SPECIAL REPORT
Double Jeopardy:
Homophobic Attacks on the Press
by Masha Gessen
Political or ethnic discrimination and a desire to suppress coverage of corruption
and human rights violations are well-documented motives for attacks on journalists
around the world. An often undocumented motive, though increasingly common, is homophobia. Gay and lesbian journalists are frequently physically attacked or slapped with lawsuits
for reporting news of concern to the gay and lesbian communities.
That was one of the major findings of a CPJ report documenting attacks against gay
and lesbian journalists between 1990 and 1995 in countries as politically and culturally
disparate as Canada, Russia and Zimbabwe. These press freedom violations have rarely been reported, and CPJ undertook the project to draw attention to the problem. As
with all of the cases CPJ reports on, the attacks were a direct consequence of a
journalist's or news organization's work.
Following is an excerpt from that report. To obtain a copy of the complete report,
please contact CPJ.
There is almost no place in the world where journalism is a safe profession. And nowhere in the world is it
safe to be homosexual. Gay and lesbian journalists, because of their visibility,
are easy targets for much of the abuse directed toward the gay and lesbian communities.
Homophobia pervades all layers of society, and those who seek to silence journalists
or news outlets that cover gay and lesbian issues range from heads of state to criminal
extortionists. The weapons they use may differ: Attacks by authorities are most likely to involve censorship laws and other measures of legal restraint, whereas attacks
by nongovernmental forces are more likely to take the form of physical abuse, though
at times police have resorted to similar brute tactics. But the result of their efforts are the same: a chilling effect on coverage of gay and lesbian issues and on
the distribution of gay and lesbian publications.
No matter the transgressor or the act, however, law enforcement agents, journalists
and human rights groups have often failed to recognize these attacks as press freedom
violations. This failure stems in some instances from deeply ingrained prejudices
against homosexuals and in other cases from resignation, a belief that those prejudices
will be acted out without fear of retribution.
Attacks by Authorities
In countries all over the world, homosexuals are subject to legal persecution. In
addition to imposing flat-out bans on gay sex and press coverage of homosexuality,
authorities have often invoked laws against child exploitation to silence gay and
lesbian journalists. In Canada, for instance, Joseph Couture, a reporter for CBC Radio and
the Toronto gay and lesbian biweekly newspaper XTra!
had to battle efforts to frame him on charges of child pornography after he produced
a radio documentary and wrote a series of articles that were critical of the police
force's relationship with the gay and lesbian community and of its enforcement of
child pornography laws. In Romania, opposition editor and publisher Bozdog Ovidiu was
imprisoned by local authorities for purportedly having sex with minors.
Authorities in several countries also admit to keeping "pink lists" of known homosexuals,
which often include journalists because of the public nature of their work. These
lists are often used to target and threaten them with prosecution for crimes they
did not commit.
Such cases have generally escaped the attention of press freedom and human rights
organizations. In part, this stems from the marginal position of much of the gay
and lesbian press and the de facto exclusion of gay and lesbian journalists from
mainstream professional journalistic communities. Partly, too, established groups have been reluctant
to take on such cases because they raise uncomfortable questions about whether the
organizations should stand up for the right to engage in sexually explicit speech or defend a journalist accused of a crime as hideous as child exploitation. In addition,
official forces hostile to the gay and lesbian media have long capitalized on the
mainstream media's discomfort with issues of sexuality to engage in attacks that
are nothing more than attempts to limit press freedom and intimidate reporters.
Attacks by Nongovernmental Forces
When a gay journalist or news outlet is attacked by a nonofficial source, such as
an extremist group or urban gang, accountability rests not only with the perpetrators
but also, in instances where the police or other law enforcement agents fail to prosecute them, with the state. Without official cooperation in the prosecution of such crimes,
gay and lesbian journalists will continue to work under hostile conditions.
Many gay journalists consider a certain amount of violence and harassment a natural
attribute of their work. During interviews for this report, editors of gay and lesbian
publications would often say, "Oh, nothing happens to us. Just the usual hate mail
and phone calls." This resignation stems from a pattern of neglect by authorities,
as illustrated by two cases in India and Russia, where the police failed to adequately
pursue the criminals.
Despite the continuing hostilities around the world, there is some good news to report.
U.S. journalists say that harassment has decreased significantly over time. For example,
one of the first gay and lesbian newspapers, Boston's Gay Community News,
was the victim of arson three times between 1972 and 1981, as was one of the first
lesbian publishing houses, Daughters Inc. in Plainfield, Vt. But in the 1990s, with
gay and lesbian newspapers operating in all major U.S. cities and many smaller towns,
no instances of arson have been reported. Publishers of relatively long-lived newspapers,
such as Chicago's 12-year-old Windy City Times,
say that they now face far less harassment in the way of hate mail, phone calls
and threats of violence than they did in the 1980s.
Censorship and Related Harassment
It stands to reason that the largest number of cases documented for this report can
be classified as censorship. Censorship mechanisms, such as obscenity and anti-pornography
statutes, pose one of the greatest threats to press freedom anywhere, and are certainly the greatest and most consistent threat to publications with gay and lesbian
content.* Legal authorities everywhere say the same thing: Obscenity statutes protect
the moral standards of local communities. Given that in most areas of the world gays and lesbians are seen as threatening the moral fabric of society, obscenity statutes
are turned against them again and again, ultimately suppressing not only sexually
explicit writing but any coverage of gay and lesbian issues.
So, too, are broad-stroke laws employed to prohibit the "promotion" of homosexuality--the
censorious state's answer to the increasing visibility of gays and lesbians and the
growing influence of their media outlets. Clause 28 of the United Kingdom's Local
Government Act of 1988, for instance, prohibits local government authorities--who control
significant public funds--from intentionally promoting homosexuality or teaching the
acceptability of homosexuality. Though Clause 28 has not resulted in any court cases to date, all reports indicate that its impact has been pervasive. A library in
York, for instance, excluded two articles about homosexuality from an exhibit for
fear of violating the prohibition. Halfway across the world, in Nicaragua, there
is a four-year-old law on the books that is similar in spirit to the United Kingdom's clause
but far broader in scope.
Fear also drives the decisions of private distributors who, wary of legal trouble
under obscenity statutes or other legislation, often resist carrying gay and lesbian
publications. The weekly newsmagazine Gay Times
in London, for instance, struggled for years to be accepted by the large private
chains that distribute most of England's magazines. As a result of such resistance,
many gay and lesbian newspapers have opted to distribute free of charge, which in
most instances means they have to fight for the legal protections that would be accorded
them if they provided a product with a stated commercial value. There has been some
progress made on this issue in parts of the United States. The governor of Maryland,
for instance, in 1994 signed into law a bill that makes it a crime of theft to take copies
of a free newspaper with the intent of preventing others from reading it. But such
legal recourse is far from the norm in most countries, where obstacles to distribution are one of the many problems the gay media must face as a result of the deeply entrenched
homophobia at work in the creation and application of censorship laws today.
The cases CPJ has documented are only a small sampling of the press freedom violations
that continue to plague gay and lesbian journalists. There are doubtless many more
that have yet to be reported, but we hope that with the publication of this work,
journalists will become more attuned to these injustices--to recognize them as more than
gay-bashing and to report them to the Committee to Protect Journalists and other
press freedom and human rights groups around the world.
*The Committee to Protect Journalists does not take a position on the substance of
a country's morality and obscenity statutes but rather investigates cases where they
have been applied in a discriminatory manner, hindering a journalist's right to report
without persecution or obstructing the free flow of news across borders.
Masha Gessen
is a Moscow-based journalist who is a frequent contributor to CPJ's work and a former
board member of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. She writes
for a number of publications, including
The New Republic and the U.K.-based
New Statesman and Society.
Journalists in Jail
A Record 182 Cases of Reporters Imprisoned
At the end of 1995, at least 182 journalists in 22 countries were in prison for their reporting. In many
cases, they were being held without charge or trial. Officially, these journalists
may have been charged with or convicted of committing offenses ranging from disseminating separatist propaganda to expressing contempt for the head of state or insulting
an official. But, in truth, the only crime these journalists committed was publishing
or broadcasting something their governments didn't like.
This year's count is the largest ever documented by CPJ. At the end of 1994, 173 journalists
in 23 countries were behind bars. Two years ago, CPJ documented 126 cases of imprisoned
journalists in 28 countries.
By region, the 1995 count breaks down as follows. In the Middle East and North Africa,
86 journalists were in prison, more than half of them in Turkey; and there were 47
imprisoned journalists in Africa, 41 in Asia and eight in the Americas. No journalists are in prison in Central Europe and the former Soviet Union, where governments are
using economic pressure to keep the press in line.
For the second consecutive year, Turkey had the largest number of incarcerated journalists,
51. This number is down from last year's 74, due in part to a revision (thanks to
European pressure) of Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, which had been used to prosecute journalists who wrote about the Kurdish issue. There were 31 journalists in
prison in Ethiopia, following a post-election crackdown on the independent media.
China had 20 journalists behind bars. Kuwait has held the same 18 journalists prisoner
since 1991; all of them were accused of collaboration for having worked on a newspaper
published during the Iraqi occupation.
Vietnam, Peru, Myanmar (Burma) and Nigeria each held eight journalists in jail. All
eight journalists in Nigeria, which has had a proud tradition of press independence,
were arrested as part of a 1995 campaign by the military junta to quash all dissent.
Among those arrested and imprisoned was Nosa Igiebor, editor of Tell
magazine and a 1993 CPJ International Press Freedom honoree. Another CPJ awardee,
Ahmad Taufik, president of Indonesia's Alliance of Independent Journalists, began
serving a three-year prison term during the year. Three other Indonesian journalists
are also imprisoned.
Syria's three longest-held journalists were released in 1995. But six others remained
in prison, including three who have been in jail for 10 years or more. In Algeria,
journalists, who live in fear of assassination by religious extremists, had to contend with government repression as well. The government had imprisoned four reporters
in 1995, the most ever documented by CPJ in Algeria. And Libya still held the world's
longest-imprisoned journalist, Abdallah Ali al-Sanussi al-Darrat, who has been in
prison since 1975.
International pressure can help set these journalists free. In 1995, after an international
campaign led by CPJ and others, Cuba released Yndamiro Restano, a founding member
of the Cuban Association of Independent Journalists and a 1994 winner of CPJ's International Press Freedom Award. We ask you to take the time to write to at least
one of the leaders listed below, respectfully urging them to release these prisoners
immediately.
