to reports that could not be independently verified. Two were released by their captors. The rest are missing.”
10 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Burma’s junta has set out laws governing the general election promised later this year, the new rules underline fears the vote is intended to consolidate military power under a democratic façade. The country’s state-run newspapers today published the election commission law, the first of five pieces of legislation which were formally passed on Monday. Under its terms, the military Government will appoint a five-person commission responsible for supervising the election, ensuring it keeps control over proceedings. “This demonstrates that the generals will dominate the entire process,” said Mark Farmaner of Burma Campaign UK. “If this election were a football match the generals would be playing in both teams, as well as being the referee.” No date has been announced for the election, and it seems unlikely that the junta will meet the condition that major Western governments regard as the minimum for a fair election – the release from custody of democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
10 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
The new Governor of Tibet has said that the Dalai Lama does not have a right to choose his successor and must instead must abide by the “requirements” of Tibetan Buddhist tradition, according to the Xinhua news agency. The government’s stance on the issue seems to be hardening after its ruling that the next Dalai Lama must be approved by the government. The Governor’s comments on Sunday made it even more likely that the current Dalai Lama will be succeeded by two new Dalai Lamas, one chosen by Tibetan religious leaders in exile and another by the Chinese government. “It is unreasonable to do whatever he wants,” Governor Padma Choling said of the Dalai Lama’s ideas. “There’s no way for him to do so.”
10 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
On the eve of this month’s presidential elections, the Togolese government refused to grant accreditation to French media outlets. Reporters without Borders criticised President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe after correspondents from Radio France, RTL and La Croix were refused access to the country in the build up to the disputed 4 March vote. Diplomatic relations between the France and Togo have been tense, Togo gained its independence from the European country in 1960.
