28 Jan 2013 | Brazil
Brazil’s Judiciary has approved the creation of a permanent forum about freedom of the press, with the goal of debating court rulings on the subject and preparing judges to making more well-founded decisions.
The Judiciary’s National Forum on Freedom of the Press was created last November through a resolution issued by the National Justice Council (CNJ), a body responsible for supervising Justice’s activities in Brazil and ensuring its independence.
Although the resolution that creates the Forum on Freedom of the Press goes as far back as November, the group has not yet been fully formed. It is hoped it will be ready to convene in early February.
Brazil’s ranking for press freedom went down from 58 last year to 99th in the world this year, according to Reporters Without Borders.
The Forum will follow all cases related to freedom of the press, analysing judges’ actions and aiding with information that could affect court rulings in all jurisdictions. In addition to monitoring cases, they will investigate how similar cases are dealt with in other countries. The plan also involves working with law schools across the country to build a deeper understanding of press freedom.
The idea of creating the Forum came through former President of CNJ and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Carlos Ayres Britto, who retired last December.
The Forum will be formed of nine members, including CNJ counselors, state judges and representatives from different bodies such as the Order of Attorneys of Brazil, the National Newspapers Association, the Brazilian Radio and Television Broadcasters Association and the National Press Association.
Although CNJ has among its duties conducting disciplinary proceedings and applying sanctions against judges and members of the Judiciary, the Forum will not have the power to overturn court rulings concerning the freedom of the press.
“We want to stimulate the discussion about the freedom of the press, by bringing some visions from outside the Judiciary and increasing Justice’s flexibility on this subject”, says the coordinator of the Forum, federal prosecutor Wellington Cabral Saraiva.
He says the Forum was created because CNJ was concerned with some controversial court rulings, which were considered to be a result of a lack of knowledge from judges about how freedom of the press should be regarded in Brazil.
Saraiva exemplifies this by citing court rulings that set enormously expensive reparations against journalists or media companies for defamation or slander, or that obstruct the publishing of specific news — or even books, including biographies.
One high-profile legal case this concerns O Estado de S.Paulo, one of Brazil’s biggest daily newspapers. A court ruling from 2009 prevents Estado of publishing news about a police operation that could incriminate a media mogul from the northeastern state of Maranhão. The newspaper sees this as a clear-cut case of censorship, and is still waiting for a final verdict.
“We do not see this as a general trend in Justice. Some controversial decisions can the taken, but this is normal within the Judiciary. Some legal issues are complex, being open to different rulings”, Saraiva says.
The Forum’s coordinator sees a specific “political culture” as the main threat to press freedom in Brazil, through which some politicians and public agents don’t acknowledge the importance of a free press.
Because of that, Saraiva says, there are so many cases of violence and even murder against journalists and bloggers in Brazil, mainly in areas far from the country’s big cities.
He thinks this “political culture” also reflects on judges’ rulings: “When we consolidate a true democratic culture among politicians and magistrates, we’ll also have a reduction of court rulings that are excessively restrictive.”
23 Jan 2013 | Azerbaijan News, Europe and Central Asia, Index Index
The future for political prisoners in Azerbaijan looks bleak after politicians at the Council of Europe (CoE) failed adopt an important resolution today calling for more than 80 cases to be resolved.
Azerbaijani authorities repeatedly deny the presence of any political prisoners in the country, which commands huge business interests around the world, including among several MPs from the United Kingdom, several of whom voted against the resolution.
Disappointment among those who campaign for free expression in Azerbaijan was palpable, with several NGO representatives referring to the vote — 79 in favour and 125 against — as a disgrace.
Among those being held on spurious charges are journalists Avaz Zeynalli, Hilal Mammadov and Vugar Gonagov.
The resolution was based on a report by Rapporteur Christoph Strasser, who was repeatedly denied entry into Azerbaijan to carry out his mandate. Several delegates refused to recognise the resolution on grounds that Strasser prepared his report from outside the oil-rich country.
However, free expression advocates welcomed the adoption of a resolution calling for continued monitoring of the country’s record on free speech and human rights, with 196 members voting in favour and only 13 against. The resolution was based on a report by the CoE’s rapporteurs to Azerbaijan, who expressed “growing concern with regard to rule of law and respect for human rights” in the country and encouraged the Azerbaijani government to strengthen its commitment to honour human rights obligations.
Index on Censorship and Crow Hill Films invite you to a screening of Amazing Azerbaijan! followed by a discussion on Azerbaijan and human rights on 30 January.
21 Jan 2013 | Uncategorized
Two journalists have been killed in Syria while reporting on the front line. French journalist Yves Debay was shot twice while covering the conflict between the Syrian regime’s army and rebel forces on 17 January, reportedly killed by a regime sniper. Al Jazeera correspondent Mohamed Al-Massalma was shot with three bullets the following day during fights in the town of Busra Al-Harir in the southern province of Deraa. The Syrian journalist for Al Jazeera, who used the pseudonym Mohamed Al-Horani, was an activist in the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad before he joined the news network. More than 60,000 people have died since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011.
Lupe Fiasco – ejected at Obama’s reelection event
On 17 January, a Cameroonian man who text his friend saying “I’m very much in love with you” had a three year jail sentence upheld. Jean-Claude Roger Mbédé had already served a year and a half in prison for homosexual conduct when he was released on bail for medical reasons in July 2012 — he was malnourished and injured after being assaulted. Cameroon is considered the worst place in Africa for persecution of homosexuals. Last year, 14 people were arrested for homosexuality, 12 of whom were prosecuted.
On 19 January, a journalist in Somalia was killed whilst walking to work. Abdihared Osman Aden, a veteran producer for Shabelle Media Network was shot by unidentified assailants, becoming the fifth Shabelle worker to be murdered in 13 months. Twelve journalists were killed in Somalia in 2012, the highest rate of murders in Africa that year. All the deaths from last year remain unsolved, accoring to Committee to Protect Journalists’ research. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud had vowed to establish a task force to investigate the deaths of media workers in November, but has failed to take action so far, according to local journalists.
Google will decline personal information requests from authoritarian governments in Africa, it announced on 17 January. In a press conference in Nairobi, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said Google are careful where they place servers and staff, as refusing frequent information requests from the government could lead to arrests and harassment.
Rapper Lupe Fiasco was removed from the stage during an event to celebrate Barack Obama’s inauguration. Headlining the StartUp RockOn concert, Fiasco took to the stage at The Hamilton in Washington, saying that he didn’t vote for Obama during a 30-minute anti-war performance. The performance ended with security eventually moving him along for the next performer, after the rapper refused to leave the stage. Co-founders of the festival Hypervocal later released a statement putting the removal of the star down to a “bizarrely repetitive, jarring performance”, as opposed to his opinions. Lupe Fiasco has previously voiced opposition to the Obama administration, when discussing the President ordering drone attacks.
Mike Harris explains how modern authoritarian regimes censor their citizens