Countries Holding Journalists in Prison
ALGERIA (4)
Abdelkader Hadj Benaamane, Algerian Press Service (APS)
Imprisoned:
February 28, 1995
Benaamane, a correspondent for the official Algerian Press Service (APS) in the southern
town of Tamanrasset, was arrested by security forces. The reasons for Benaamane's
imprisonment are unclear, but reports indicate that he was charged with "attacking
the security of the state and national unity" in connection with an internal APS news
wire report he filed on the whereabouts of Abassi Madani and Ali Belhadj, leaders
of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) who had recently been transferred from Janan
al-Mufti prison to a detention center in the desert. Benaamane appeared before a Tamanrasset
military court on July 10. He was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison.
Saghir Bouhadida,
El Khabar
Imprisoned:
June 14, 1995
Bouhadida, an assistant lecturer at the Institute of Social Sciences and the Institute
of Information and Communication, both in Algiers, and a former journalist at the
daily El Khabar, was arrested by members of the security forces in the Chevalier district of the
city. He and two students were detained on the way home from the Institute of Social
Sciences. The two students were released after three days. Bouhadida's whereabouts
are unknown.
Djamel Fahassi,
Alger Chaîne III
Arrested:
May 7, 1995
Fahassi, a reporter for French-language Algerian radio and formerly a contributor
to Al-Forqane,
a weekly organ of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) that was banned in March 1992,
was arrested by state security services. Officials have refused to acknowledge his
arrest. His family believes he is in a secret detention center and fears for his
life.
Mohamed Zaaf,
ANSA
Arrested:
January 14, 1995
Fifteen masked policemen raided the home of Zaaf, a stringer with Italy's ANSA news
agency, and arrested him while they kept his wife locked in another room. According
to the official Algerian Press Service, Zaaf was arrested for harboring a suspected
Muslim guerrilla.
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Liamine Zeroual
President of the High Council of State
The Presidential Palace
El Mouradia
Algiers, Algeria
Fax: 213-2-59 0-4 07
CAMEROON (1)
Paddy Mbawa,
Cameroon Post
Imprisoned:
August 1995
Mbawa, publisher of the independent Cameroon Post,
was sentenced on July 13, 1995, to six months in prison on charges of libeling a
company director in an April issue of his paper. He was imprisoned in mid-August.
Mbawa is contesting the conviction on the grounds that he was never presented a summons
to the July 13 hearing. Mbawa's defense was hampered when his attorney, Julius Achu,
dropped the case due to pressure from his older brother, Prime Minister Simon Achidi
Achu. The Cameroon Post
is still being published, albeit irregularly.
APPEALS TO:
Son Excellence Monsieur Paul Biya
Président de la République de Cameroun
Palais de l'Unité
Yaoundé, Cameroun
Fax: 237-23-30-22 or 237-22-16-99
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (1)
Mathias Goneyo Reapago
, Le Rassemblement
Imprisoned:
July 19, 1995
Reapago, editor of the opposition newspaper Le Rassemblement,
was arrested on July 19, 1995. On Aug. 21, he was convicted on criminal charges
of attacking "the dignity and honor of the president of the republic," sentenced
to two years in prison and fined 500,000 CFA (US$1,000).
APPEALS TO:
Son Excellence Monsieur Ange-Felix Patasse
Président de la République Africaine Centrale
Bangue, République Africaine Centrale
Fax: c/o the Central African Republic Embassy
CHINA (20)
Fan Jianping,
Beijing Ribao
Imprisoned:
1989
Fan, an editor at Beijing Ribao
(Beijing Daily), was arrested sometime after the Tiananmen Square crackdown on June
4, 1989.
Ji Kunxing,
Pioneers
Tried:
September 1989
Ji was tried in Kunming on charges of "fomenting a counterrevolutionary plot." He
and three others had published an underground magazine called Pioneers,
circulated anti-government leaflets and put up anti-government posters.
Jin Naiyi,
Beijing Ribao
Imprisoned:
1989
Jin, with Beijing Ribao
(Beijing Daily), was arrested sometime after the Tiananmen Square crackdown on June
4, 1989.
Li Jian,
Wenyi Bao
Imprisoned:
July 1989
Li, a journalist with Wenyi Bao
(Literature and Arts News), was arrested in July 1989
Ren Wanding
,
China Human Rights League
Imprisoned:
June 9, 1989
Ren, a former Democracy Wall journalist who founded the underground publication China Human Rights League,
actively supported the 1989 student democracy movement in speeches and articles
calling for freedom of expression. He was arrested in June 1989, and sentenced on
Jan. 26, 1991, to seven years in prison and three years without political rights
after his release. Ren, who previously spent four years in prison, has reportedly been denied
proper treatment for his cataracts and is said to be in danger of losing his eyesight.
His chronic sinusitis, chest infections, acute gastritis, and severe internal and
external hemorrhoids have also gone untreated.
Shang Jingzhong,
Pioneers
Tried:
September 1989
Shang was tried in Kunming on charges of "fomenting a counterrevolutionary plot."
He and three others had published an underground magazine called Pioneers,
circulated anti-government leaflets and put up anti-government posters.
Shi Qing,
Pioneers
Tried:
September 1989
Shi was tried in Kunming on charges of "fomenting a counterrevolutionary plot." He
and three others had published an underground magazine called Pioneers,
circulated anti-government leaflets and put up anti-government posters.
Yang Hong,
Zhongguo Qingnian Bao
Imprisoned:
June 13, 1989
Yang, a reporter for Zhongguo Qingnian Bao
(China Youth News), was arrested in Kunming and charged with circulating "rumor-mongering
leaflets" and protesting against corruption.
Yu Anmin,
Pioneers
Tried:
September 1989
Yu was tried in Kunming on charges of "fomenting a counterrevolutionary plot." He
and three others had published an underground magazine called Pioneers,
circulated anti-government leaflets and put up anti-government posters.
Yu Zhongmin,
Fazhi Yuekan
Imprisoned:
1989
Yu, a journalist with Fazhi Yuekan
(Law Monthly) in Shanghai, was arrested sometime after the Tiananman Square crackdown
on June 4, 1989. He was later described in an article in Wenhui Daily
as an "agitator" of the Shanghai student demonstrations.
Chen Yanbin,
Tielu
Imprisoned:
Late 1990
Chen, a former Qinghua University student, was arrested in late 1990 and sentenced
to 15 years in prison and four years without political rights after his release.
Together with Zhang Yafei, he had produced an unofficial magazine called Tielu
(Iron Currents) about the 1989 crackdown at Tiananmen Square. Several hundred mimeographed
copies of the magazine were distributed. The government termed the publication "reactionary"
and charged Chen with dissemination of counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement.
Zhang Yafei,
Tielu
Imprisoned:
September 1990
Zhang, a former student at Beifang Communications University, was arrested and charged
with dissemination of counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement. In March 1991,
he was sentenced to 11 years in prison and two years without political rights after his release. Zhang edited an unofficial magazine called Tielu
(Iron Currents) about the 1989 crackdown at Tiananmen Square.
Wu Shishen,
Xinhua News Agency
Imprisoned:
October or November 1992
Arrested in the fall of 1992, Wu, a Xinhua News Agency reporter, received a life sentence
in August 1993 for allegedly providing a Hong Kong journalist with a "state-classified"
advance copy of President Jiang Zemin's 14th Party Congress address.
Fu Shenqi
Imprisoned:
June 26, 1993
Fu, a former Democracy Wall activist who had just been released from a two-year detention
for his involvement in publishing an underground human rights journal, was detained
again and sentenced without trial to three years in "education through labor" camps for inciting trouble and speaking to foreign journalists.
Gao Yu
Imprisoned:
October 2, 1993
Two days before she was to depart for the United States to start a one-year research
fellowship at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, Gao, a free-lance
journalist, was detained on Oct. 2, 1993. On Nov. 10, 1994, she was tried without
counsel and sentenced to six years in prison for "leaking state secrets" about China's
structural reforms in articles for the pro-Beijing Hong Kong magazine Mirror Monthly.
Gao was previously jailed for 14 months following the June 1989 Tiananmen Square
demonstrations and released in August 1990 after showing symptoms of a heart condition.
Ma Tao,
China Health Education News
Sentenced:
August 1993
Ma, editor of China Health Education News,
received a six-year prison term for allegedly helping Xinhua News Agency reporter
Wu Shishen provide a Hong Kong journalist with President Jiang Zemin's "state-classified"
14th Party Congress address. According to the Associated Press, Ma is believed to be Wu's wife.
Xi Yang,
Ming Pao
Imprisoned:
September 27, 1993
Xi, Beijing correspondent for the Hong Kong daily Ming Pao,
was arrested on Sept. 27, 1993, and sentenced to 12 years in prison on March 28,
1994, for "espionage" and "stealing state secrets." The "secrets" in question included
unpublished interest rate changes on savings and loans at the People's Bank of China, as well as information on the bank's international gold transaction plans, both of
which were provided to Xi by a bank official named Tian Ye.
Wei Jingsheng
Imprisoned:
April 1, 1994
Wei, one of the most prominent dissidents in China and former co-editor of the pro-democracy
journal Tansuo
(Explorations), was convicted on Dec. 13, 1995, by the Beijing Intermediate People's
Court of "conspiring to subvert the government." Foreign reporters were barred from
attending the trial. The dissident's 14-year prison sentence was upheld on Dec. 28,
following a closed appeal hearing. Wei has been held incommunicado since police detained
him on April 1, 1994, shortly after he met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
John Shattuck. However, he was not formally arrested and charged until Nov. 21, 1995. Wei had been released on parole on Sept. 14, 1993, after serving 14 1/2 years of
a 15-year sentence for "counterrevolutionary" activities that included writing essays
strongly criticizing the government and calling for democratic rule. Following his
release, Wei wrote several op-ed pieces for publications abroad and concluded a deal with
a Hong Kong magazine for the publication of his prison memoirs--actions that prompted
an official warning that he was violating the terms of his parole.
Chen Ziming
Imprisoned:
June 26, 1995
Chen, the former publisher of Economics Weekly,
was rearrested in June 1995, after being released in 1994 on medical parole from
prison, where he was serving a 13-year sentence for his role in the Tiananmen Square
demonstrations. His rearrest was believed to be linked to his 24-hour fast on the
sixth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, and to his endorsement of a petition
in May 1995 calling for freedom of expression and the release of political prisoners.
Chen, a 1991 recipient of CPJ's International Press Freedom Award, was originally
arrested in October 1989, labeled one of the "black hands" behind the Tiananmen Square
demonstrations and convicted of conducting counterrevolutionary activities. He was
released on parole for treatment of cancer, hepatitis and heart disease.
