10 Apr 12 | Index Index, minipost
A TV cameraman has been shot dead near the Lebanon–Syria border. Ali Shaaban, from Lebanese TV channel Al-Jadeed, is believed to have been in northern Lebanese region of Wadi Khaled when Syrian soldiers opened fire on a car carrying Al-Jadeed staff. Shaaban’s colleague Hussein Khreiss said that the soldiers fired at the car, even though the crew made it clear they were not military. Prime Minister of Lebanon Najib Mikati deplored the incident, and said he would ask Syria to investigate the shooting.
10 Apr 12 | Index Index, minipost
Unidentified gunmen have brutally murdered a Somalian radio journalist. Mahad Salad Aden, a well known and well respected journalist for Shabelle Media Network, was murdered on 5 April at around 5.30pm by a group of masked men. This attack is the fourth of its kind against journalists affiliated with the Shabelle Media Network, and Adan is the fourth journalist to be killed in Somalia this year. Shabelle Media believe that such attacks are carried out by “certain groups across the warring factions in Somalia” in an attempt to force the network to serve their political objectives.
10 Apr 12 | Index Index, minipost
A Nigerian magistrate ordered the arrest and detention of around 10 journalists on 4 April. A group of reporters who were covering the verdict from a coroner’s inquest were arrested after a woman, believed to be a prosecutor or a social worker, ordered journalists to leave the premises. The journalists attempted to explain why they were there to the woman, but arguments ensued. During the arguments, Magistrate Oshoniyi ordered the immediate arrests of the journalists. Following their arrest, the journalists were assaulted, beaten and harassed by police.
10 Apr 12 | Middle East and North Africa
Two arrests linked to Facebook posts critical of the Palestinian Authority (PA) have spurred a variety of human rights and media freedom groups to call on the PA to stop harassing their critics.
On Wednesday 28 March, Palestinian Preventative Security Forces detained lecturer Ismat Abdul-Khaleq “after they read a quote on her Facebook page accusing President Mahmoud Abbas of being a traitor and demanding he resigns,” lawyer Issam Abdeen of the Palestinian rights group al-Haq told the Associated Press.
Defaming a public official is illegal in the West Bank. As happened in the recent case of detained journalist Yousef Al Shayeb, Abdul-Khaleq was told that she will be held for two weeks while the Public Prosecutor’s office “searches for evidence”. According to the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, she is being held in solitary confinement.
On Sunday 1 April, journalist Tariq Khamis was arrested after discussing Abdul-Khaleq’s arrest on Facebook. Khamis told the website Electronic Intifada that he believed his arrest was connected to an article he wrote about youth groups that were critical of the authorities. He told Reuters that during his three-hour interrogation, “I was questioned on my work as a journalist, and they confiscated the files on my laptop.” He added “the authorities are afraid of journalism.”
Human Rights Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Al-Haq and Reporteurs Sans Frontieres have all expressed their concern at the way critical voices are being targeted and detained by the PA.
The authorities emphasise that the judiciary and the government are two separate entities, but criticism of the authorities can result in incursions by security and judicial sources. Adnan Dmeiri, the spokesman of the security services which detained and questioned both Abdul-Khaleq and Khamis, claims “freedom of expression stops at defamation”. Yet his following statement, that “any citizen can respond to insults and baseless accusations with a lawsuit” does not hold true. Due process has not been followed and citizens are detained by the state while government bodies search for evidence against them. Even if Abdul-Khaleq, Khamis or even Yousef Al Shayeb are never formally charged, a message has been sent to PA’s critics in order to intimidate them. Its actions undermine its efforts to present themselves as a democratic body in a bid for further recognition and foreign investment.
Ruth Michaelson is a freelance journalist based in Ramallah. Follow her on Twitter @_Ms_R