Wang Dan
Imprisoned:
May 21, 1995
Beijing police detained Wang, a former student leader and frequent contributor to
overseas publications, after he signed petitions calling for the release of Tiananmen
Square-era political prisoners and for new legal protections of human rights. The
Hong Kong daily Lien Ho Pao
reported in late July 1995 that Beijing authorities planned to prosecute Wang for
inciting citizens to conduct anti-government activities, openly attacking the socialist
system, disrupting public security and undermining social stability. The newspaper
also reported that public security officials had collected all of Wang's "offensive"
articles published abroad as evidence against him.
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Tao Siju
Minister of Public Security
Gong'anbu
14 Dongchang'anlu
Beijing 100741
People's Republic of China
Fax: 86-1-524-1596
COTE D'IVOIRE (2)
Abou Drahamane Sangaré,
Nouvel Horizon Group
Emmanuel Koré,
La Voie
Imprisoned:
December 21, 1995
Sangaré, director of publications for the Nouvel Horizon Group, which owns the opposition
daily La Voie,
and Koré, a reporter for La Voie,
were arrested in connection with a Dec. 18 La Voie
article that suggested that President Henri Konan Bédié's attendance at the African
Champions Cup final brought bad luck to Côte d'Ivoire's national soccer team, causing
its loss to South Africa's team. On Dec. 28, Sangaré and Koré were each sentenced
to two years in prison for "offending the chief of state" and fined three million CFA
(US$6,000).
APPEALS TO:
Son Excellence Monsieur Henri Konan Bédié
Président de la République de Côte d'Ivoire
La Présidence
Boulevard Clozel
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Fax: 225-21-14-25 or 225-33-14-25
ETHIOPIA (31)
Habtamu Belete,
Ruhama
Sentenced:
July 1994
Belete, a reporter for Ruhama,
was sentenced in July 1994 to six months in prison for contempt of court.
Nayk Kassaye,
Beza
Disappeared:
May 9, 1994
Kassaye, editor in chief of the newspaper Beza,
disappeared on his way to the Central High Court. It is believed that officials
of the State Security Services are holding him in their custody. For reasons that
are unclear, Kassaye was arrested by police on Jan. 22, 1994, and released on bail
in March of that year.
Daniel Kifle,
Fendisha
Imprisoned:
January 15, 1994
Kifle, editor of Fendisha,
was arrested by police on Jan. 15, 1994, and sentenced to 18 months in prison on
June 1, 1994. His arrest stemmed from articles that alleged corruption on the part
of Prime Minister Tamirat Layne and reported that Eritrean troops were deployed in
Ethiopia.
Andargue Mesfin,
Tenager
Tekle Yishal,
Tenager
Imprisoned:
March 24, 1995
Ethiopia's Central High Court sentenced Mesfin and Yishal, reporters for the weekly
Tenager,
to 18 months and 12 months in prison, respectively, for publishing an Oromo Liberation
Front communiqué about the group's armed struggle and for publishing three other
political articles, including a story about the arbitrary murder of civilians by
soldiers of the Woyane
Yohannes Abebe,
Beza
Tamene Getachew,
Meda-Walabu
Imprisoned:
May 1, 1995
Abebe, editor of the newspaper Beza,
and Getachew, editor of the newspaper Meda-Walabu,
were convicted on charges of "incitement to war" for articles they published. Each
is serving a one-year prison sentence in the Addis Ababa State Prison.
Abiy Afework,
Tekwami
Solomon Gebre Amlak,
Mogad
Sintayehu Biro,
Tikuret
Dereje Birru,
Tekwami
Daniel Dirsha,
Kitab
Girmayeneh Mammo,
Tomar
Abinet Tamirat,
Dagmawi
Imprisoned:
June 21, 1995
The seven journalists were arrested by government agents for stories published in
their newspapers about the armed conflict between the government and opposition groups.
They were charged with "war mongering, incitement of the public and discrediting
the government."
Worku Alemayehu,
Mebrook
Garuma Bekele,
Urgi
Getahun Bekele,
Tarik
Iyob Demeke,
Tarik
Tesfaye Deressa,
Urgi
Biruk Dominique,
Rohama
Zegeye Haile,
Lalibella
Tedros Kebede,
Roha
Bekele Mekonen,
Urgi
Biruk Mekonnen,
Beza
Terefe Mengesha,
Roha
Tesehalene Mengesha,
Hanus
Getamessay Meskei,
Dagnew
Israel Saboga,
Seife Nebelbal
Mesfin Shiferaw,
Beza
Akilu Tadesse,
Andebet
Dagnachew Yilma,
Dubtec Computer Service
Imprisoned:
November 1995
The 17 independent journalists were arrested in connection with articles they published,
all of which cited an interview with former President Mengistu Haile Mariam in which
he accused the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea of attempting to assassinate him.
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency President Meles Zenawi
Office of the President
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Fax: 251-1-514-300 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
INDONESIA (4)
Adnan Beuransyah,
Serambi Indonesia
Imprisoned:
August 16, 1990
Beuransyah, a journalist with the newspaper Serambi Indonesia,
was arrested on Aug. 16, 1990. He was tried in March 1991 in Banda Aceh on charges
of subversion and sentenced to eight years in prison.
Eko Maryadi,
Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI)
Imprisoned:
March 16, 1995
Maryadi, a member of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), was arrested along
with several others at an AJI gathering. He was convicted on Sept. 1 of violating
Article 19 of the press law, which prohibits the publication of an unlicensed newspaper or magazine, and Article 154 of the Criminal Code, which bars the expression of
"feelings of hostility, hatred or contempt toward the government." The charges stemmed
from articles in AJI's unlicensed newsmagazine Independen
that dealt with topics such as the succession to President Suharto and the personal
wealth of the country's leaders. Maryadi's 32-month sentence was increased on Oct.
11 to 36 months in prison, following a closed appeal hearing.
Tri Agus Susanto Siswowihardjo,
Kabar Dari Pijar
Imprisoned:
March 9, 1995
Siswowihardjo, editor in chief of Kabar dari Pijar,
a bulletin published by the Jakarta-based nongovernmental organization Pijar, was
arrested during a police raid on the organization's offices. He was convicted on
Sept. 11 of "intentionally insulting" President Suharto, in violation of Articles
55(1) and 134 of the Criminal Code. The case against Siswowihardjo was based on the publication
of an article in the bulletin's June 1994 issue, entitled "This Country Has Been
Messed Up by a Man Called Suharto.
Ahmad Taufik,
Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI)
Imprisoned:
March 16, 1995
Taufik, president of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) was arrested along
with several others at an AJI gathering. He was convicted on Sept. 1 of violating
Article 19 of the press law, which prohibits the publication of an unlicensed newspaper or magazine, and Article 154 of the Criminal Code, which bars the expression of "feelings
of hostility, hatred or contempt toward the government." The charges stemmed from
articles in AJI's unlicensed newsmagazine Independen
that dealt with topics such as the succession to President Suharto and the personal
wealth of the country's leaders. Taufik's 32-month prison sentence was increased
on Oct. 11 to 36 months, following a closed appeal hearing. CPJ honored Taufik with
its annual International Press Freedom Award on Dec. 6.
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Suharto
Office of the President
Istana Merdeka
Jakarta, Indonesia
Fax: 62-21-778-182
IRAN (2)
Salman Heidari,
Salam
Imprisoned:
June 1992
Heidari, a reporter for the Tehran daily Salam,
was arrested and accused of espionage. It is unclear whether he has been formally
charged and tried.
Manouchehr Karimzadeh,
Free-lancer
Imprisoned:
April 11, 1992
Karimzadeh, a cartoonist, was arrested after a cartoon of his appeared in the science
magazine Farad
. It depicted a turban-wearing soccer player with an amputated arm.The image was interpreted
by the authorities to be a caricature of the late Ayatollah Khomeini. An Islamic
Revolutionary Court originally sentenced him to one year in prison, but he was retried in 1993 by order of the Supreme Court and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Telex: 214231 MITI IR or 213113 PRIM IR
IRAQ (1)
Aziz al-Syed Jasim,
Al-Ghad
Imprisoned:
April 18, 1991
Jasim, editor of Al-Ghad
magazine and former editor of the official daily Al-Thawra,
was taken into custody at a secret police station in Baghdad and has not been heard
from since. Government officials deny that he is under arrest. During a previous
term of imprisonment that began in 1989, Jasim was forced to write a number of books
in support of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
APPEALS TO:
President Saddam Hussein
c/o Iraqi Mission to the United Nations
14 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10021 United States
KUWAIT (18)
Fawwaz Muhammad al-Awadi Bessisso
Ibtisam Berto Sulaiman al-Dakhil
Usamah Suhail Abdallah Hussein
Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Asad al-Husseini
Ahmad Abd Mustafa
Sentenced:
June 1991
The five journalists were given life sentences for working for the Iraqi occupation
newspaper Al-Nida
. They were taken into custody after Kuwait's liberation and charged with collaboration.
The trials, which began on May 19, 1991, in martial-law courts, failed to comply
with international standards of justice. The defendants were reportedly tortured
during their interrogations. Their defense--that they were coerced to work for the Iraqi
newspaper--was not rebutted by prosecutors. On June 16, 1991, the journalists were
sentenced to death. Ten days later all martial-law death sentences were commuted
to life terms, following international protests.
Wafa Wasfi Ahmad
Belqiss Hafez Fadhel
Zekarayat Mahmoud Harb
Walid Hassan Muhammad Karaka
Rahim Muhammad Najem
Ghazi Mahmoud al-Sayyed
Sentenced:
June 1991
A martial law tribunal in June 1991 sentenced the three men and three women to 10
years in prison with hard labor for their "supporting role...in helping to publish
the [Iraqi occupation] paper [Al-Nida
]." The defendants reportedly were tortured during interrogation. The prosecution
did not offer direct evidence to rebut the coercion defense of the accused. Four
other staff members--Riyadh Fouad Shaker Ali, Ahmad Muhammad Hannoun, Zuhra Muhammad
Adel Abd al-Khaleq and Lefta Abdallah Menahi--were also sentenced to 10 years in prison for
allegedly working at the paper, though it appears that they did not work as journalists.
Daoud Suleiman al-Qarneh
Hassan al-Khalili
Muhammad Zahran
Nawwaf Izzedin al-Khatib
Sentenced:
June 20, 1992
The four Palestinian journalists were convicted of having worked for the Iraqi occupation
newspaper Al-Nida
and sentenced by the State Security Court to 10 years in prison. The court also fined
them KD2000 each and ordered that they be expelled from the country upon termination
of their sentences. Al-Qarneh was formerly deputy chief editor at the Kuwait News
Agency (KUNA), and al-Khalili was formerly an editor at KUNA.
Bassam Fouad Abiad
Mufid Mustafa Abd al-Rahim
Ghazi Alam al-Dine
Sentenced:
July 28, 1992
The State Security Court convicted Abiad, Abd al-Rahim and Alam al-Dine of working
for the Iraqi occupation newspaper Al-Nida
. Abiad, a Lebanese citizen, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Abd al-Rahim, a
Palestinian, and Alam al-Dine, a Jordanian citizen and former editor at the Kuwait
News Agency, were sentenced to 10 years in prison. Alam al-Dine had only worked a
total of 12 hours for Al-Nida
. The court also fined each of the three men KD2000 and ordered that they be expelled
from the country upon termination of their sentences.
APPEALS TO:
His Highness Shaikh Sa'ad al-'Abdallah al-Sabah, Crown Prince and Prime Minister
Al-Diwan al-Amiri
Al-Safat
Kuwait City, Kuwait
Telegrams to: His Highness Shaikh Sa'ad al-'Abdallah al-Sabah, Kuwait City, Kuwait
Fax: 965-243-0121
LIBYA (1)
Abdallah Ali al-Sanussi al-Darrat
Imprisoned:
1974 or 1975
Al-Darrat, a journalist and writer from Benghazi, was arrested in 1974 or 1975 and
has been held in the interim without trial.
APPEALS TO:
Revolutionary Leader
Col. Muammar al-Qadhafi
c/o Libyan Mission to the United Nations
309-315 East 48th St.
New York, NY 10017 United States
MYANMAR (BURMA) (8)
U Nay Min,
BBC
Imprisoned:
1988
U Nay Min, a lawyer and BBC correspondent, was arrested in 1988 and sentenced in October
1989 to 14 years' hard labor.
U Win Tin
Imprisoned:
July 4, 1989
U Win Tin, former editor of two daily newspapers and vice-chair of Burma's Writers
Association, was arrested and sentenced to three years' hard labor. His sentence
was subsequently extended. He was active in establishing independent publications
during the 1988 student democracy movement, and he also worked closely with imprisoned National
League for Democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. U Win Tin is reported to be gravely
ill and was seen wearing a neck brace by U.S. Congressman Bill Richardson during
a February 1994 prison visit.
U Maung Maung Lay Ngwe
Imprisoned:
September 1990
U Maung Maung Lay Ngwe was arrested and charged with writing and distributing publications
that "make people lose respect for the government." The publications were titled,
collectively, Pe-Tin-Tan
.
U Myo Myint Nyein,
What's Happening
Imprisoned:
September 1990
U Myo Myint Nyein, who was arrested in September 1990 for contributing to the satirical
newsmagazine What's Happening,
was sentenced to seven years in prison under the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act.
U Sein Hlaing,
What's Happening
Imprisoned:
September 1990
U Sein Hlaing, publisher of the satirical newsmagazine What's Happening,
was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison under the 1950 Emergency Provisions
Act.
Daw San San Nwe
U Sein Hla Oo
Imprisoned:
August 5, 1994
Dissident writer Daw San San Nwe and journalist U Sein Hla Oo were arrested on charges
of spreading information damaging to the state and contacting anti-government groups.
On Oct. 6, 1994, Daw San San Nwe was sentenced to 10 years in prison and U Sein Hla Oo was sentenced to seven years. Officials said they had "fabricated and sent anti-government
reports to some diplomats in foreign embassies, foreign radio stations and visiting
foreign journalists." Both men were previously imprisoned for their involvement with the National League for Democracy (NLD), Burma's main pro-democracy party.
As of December 1994, they were being held at Insein Prison in Rangoon.
Ye Htut
Imprisoned:
September 27, 1995
Ye Htut was arrested on charges of sending fabricated news abroad to Burmese dissidents
and opposition media. Among the organizations to which Ye Htut allegedly confessed
sending reports was the Thailand-based Burma Information Group (BIG), which publishes the human rights newsletter The Irawaddy
. Myanmar's official media claimed that BIG had presented a false picture of the country
to foreign governments and human rights organizations. Ye Htut was sentenced to seven
years in prison.
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency General Than Shwe
Prime Minister and Minister of Defense
Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council
Ministry of Defense
Signal Pagoda Road
Yangon, Myanmar
Telex: 21316
NIGERIA (8)
Godwin Adbroko,
The Week
Chris Mamah,
The Week
Imprisoned:
September 7, 1995
Mamah, the managing editor for the privately owned magazine The Week,
and Adbroko, a reporter for the magazine, were arrested by agents of the State Security
Services after they published an article about the struggle for succession set off
by Gen. Sani Abacha's deteriorating health.
Kunle Ajibade,
TheNEWS
Imprisoned:
May 5, 1995
Police arrested Ajibade, an editor of the daily TheNEWS,
and demanded to know the source of the article "No One Guilty: The Commission of
Inquiry Presents an Empty File Regarding Suspects in the Coup d'Etat." He was also
held because of his refusal to divulge the whereabouts of his colleague Dapo Olorunyomi,
who went underground. In July, Ajibade and George Mbah of Tell
magazine were secretly tried by a special military tribunal, charged as accessories
to treasonable felony and sentenced to prison terms of undisclosed length. On Oct.
1, Nigeria's Independence Day, the Provisional Ruling Council amended their sentences
to 15 years in prison.
Olufisayo Alabi,
Osun Voice
Imprisoned:
March 1995
Security agents in the state of Osun arrested Alabi, publisher of the Oshogbo-based
community newspaper Osun Voice,
in connection with an article he published called "Udofia's Administration: The
Reign of Agony" in the Feb. 19 edition of his paper.
Christine Anyanwu,
The Sunday Magazine
Imprisoned:
May 1995
Anyanwu, publisher and editor in chief of The Sunday Magazine,
was rearrested in May 1995, after having been held in detention for a week in March
for her reports on the alleged March coup plot. She was secretly tried with Ben Charles
Obi, editor of Weekend Classique,
before a special military tribunal in July. Both were given life sentences. On Oct.
1, Nigeria's Independence Day, the Provisional Ruling Council commuted their sentences
to 15 years in prison.
Nosa Igiebor,
Tell
Imprisoned:
December 23, 1995
Igiebor, the editor in chief of Tell
magazine, was arrested by six members of the State Security Service at his home in
Lagos. Authorities demanded that he reveal his sources for articles critical of the
government and accused him of receiving financial support from "outsiders."
George Mbah,
Tell
Imprisoned:
May 5, 1995
Mbah, assistant editor of Tell
magazine, was arrested by soldiers for contributing to a report about a military
officer who died during interrogation regarding his involvement in an alleged coup
plot. In July, Mbah and Kunle Ajibade of TheNEWS
were secretly tried by a special military tribunal, charged with being accessories
to treasonable felony and sentenced to prison terms of undisclosed length. On Oct.
1, Nigeria's Independence Day, the Provisional Ruling Council amended their sentences
to 15 years in prison.
Ben Charles Obi,
Weekend Classique
Imprisoned:
May 1, 1995
Obi, the editor of the weekly newsmagazine Weekend Classique,
was arrested for his reports on an alleged coup plot in March. In July, he and Christine
Anyanwu of The Sunday Magazine
were tried by a special military tribunal and both were given life sentences. On
Oct. 1, Nigeria's Independence Day, the Provisional Ruling Council commuted their
sentences to 15 years in prison.
APPEALS TO:
Gen. Sani Abacha
Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
State House
Abuja
Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
Fax: 234-95-232-138
PAKISTAN (1)
Farhan Effandi,
Parcham
Imprisoned:
September 14, 1995
Effandi, Hyderabad correspondent for the Karachi-based Urdu-language daily Parcham,
was seized in Hyderabad by government paramilitary rangers and taken to a local
police station where he was held in custody for two days. Effandi told colleagues
that he was blindfolded, kicked and beaten during his detention there. On Sept. 16,
he was charged with illegally possessing a Kalashnikov automatic rifle, which rangers claimed
to have found during a Sept. 15 raid on his office. Effandi's trial is scheduled
for Feb. 22, 1996, in Hyderabad. His newspaper is widely seen as an organ of the
Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM), an armed opposition party of Muslim immigrants from India
and their descendants.
APPEALS TO:
Her Excellency Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
Office of the Prime Minister
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: 92-51-821-574 or 92-51-825-835 (c/o Ministry of Education)
PERU (8)
Javier Tuanama Valera,
Hechos
Imprisoned:
October 16, 1990
Tuanama, editor in chief of the magazine Hechos,
was arrested on charges of terrorism on Oct. 16, 1990. He was sentenced on Nov.
7, 1994, to 10 years in prison for alleged links with the terrorist group Revolutionary
Movement Tupac Amaru. He is currently being held at the Picsi Prison near Chiclayo.
Jose Antonio Alvarez Pachas,
Cambio
Imprisoned:
June 11, 1992
Alvarez, a journalist with the left-wing weekly Cambio,
was detained on June 11, 1992, and sentenced on May 24, 1993, to six years in prison
under anti-terrorism legislation. He is currently being held at the Miguel Castro
Castro Prison in Lima.
Hermes Rivera Guerrero,
Radio Oriental
Imprisoned:
May 8, 1992
First arrested in May 1992, Rivera, a reporter for Radio Oriental, was sentenced to
20 years in prison in February 1994 for alleged terrorist activity. He is currently
being held in the Picsi Prison near Chiclayo.
Eduardo Sihue Cano,
Cambio
Imprisoned:
June 12, 1992
Sihue, a layout artist for the left-wing weekly Cambio,
was detained and later sentenced to six years in prison for allegedly "apologizing
for terrorism," a crime under the anti-terrorism legislation instituted in Peru in
1992. He is being held at the Miguel Castro Castro Prison in Lima.
Pedro Carranza Ugaz,
Radio Oriental
Imprisoned:
November 29, 1993
Carranza, a journalist with Radio Oriental, was detained on Nov. 29, 1993, and sentenced
on Nov. 7, 1994, to 20 years in prison on charges of being a member of the Revolutionary
Movement Tupac Amaru terrorist group. He is being held in the Picsi Prison near Chiclayo.
Alfonso Castiglione Mendoza,
Radio Amistad FM Stereo
Imprisoned:
April 29, 1993
Castiglione, journalist and owner of Radio Amistad FM Stereo, was given a 20-year
prison sentence for terrorism in a retrial on Nov. 21, 1995. He was originally detained
on April 29, 1993, on charges of collaborating with terrorists and was first sentenced to 20 years in prison on Aug. 19, 1994. He is being held at the Miguel Castro Castro
Prison in Lima.
David Cajahuamán Picoy
Imprisoned:
March 1994
Cajahuamán, a journalist and public employee in Huanuco, was arrested on charges of
terrorism. He is currently in a Trujillo prison.
Augusto Ernesto Llosa Giraldo,
El Casmeno
Imprisoned:
February 14, 1995
Llosa, editor in chief of the newspaper El Casmeno
and a reporter with Radio Casma, was arrested in Casma and charged with involvement
in a 1986 terrorist incident in Cuzco. A secret tribunal of the Superior Court of
Cuzco convicted and sentenced him on Aug. 10 to six years in prison. Llosa is being
held in the maximum security Yanamayo prison.
APPEALS TO:
Su Excelencia Alberto Fujimori
Presidente de la República del Perú
Palacio de Gobierno
Lima, Perú
Fax: 51-14-326-535
SYRIA (6)
Faisal Allush
Imprisoned:
1985
Allush, a journalist and political writer who has been in jail since 1985, was sentenced
in June 1993 to 15 years' imprisonment for membership in the banned Party for Communist
Action.
Anwar Bader,
Syrian Radio and Television
Imprisoned:
December 1986
Bader, a reporter for Syrian Radio and Television, who has been in jail since his
arrest by the Military Interrogation Branch in December 1986, was convicted in March
1994 of being a member in the Party for Communist Action. He was sentenced to 12
years in prison.
Samir al-Hassan,
Fatah al-Intifada
Imprisoned:
April 1986
Al-Hassan, Palestinian editor of Fatah al-Intifada,
who has been in jail since his arrest in April 1986, was convicted in June 1994
of being a member of the Party for Communist Action. He was sentenced to 15 years
in prison.
Jadi Nawfal,
Free-lancer
Imprisoned:
December 18, 1991
Nawfal, a free-lance journalist, was arrested on Dec. 18, 1991, and sentenced the
following March to five years in prison for belonging to Committees for the Defense
of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria.
Salama George Kila
Imprisoned:
March 1992Kila, a Palestinian writer and journalist, was arrested in March 1992 by
Political Security in Damascus. His trial began in the summer of 1993. The court
ruled that he was guilty of a misdemeanor rather than a felony. Since the maximum
sentence for a misdemeanor is three years, his release was expected in March 1995. But he remains
in prison.
Nizar Nayouf,
Free-lancer
Imprisoned:
January 1992
Nayouf, a free-lance journalist who has contributed to Al-Huriyya
and Al-Thaqafa al-Ma'arifa,
was arrested in January 1992 in Damascus with several human rights activists from
the Committees for the Defense of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria.
In March 1992, he was sentenced by the State Security Court to 10 years in prison
for "disseminating false information and receiving money from abroad." He was severely tortured
during his interrogation.
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Hafez al-Assad
President of the Syrian Arab Republic
Presidential Palace
Damascus, Syria
Telex: 419160 munjed sy
TUNISIA (2)
Hamadi Jebali,
Al-Fajr
Imprisoned:
January 1991
Jebali, editor of Al-Fajr,
the weekly newspaper of the banned Islamist Al-Nahda party, was sentenced to 16
years in prison by the military court in Bouchoucha on Aug. 28, 1992. He was tried
along with 170 others accused of belonging to Al-Nahda. Jebali was convicted of "aggression with the intention of changing the nature of the state" and "membership in an illegal
organization." During his testimony, Jebali denied the charges against him and displayed
evidence that he had been tortured while in custody. Jebali has been in jail since January 1991, when he was sentenced to one year in prison after Al-Fajr published
an article calling for the abolition of military courts in Tunisia. International
human rights groups monitoring the mass trial concluded that it fell far below international standards of justice.
Abdellah Zouari,
Al-Fajr
Imprisoned:
February 1991
Zouari, a contributor to Al-Fajr,
the weekly newspaper of the banned Islamist Al-Nahda party, was sentenced to 11
years in prison by the military court in Bouchoucha on Aug. 28, 1992. He was tried
along with 170 others accused of belonging to Al-Nahda. He has been in jail since
February 1991, when he was charged with "association with an unrecognized organization." International
human rights groups monitoring the trial concluded that it fell far short of international
standards of justice.
APPEALS TO:
M. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
President of the Republic
Palais Presidentiel
Tunis, Tunisie
Fax: 216-1-744-721
TURKEY (51)
Imprisoned before 1994 (11)
Naile Tuncer,
Devrimci Proletarya
Imprisoned:
May 1992
Tuncer, formerly the editor responsible for the left-wing magazine Devrimci Proletarya,
was arrested in May 1992
Tuncay Atmaca,
Emek
Imprisoned:
August 1993
Atmaca, formerly the editor responsible for the left-wing monthly Emek,
was arrested in August 1993.
Ismail Besikçi
Imprisoned:
November 12, 1993
Be ikçi, a prominent writer and journalist, was arrested and sentenced to one year
in prison for an article he wrote in the now-defunct Yeni Ülke
daily. Since then, he has been convicted in other cases for articles he published
on the Kurdish question in the now defunct Özgür Gündem
and for books he has written on the matter. By the end of 1994, the prison sentences
he had received totaled 67 years. More cases against him are pending.
Bektas Cansever,
Devrimci Çözüm
Imprisoned:
January 7, 1993
Cansever, a reporter for the left-wing magazine Devrimci Çözüm,
was taken into custody during a police raid on the magazine's headquarters in Istanbul.
He was subsequently arrested.
Sakine Fidan,
Mücadele
Imprisoned:
July 20, 1993
Fidan, Diyarbakir correspondent for the left-wing weekly Mücadele,
was arrested and later convicted of belonging to an outlawed organization
Ismail Günes,
Özgür Gündem
Imprisoned:
December 11, 1993
Günes, a correspondent for the pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem,
was taken into custody during a police raid on the Agri bureau of the newspaper.
He was subsequently charged with being a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party and arrested.
Mustafa Kaplan,
Beklenen Vakit
Imprisoned:
September 28, 1993
Kaplan, a writer at the right-wing daily Beklenen Vakit,
was arrested and later convicted of insulting Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern
Turkey, and of insulting the Turkish president. He was sentenced to five years in
prison.
Hasan Özgün,
Özgür Gündem
Imprisoned:
December 9, 1993
Özgün, Diyarbakir correspondent for Özgür Gündem,
was taken into custody during a police raid on the paper's bureau in Diyarbakir.
He was subsequently charged with aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party and
arrested.
Hüseyin Solak,
Mücadele
Imprisoned:
September 1993
Solak, Gaziantep bureau chief of Mücadele
magazine, was arrested in September 1993.
Kemal Topalak,
Devrimci Çözüm
Imprisoned:
January 7, 1993Ça lar, Mücadele's
Topalak, a reporter for Devrimci Çözüm,
was taken into custody during a police raid on the magazine's headquarters in Istanbul.
He was subsequently arrested.
Sinan Yavuz,
Yoksul Halkin Gücü
Imprisoned:
1993
Yavuz, formerly the editor of the left-wing weekly Yoksul Halkin Gücü,
was arrested in 1993 for articles published in the magazine.
Imprisoned in 1994 (20)
Hüsniye Akbulut,
Partizan Sesi
Imprisoned:
November 12, 1994
Akbulut, one of the editors responsible for Partizan Sesi,
a leftist monthly, was arrested and is being held in Bayrampa a Prison in Istanbul.
Mehmet Akdemir,
Isçi Hareketi
Imprisoned:
November 24, 1994
Akdemir, a reporter for the left-wing magazine Isçi Hareketi,
was taken into custody during a police raid on the magazine's main offices in Istanbul.
He was subsequently arrested.
Metin Alhas,
Mücadele
Imprisoned:
October 23, 1994
Alhas, one of the Antakya correspondents for the weekly magazine Mücadele,
was detained during a police raid on the magazine's Antakya bureau. He was subsequently
arrested.
Aysel Bölücek,
Mücadele
Imprisoned:
October 11, 1994
Bölücek, one of Mücadele's
Ankara correspondents, was picked up by the police at her home and detained. She
was later arrested.
Sabri Bölek,
Özgür Gündem
Imprisoned:
January 3, 1994
Bölek, a correspondent for Özgür Gündem,
was arrested and charged with belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Articles
he wrote about the security forces and their operations and human rights violations
in the Southeast were cited as evidence of his PKK membership.
Nevzat Bulut,
Özgür Ülke
Imprisoned:
August 10, 1994
Bulut, a correspondent for Özgür Ülke,
was taken into custody during a police raid on the newspaper's Agri bureau. He was
subsequently charged with being a member of the outlawed Kurdish insurgent organization
PKK and arrested. Articles he wrote about the security forces and their operations and human rights violations in the Southeast were cited as evidence in his trial.
Ali Sinan Çaglar,
Mücadele
Imprisoned:
August 6, 1994
Ça lar, Mücadele's
Ankara correspondent, was arrested and charged with membership in an illegal organization.
On Jan. 23, 1995, he was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison. His articles in Mücadele
and his status as a staff correspondent were used as evidence that he belonged to
an outlawed left-wing organization.
Cemal Dag,
Özgür Gündem
Imprisoned:
January 10, 1994
Dag, one of the Diyarbakir correspondents for Özgür Gündem,
was arrested on charges that he was a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party and
was aiding the outlawed organization. His trial is still in progress.
Mir Ali Demir,
Yoksul Halkin Gücü
Imprisoned:
November 24, 1994
Demir, a reporter for the left-wing weekly Yoksul Halkin Gücü,
was taken into custody during a police raid on the magazine's main offices in Istanbul.
He was arrested on Dec. 6, 1994.
Serdar Gelir,
Mücadele
Imprisoned:
April 16, 1994
Gelir, one of Mücadele's
Ankara correspondents, was detained on April 16, 1994, and arrested 10 days later.
Nuran Gezici,
Yoksul Halkin Gücü
Imprisoned:
April 1994
Gezici, a reporter for Yoksul Halkin Gücü,
was arrested in April 1994.
Teoman Gül,
Newroz
Imprisoned:
November 1994
Gül, a reporter for Newroz
magazine, was arrested in November 1994.
Özkan Kiliç,
Alternatif
Imprisoned:
1994
Kiliç, editor in chief of the now defunct left-wing monthly magazine Alternatif,
was sentenced in 1994 to four years in prison for articles published in the magazine
in 1993. He is in Bursa Prison serving his sentence.
Haydar Özdemir,
Yoksul Halkin Gücü
Imprisoned:
October 1994
Özdemir, a reporter for Yoksul Halkin Gücü
magazine, was arrested in October 1994.
Ibrahim Özen,
Devrimci Çözüm
Imprisoned:
April 1994
Özen, a former owner of the magazine Devrimci Çözüm,
was taken into custody during a police raid on the magazine's headquarters in Istanbul.
He was charged with being a member of an outlawed organization. He is being held
in Gebze Prison in Istanbul.
Fethiye Peksen,
Devrimci Çözüm
Imprisoned:
April 1994
Peksen, a former owner of the magazine Devrimci Çözüm,
was taken into custody during a police raid on the magazine's headquarters in Istanbul.
She was charged with being a member of an outlawed organization. She is being held
in Gebze Prison in Istanbul.
Gülcan Sarioglu,
Mücadele
Imprisoned:
October 23, 1994
Sario lu, one of the Antakya correspondents for the weekly magazine Mücadele,
was detained during a police raid on the magazine's Antakya bureau. He was subsequently
arrested.
Havva Suiçmez,
Devrimci Gençlik
Imprisoned:
November 24, 1994
Suiçmez, a reporter for the magazine Devrimci Gençlik,
was detained during a police raid on the main offices of the magazine in Istanbul.
She was arrested on Dec. 6 and charged with being a member of an illegal organization.
Leyla Tasdar,
Yoksul Halkin Gücü
Imprisoned:
October 1994
Tasdar, a reporter for Yoksul Halkin Gücü
magazine, was arrested in October 1994.
Isik Ocak Yutçu,
Özgür Gündem
Imprisoned:
December 28, 1994
Yutçu, a prominent writer and journalist who served as the editor responsible for
the pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem
in 1991 and 1992, was arrested and sent to prison when the appeals court upheld a
25-year sentence against him. Charged under the Anti-Terror Law, he was convicted
of publishing "separatist propaganda" in various articles that appeared in the daily
while he was the editor. He faces charges in other, similar cases.
Imprisoned in 1995 (20)
Hasan Abali,
Atilim
Imprisoned:
June 15, 1995
Abali, a reporter for the leftist weekly newspaper Atilim,
was taken into custody during a police raid on the newspaper's Mersin bureau. On
June 24, he was formally arrested.
Hulya Akinci,
Alinteri
Imprisoned:
August 12, 1995
Akinci, a reporter working in the Adana bureau of the weekly leftist newspaper Alinteri,
was detained by police for two days before being formally arrested on Aug. 14.
Salih Bal,
Medya Gunesi
Imprisoned:
June 2, 1995
Bal, former editor in chief of the Kurdish-language periodical Medya Gunesi,
was arrested with his wife after their home was raided by police. He and his wife,
who was eight months pregnant at the time, were held at the anti-terror branch of
Istanbul Police Headquarters. Bal's wife was released after 10 days. Bal was accused
of disseminating separatist propaganda and is being held in Istanbul's Bayrampasa Prison.
Emine Buyrukcan,
Özgür Halk
Imprisoned:
1995
Buyrukcan, formerly the editor responsible for the pro-Kurdish monthly magazine Özgür Halk,
was arrested sometime in 1995. She is being held in Istanbul's Bayrampasa Prison.
Mehmet Çakar,
Partizan Sesi
Imprisoned:
February 13, 1995
Çakar, the bureau chief in Izmir for the leftist monthly Partizan Sesi,
was arrested and charged with being a member of an outlawed organization. He is
being held in Duca Prison in Izmir.
Mustafa Çoskun,
Partizan Sesi
Imprisoned:
May 18, 1995
Çoskun, Elazig bureau chief of the leftist monthly Partizan Sesi,
was arrested and charged with being a member of an outlawed organization. He is
being held in Elazig Prison.
Faruk Deniz,
Özgür Ülke
Imprisoned:
May 23, 1995
Deniz, a journalist with the now-defunct pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Ülke,
was arrested and accused of aiding an outlawed organization. He is being held in
Bayrampa a Prison in Istanbul.
Erdal Dogan,
Alinteri
Imprisoned:
July 14, 1995
Dogan, a reporter in the Ankara office of leftist weekly Alinteri,
was arrested on July 14, 1995.
Özgür Güdenoglu,
Mücadele
Imprisoned:
May 24, 1995
Güdenoglu, Mücadele's
Konya bureau chief, was arrested on May 24, 1995. He is jailed in Konya Prison.
Hassan Gül,
Newroz
Imprisoned:
1995
Gül, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Newroz
magazine, was arrested sometime in 1995. He is being held in Malatya Prison.
Fatma Harman,
Atilim
Imprisoned:
June 15, 1995
Harman, a reporter for the leftist weekly newspaper Atilim,
was taken into custody during a police raid on the newspaper's Mersin bureau. On
June 24, he was formally arrested.
Hanim Harman,
Mücadele
Imprisoned:
February 4, 1995
Harman, one of Mücadele's
Malatya correspondents, was taken into custody and is being held in Malatya Prison.
Mustafa Kiliç,
Newroz
Imprisoned:
1995
Kiliç, a reporter with the pro-Kurdish weekly Newroz,
was arrested sometime in 1995 and is being held in Malatya Prison.
Bulent Öner,
Atilim
Imprisoned:
June 15, 1995
Öner, a reporter for the leftist weekly newspaper Atilim,
was taken into custody during a police raid on the newspaper's Mersin bureau. On
June 24, he was formally arrested.
Kemal Sahin,
Özgür Gündem
Imprisoned:
November 1995
Sahin, the former editor in chief of the now-defunct pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem,
was arrested and accused of being a member of an outlawed organization. There are
also several cases pending against him stemming from his days as the daily's editor.
He is being held in Umraniye Prison in Istanbul.
Bulent Sumbul,
Özgür Halk
Imprisoned:
April 1995
Sumbul, a reporter working in the Diyarbakir bureau of the pro-Kurdish monthly magazine
Özgür Halk,
was arrested during a police raid on the Diyarbakir office. Tried and convicted
under the Anti-Terror Law, he was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.
He is being held in Lice Prison.
Nuran Tekdag,
Özgür Halk
Imprisoned:
October 31, 1995
Tekdag, a correspondent in Diyarbakir for the pro-Kurdish monthly magazine Özgür Halk,
was arrested and charged with aiding an outlawed organization. Her trial begins
on March 28, 1996.
Melek Tukur,
Alinteri
Imprisoned:
September 9, 1995
Tukur, a reporter in Maltaya for the leftist weekly newspaper Alinteri,
was taken in for questioning by police and was formally arrested after her interrogation.
Özlem Türk,
Mücadele
Imprisoned:
1995
Türk, a reporter for the leftist magazine Mücadele,
was arrested sometime in 1995 and is being held in a prison in Ankara.
Suleyman Yaman,
Newroz
Imprisoned:
1995
Yaman, a reporter for Newroz,
was arrested sometime in 1995 and is incarcerated in Malatya Prison.
APPEALS TO:
Tansu Çiller
Prime Minister
Basbakanlik
06573 Ankara, Turkey
Fax: 90-312-418-04-76
VIETNAM (8)
Doan Viet Hoat,
Freedom Forum
Imprisoned:
November 17, 1990
Hoat, editor and publisher of the pro-democracy newsletter Freedom Forum,
was sentenced to 20 years of hard labor in late March 1993 for his involvement with
the newsletter. He is currently serving out his sentence, commuted to 15 years on
appeal, in Thanh Cam prison. Located in northern Vietnam, near the Laotian border,
Thanh Cam is normally reserved for serious criminal offenders. Hoat suffers from kidney
stones, a condition that developed during his previous 12-year incarceration by the
Hanoi regime.
Pham Duc Kham,
Freedom Forum
Imprisoned:
Late 1990
Kham was sentenced to 16 years in prison in late March 1993 for his involvement with
the pro-democracy newsletter Freedom Forum
. His sentence was reduced on appeal to 12 years. Kham is presently incarcerated at
Xuan Phuoc labor camp.
Nguyen Van Thuan (Chau Son)
Freedom Forum
Imprisoned:
Late 1990
Thuan was sentenced to 12 years in prison in late March 1993 for his involvement with
the pro-democracy newsletter Freedom Forum
. His sentence was reduced on appeal to eight years. Thuan suffered a stroke on Feb.
25, 1994, that left him partially paralyzed. Authorities ordered him to return to
Ham Tan prison camp after 30 days in the hospital.
Le Duc Vuong,
FreedomForum
Imprisoned:
Late 1990
Vuong was reportedly sentenced in late March 1993 to seven years in prison for his
involvement with the pro-democracy newsletter Freedom Forum
. Vuong is presently incarcerated at Xuan Phuoc labor camp.
Nguyen Dan Que
Sentenced:
November 1991
Que was convicted of compiling and distributing subversive literature and sentenced
to 20 years in prison. Before he was imprisoned, he had distributed political handbills
and sent documents abroad. Que, who suffers from hypertension and a bleeding gastric ulcer, is imprisoned at the Xuyen Moc labor camp in Dong Nai province.
Hoang Minh Chinh
Imprisoned:
June 1995
Police arrested dissident writer Chinh in Hanoi in June 1995. He was convicted on
Nov. 8 of violating the interests of the state by writing and distributing documents
criticizing the government and was sentenced to 12 months in prison. Chinh had written
essays criticizing the Communist Party's monopoly on power and had demanded the rehabilitation
of party members purged in the 1960s. Chinh, the former director of the Institute
of Marxist-Leninist Philosophy, was previously jailed from 1967 to 1973 and from 1981to 1987 for alleged "revisionism."
Do Trung Hieu
Imprisoned:
June 1995
Police arrested dissident writer Hieu in Ho Chi Minh City in June 1995. On Nov. 8,
he was convicted of violating the interests of the state by writing and distributing
documents criticizing the government and was sentenced to 15 months in prison. In
privately circulated pamphlets, Hieu had written about the government's attempts to disband
the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and had called for greater openness in the
Communist Party. Hieu, a former party official in charge of religious affairs in
Ho Chi Minh City, was previously arrested in 1990 and expelled from the party in 1992.
Nguyen Xuan Tu (Ha Si Phu)
Imprisoned:
December 5, 1995
Tu, a biologist and dissident writer whose pen name is Ha Si Phu, was arrested in
Dalat. Two days later, police searched his house and confiscated documents and manuscripts,
including two issues of Thien Chi Monthly,
a Vietnamese-language journal published in Germany that had reprinted some of Tu's
essays. Tu was reportedly charged with violating Article 92 of the Criminal Code,
a national security provision that outlaws possessing or divulging "state secrets."
Earlier in the year, Tu had written an essay in which he called Marxism-Leninism an outdated
relic that was harmful to the country's economic reforms. In a Dec. 4 radio interview
on a California station, he called on Vietnamese-Americans to lobby for withholding the most-favored-nation trading status for Vietnam until that country's democracy
was "well developed."
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Do Muoi
General Secretary of the Central Committee
Communist Party of Vietnam
1 Hoang Van Thu
Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Fax: 84-4-259-205 or 84-4-459-205
WESTERN SAHARA (1)
Bahi Mohamed Ould Deif
Imprisoned:
1986
Bahi Mohamed, a Moroccan journalist, disappeared in 1986 while reporting from Tindouf,
in western Algeria. After his disappearance, an Algerian newspaper reported that
he had been arrested by the Polisario Front--a group fighting for an independent state
in Western Sahara--for plotting the assassination of its general secretary, Mohamed
Abdelaziz. Abdelaziz's claim that Bahi Mohamed is at liberty and free to return to
Morocco has not been confirmed. The Moroccan National Press Syndicate maintains he
is still being held against his will.
APPEALS TO:
Muhammad Abd al-Aziz
Secretary General of the Polisario Front
B.P. 10
El Mouradia
Algiers, Algeria
ZAIRE (3)
Mukalayi Mulongo,
OZRT-Shaba
Kabemba wa Yulu,
OZRT-Shaba
Imprisoned:
May 19, 1995
Mulongo, the program director of the state-owned radio station OZRT-Shaba, and wa
Yulu, a journalist with the station, were arrested by Lubumbashi Security Service
officers for granting the Shaba province president of the Union of Independent Republicans
(UFERI) party the right to respond to statements made by the national UFERI president.
Modeste Mutinga,
Le Potentiel
Imprisoned:
March 9, 1995
Mutinga, editor of the opposition triweekly Le Potentiel,
was arrested by civil guards. No official reason for the arrest was given. Colleagues
believe it signaled a crackdown on the liberal press.
APPEALS TO:
Son Excellence Monsieur Mobutu Sese Seko
Président de la République de Zaire
Kinshasa-Ngaliema, Zaire
Fax: c/o Embassy of Zaire
ZAMBIA (1)
Gerard Gatare,
Rwandan National Television
Imprisoned:
October 10, 1995
Gatare, a former editor at Rwandan National Television, was detained and imprisoned
in Kabwata Central Prison in Lusaka. Early in 1995, Gatare, fearing for his life,
fled to Zambia from a refugee camp outside Rwanda. No charges have been brought against
him. His arrest came after a Rwandan government minister visited Zambia, reportedly
bringing a list of "wanted" Rwandan intellectuals with him. Gatare is one of at least
16 Rwandan refugees currently imprisoned in Zambia. He had been awarded the 1994-95
Fulbright Hubert Humphrey Fellowship for International Journalists.
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Frederick Chiluba
President of the Republic of Zambia
State House
Independent Avenue
Lusaka, Zambia
Fax: 260-1-221-939
The Death Toll
51 Confirmed Cases of Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty in 1995*
CPJ has confirmed 51 cases of journalists who were killed in 1995 for reasons directly
related to their work. Six confirmed deaths--one each in Azerbaijan, Burundi, Croatia
and Somalia, and two in Chechnya--were combat casualties. The other 45 cases all appear to have been homicides.
For the second consecutive year, Algeria was the most dangerous place in the world
for journalists. The 24 Algerian reporters and editors murdered by rebel terrorists
in 1995 accounted for nearly half the job-related deaths of journalists in the world
during the year.
Since May 1993, when Islamist rebels began targeting local reporters and editors,
53 journalists have been assassinated in Algeria--the largest number of press corps
casualties CPJ has recorded in any country over the past 10 years.
In other disturbing developments, three provincial magazine publishers and an editor
were murdered in separate and unrelated incidents in Brazil, where violent crimes
against journalists had been rare. In three of the cases, the journalists had been
covering corruption and human rights abuses by local government officials and police.
The breakdown of CPJ's confirmed cases is as follows:
- 24 journalists killed in Algeria;
- 7 journalists killed in Russia;
- 4 journalists killed in Brazil;
- 3 journalists killed in Colombia; and
- 1 journalist killed in each of the following countries--Angola, Azerbaijan, Burundi,
Canada, Croatia, Dominican Republic, India, Mexico, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey,
Uganda and Ukraine.
Staff researchers at CPJ are investigating another nine deaths of journalists in 1995.
In some cases, it has not yet been determined if their deaths were directly related
to their profession. And in four of the cases, regarding journalists who are missing in Chechnya, the subjects are feared dead but searches continue.
In 1994, 73 journalists were killed. Fifty-nine of these deaths were homicides and
14 were combat casualties.
This report also includes an account of journalists killed in the line of duty in the past decade.
Countries Where Journalists Were Killed in 1995
ALGERIA
Confirmed: 24
Zineddine Aliou Salah,
Liberté
Date of Death:
January 6, 1995
Place of Death:
Near Blida
Aliou Salah, an investigative reporter for the independent French-language daily Liberté,
was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in the late morning as he was leaving his
home near Blida, south of Algiers. According to his colleagues, Aliou Salah's name
was on a fundamentalist rebel group's death list that was displayed at mosques in
Blida.
Ali Abboud,
Radio Chaîne 1
Date of Death:
January 7, 1995
Place of Death:
Birkhadem, Algiers
Abboud, adjunct editor in chief of the state-owned Arabic-language Radio Chaîne 1,
was shot in the head by unidentified assailants near his home in Birkhadem, on the
southern outskirts of Algiers. He died of his wounds the next day at a military hospital
without having regained consciousness.
Abdelhamid Yahiaoui,
El Chaab
Date of Death:
January 12, 1995
Place of Death:
Baraki, Algiers
Yahiaoui, a copy editor with the government-controlled Arabic daily El Chaab,
was abducted as he left his home in Baraki, on the outskirts of Algiers, on his way
to meet a friend. The next day his body was found about 100 meters from his house,
with two bullet wounds to the head.
Nacer Ouari,
ENTV
Date of Death:
February 1, 1995
Place of Death:
Sidi Moussa
Ouari, a journalist with state-run Algerian television (ENTV) who produced a weekly
news program for the hearing-impaired, was killed in the morning near his home in
Sidi Moussa, about 35 kilometers southeast of Algiers. One week earlier the radical
Armed Islamic Group (GIA) had issued a press release threatening to execute all journalists
working for television and radio.
Djamel Ziater,
El Djoumhouria
Date of Death:
February 17, 1995
Place of Death:
Near Oran
Ziater, a reporter with the government-run Arabic-language daily El Djoumhouria,
was shot to death as he was visiting his mother's grave in the Gdiel cemetery, about
20 kilometers outside the city of Oran.
Ali Boukerbache,
Media-TV
Date of Death:
March 21, 1995
Place of Death:
East of Algiers Boukerbache, owner of the private production company Media-TV, was
shot to death in his car at an intersection between Dergana and Rouiba, about 20
kilometers east of Algiers, as he was driving to Media-TV's offices. The company
had recently produced a documentary about women and terrorism.
Mohamed Abderrahmani,
El Moudjahid
Date of Death:
March 27, 1995
Place of Death:
Algiers
Abderrahmani, director of the government-run French-language daily El Moudjahid,
was killed after unidentified assailants sprayed his car with bullets when he stopped
at a traffic light on his way to work.
Rachida Hammadi,
ENTV
Date of Death:
March 31, 1995
Place of Death:
Algiers
On March 20, Rachida Hammadi, a well-known investigative reporter for state-run Algerian
television (ENTV), and her sister, Houriya, who was a secretary for the television
station, were gunned down by unknown assailants while they were waiting outside their parents' home for a hired car to pick them up and take them to work. Houriya died
instantly. Rachida sustained two bullet wounds to the neck--one by each ear. She succumbed
to her wounds in a Paris hospital on March 31. The radical Armed Islamic Group (GIA) claimed responsibility for her murder.
Mekhlouf Boukzer,
ENTV
Date of Death:
April 4, 1995
Place of Death:
Constantine
Boukzer, a sports commentator for state-run Algerian television (ENTV), was found
dead in the trunk of his car near his home in the eastern Algerian city of Constantine.
His throat had been slit. Television reports indicated that men disguised as policemen went to the journalist's residence the previous night and ordered him to go with
them.
Azzedine Saidj,
El Ouma
Date of Death:
May 15, 1995
Place of Death:
East of Algiers
Saidj, former editor in chief of the now-defunct independent weekly El Ouma,
was found dead in his car, about 15 kilometers east of Algiers. His throat had been
slit.
Malika Sabour,
Echourouk al-Arabi
Date of Death:
May 21, 1995
Place of Death:
Reghaia
Sabour, a cultural reporter for the independent Arabic-language weekly Echourouk al-Arabi
and a contributor to a number of arts reviews, was shot to death by three men disguised
as policemen at her family home in Reghaia, about 25 kilometers east of Algiers.
Bakhti Benaouda,
El Djoumhouria
Date of Death:
May 22, 1995
Place of Death:
Oran
Benaouda, a professor of Arabic at Oran University and a frequent contributor to many
publications, including the government-run daily El Djoumhouria,
was shot to death in the evening by unknown assailants in the Delmonte quarter of
the western city of Oran
Mourad Hmaizi,
ENTV
Date of Death:
May 27, 1995
Place of Death:
Baraki
Unknown gunmen shot and killed Hmaizi, a reporter with state-run Algerian television
(ENTV), as he was getting out of his car in front of his home in Baraki, a suburb
of Algiers.
Ahmed Takouchet,
Radio Cirta
Date of Death:
June 18, 1995
Place of Death:
Constantine
Takouchet, a journalist with Radio Cirta, the state-run radio station based in the
eastern city of Constantine, was kidnapped from his home by four men on the night
of June 17 and found with his throat slit the next day.
Naïma Hammouda,
Révolution Africaine
Date of Death:
August 2, 1995
Place of Death:
Saoula
Hammouda, a cultural reporter with the weekly Révolution Africaine
and formerly with Le Matin
and L'Hebdo Libéré,
was shot to death. Her body was discovered near an apartment building where she had
been staying in the Algiers suburb of Saoula. She was so disfigured that her remains
were not correctly identified until Aug. 11. Earlier it was mistakenly reported that
her remains were those of L'Hebdo Libéré
journalist Aïcha Benamar, who used to live in the same building.
Ameur Ouagueni,
Le Matin
Date of Death:
August 20, 1995
Place of Death:
Algiers
Ouagueni, head of the international news department at the French-language independent
daily Le Matin,
was shot and critically wounded in front of his home in Algiers. He died of his wounds
in a hospital later that night.
Saïd Tazrout,
Le Matin
Date of Death:
September 3, 1995
Place of Death:
Tizi-Ouzou
Tazrout, Tizi-Ouzou bureau chief for the French-language daily Le Matin,
was shot to death by two unknown gunmen outside his home in Tizi-Ouzou, capital of
the Kabylie region.
Yasmina Brikh,
Algerian radio
Date of Death:
September 4, 1995
Place of Death:
Eucalyptus, Algiers
Brikh, a journalist for a cultural program on Algerian radio, was shot and killed
near her home in the Eucalyptus section of Algiers.
Brahim Guaraoui,
El-Moudjahid
Date of Death:
September 4, 1995
Place of Death:
Eucalyptus, Algiers
Guaraoui, a journalist and cartoonist for the government-run daily El Moudjahid, was
kidnapped and killed. He was found dead near his home in the Eucalyptus section of
Algiers.
Said Brahimi,
ENTV
Date of Death:
September 9, 1995
Place of Death:
Cherarda
Brahimi, a journalist with Algerian television (ENTV), and his wife, Radja, who worked
as an administrative assistant at the station, were gunned down in their car in the
town of Cherarda, in the Dellys district.
Omar Ouartilan,
El Khabar
Date of Death:
October 3, 1995
Place of Death:
Belcourt, Algiers
Ouartilan, editor in chief of the independent Arabic-language daily El Khabar,
was shot to death at a newsstand near his home in the Belcourt district of Algiers
on his way to work at the nearby Maison de la Presse Tahar Djaout. Despite the death
threats against all journalists, Ouartilan refused protection and would not change
the route he took between his home and office.
Saida Djebaili,
Al-Hayat al-Arabia
Date of Death:
October 17, 1995
Place of Death:
Algiers
Djebaili, a journalist with the Arabic-language daily Al-Hayat al-Arabia,
was killed in Algiers along with her driver, Mustapha Lazar, as she was returning
home from work. She was shot several times in the head with automatic weapons.
Hamid Mahiout,
Liberté
Date of Death:
December 2, 1995
Place of Death:
Rais Hamidou, Algiers
Unknown assailants kidnapped and killed Mahiout, a reporter for the independent French-language
daily Liberté,
and Ahmed Belkhefellah, his driver. They were found dead the following morning in
the Rais Hamidou neighborhood in Algiers. Colleagues report that Mahiout and Belkhefellah
were decapitated, their heads impaled on spikes and each put on top of the other's
body.
Khadija Dahmani,
Echourouk al-Arabi
Date of Death:
December 5, 1995
Place of Death:
Baraki, Algiers
Dahmani, a reporter for the weekly tabloid Echourouk al-Arabi,
was shot dead near her home in Baraki, a stronghold of Islamic fundamentalism in
the south of Algiers. She was killed at a bus stop on her way to work. Dahmani was
the sixth female journalist killed in Algeria in 1995.
ANGOLA
Confirmed: 1
Ricardo de Mello,
Imparcial Fax
Date of Death:
January 18, 1995
Place of Death:
Luanda
De Mello, director of the privately owned newsletter Imparcial Fax,
was gunned down by an unidentified assassin outside his home. De Mello was shot in
the early morning hours on the stairs leading to his apartment in the capital of
Luanda. According to his wife, de Mello had recently been warned by military officials
to stop writing about the war.
AZERBAIJAN
Confirmed: 1
Adil Bunyatov,
Reuters TV and Turan News Agency
Date of Death:
March 17, 1995
Place of Death:
Baku
Bunyatov, a cameraman for Reuters and the Turan News Agency, was killed while filming
an attack by Azeri government troops on the headquarters of a rebel police unit on
the outskirts of Baku, the nation's capital. A report by the Turan News Agency said
government censorship introduced in the wake of the rebellion had prevented opposition
newspapers and the independent media from revealing any details about Bunyatov's
death.
BRAZIL
Confirmed: 4
Zaqueu de Oliveira,
Gazeta de Barroso
Date of Death:
March 21, 1995
Place of Death:
Minas Gerais
De Oliveira, editor of the monthly publication Gazeta de Barroso
in Minas Gerais, was shot and killed by a local merchant, José Carlos de Souza. The
murder apparently stemmed from a dispute about articles the journalist had written
concerning de Souza's wife. De Oliveira's mother was also shot and wounded in the
attack against her son. De Souza, who remains free while awaiting trial, claimed that he
killed de Oliveira in self-defense. De Oliveira's mother, however, claims that she
and her family continue to receive death threats from people close to de Souza.
Marcos Borges Ribeiro,
Independente
Date of Death:
May 1, 1995
Place of Death:
Rio Verde
Borges, owner of the monthly publication Independente,
was murdered by a policeman in Rio Verde, in the central Brazilian state of Goias.
He was shot four times at point-blank range at his home and died from his wounds
on the way to the hospital. According to his wife, who witnessed the murder, he had
received death threats after his new and very controversial paper reported on alleged human
rights abuses committed by city officials, including the local police. The policeman,
Gláucio dos Reis Santana, confessed to the killing, claimed it was in self-defense
and surrendered to the police a few days after the crime. Local sources told CPJ that
when dos Reis murdered Borges, he was accompanied by the wife of the regional police
chief. In the last edition of his paper, Borges had denounced the regional police
chief, who is a close friend of dos Reis. At year's end, dos Reis and the police chief's
wife were free on bail, awaiting trial. But the chief has not been charged in connection
with the murder. Instead he and several other policemen who had been criticized in Borges' articles were transferred to another city.
Aristeu Guida da Silva,
A Gazeta de São Fidélis
Date of Death:
May 12, 1995
Place of Death:
São Fidélis
Guida da Silva, owner of the weekly A Gazeta de São Fidélis
in the city of São Fidélis, located northwest of Rio de Janeiro, was shot dead in
front of his house by two hooded men riding a motorbike. Guida da Silva, his father
has reported, received death threats for articles he had written accusing the local
municipal council president of corruption. No one has been apprehended.
Reinaldo Coutinho da Silva,
Cachoeiras Jornal
Date of Death:
August 29, 1995
Place of Death:
Sao Goncalo
Coutinho da Silva, owner of the weekly Cachoeiras Jornal
in the village of Cachoeiras de Macacu, Rio de Janeiro, was killed by unknown assassins.
The assailants fired 14 shots at close range while the journalist sat in his car
at a stoplight in the neighboring town of São Gonçalo. A police investigation has
revealed several possible motives for the killing, all linked to Coutinho da Silva's
work, in particular his investigation of police corruption, which led to the arrest
of a group of police officers who have been detained since Aug. 7, and his investigation of a local politician's involvement in an environmental scandal, which he was planning
to publish at the time of his murder.
BURUNDI
Confirmed: 1
Vincent Francis,
Worldwide Television News (WTN)
Date of Death:
April 6, 1995
Place of Death:
Near Bujumbura
Francis, the Johannesburg bureau chief for WTN, the British television news agency,
was killed in an ambush 15 kilometers northwest of the capital of Bujumbura. His
interpreter and driver were also killed, and WTN cameraman Victor Dhlamini was wounded
in the attack. Dhlamini said their attackers were clearly bandits who "just wanted money"
and stole the journalists' cash, television equipment and other belongings.
CANADA
Confirmed: 1
Brian Smith,
CJOH-TV
Date of Death:
August 1, 1995
Place of Death:
Ottawa
Smith, a sportscaster with CJOH-TV and one of the most popular television sports reporters
in Toronto, died a day after he was shot in the head by a man waiting in a parking
lot outside the station building in Ottawa. Smith was on his way to his car shortly after his "Newsline" broadcast. When he walked out the station's main door, he
was gunned down by Jeffrey Arenburg. According to the police, Arenburg bore a grudge
against the media and wished to harm a media personality. Arenburg, who turned himself
in, had been charged three years earlier with assaulting a man who worked at a radio
station in Bridgewater, after accusing the station of meddling with his mind and
transmitting his "future thoughts."
COLOMBIA
Confirmed: 3
Ivan Darío Pelayo,
Llanorámica
Date of Death:
August 17, 1995
Place of Death:
Puerto Rondón
Pelayo, manager of the radio station Llanorámica in Puerto Rondón, Arauca, was killed
by members of the National Liberation Army (ELN), a guerrilla group that has been
leading an insurgency against the government for the past two decades. The guerrillas
broke into the station's studio and shot Pelayo as he was broadcasting a program. They
left behind leaflets that accused Pelayo of being an enemy of the people and a member
of paramilitary groups.
Gabriel Cruz Diaz,
El Heraldo
Date of Death:
November 11, 1995
Place of Death:
Chinu, Córdoba
Cruz Diaz, a correspondent for El Heraldo
in the department of Córdoba and a member of the Colombian Academy of History, was
stabbed to death in Chinu by unknown assailants. He was working on a book about the
military's role in Córdoba, where the Colombian government has been battling leftist
insurgents.
Ernesto Acero Cadena,
Informador Socioeconómico
Date of Death:
December 12, 1995
Place of Death:
Armenia
Acero, director of the weekly economics bulletin Informador Socioeconómico
and a veteran reporter, was killed on the street in Armenia, Quindío, by an unknown
assailant who shot him three times and then fled. No one has been apprehended. Acero's
colleagues believe that his murder may be related to his outspoken stance against
corruption and his decade-long career as a journalist. Acero was the former regional
director for Armenia of the national radio network Radio Caracol and a former reporter
for Radio Cadena Nacional.
CROATIA
Confirmed: 1
John Schofield,
BBC
Date of Death:
August 9, 1995
Place of Death:
Vrginmost
Schofield, a radio reporter for the BBC, was shot and killed by fire from Croat forces.
Schofield and three colleagues from the BBC were traveling from Zagreb to Bihac in
an armored vehicle. Unaware that they were in an unsecure zone, the journalists left their vehicle to film houses burning in the village of Vrginmost. Croat soldiers
opened fire but immediately stopped when the crew shouted, "We are press!" Two of
Schofield's colleagues were slightly wounded in the incident.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Confirmed: 1
Juan Carlos Vásquez,
Ultima Hora
Date of Death:
July 2, 1995
Place of Death:
Near Santo Domingo
Vásquez, a sports reporter with the afternoon daily Ultima Hora,
was shot and killed by an off-duty policeman after a dispute over a hit-and-run accident.
Vásquez, Ultima Hora
photographer Victor Abreu Peña and a cameraman were on their way back from Santo Domingo
where they had covered a jet-ski competition when their jeep collided with a public
minibus. According to witnesses, the three journalists then followed the minibus,
which had driven away from the scene of the accident. When the minibus finally stopped,
Vasquez began talking with the bus driver and a man got off, identified himself as
a police officer and drew his gun. After Vásquez allegedly asked the policeman to
explain why the accident occurred and told the cameraman to film the officer wielding
his gun, the policeman shot Vásquez twice without warning. He also shot and wounded
Peña, who was trying to help the fallen Vásquez. The officer then tried to shoot
the cameraman who was filming the exchange. The three journalists had been traveling in
a jeep belonging to a television station, and the vehicle was clearly marked with
the station's logo. The policeman, who was subsequently dismissed from his job, was
arrested and at year's end was in prison awaiting trial on charges of murder.
INDIA
Confirmed: 1
Mushtaq Ali,
Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Asian News International (ANI)
Date of Death:
September 10, 1995
Place of Death:
Srinagar
Ali, a photographer for AFP and a camera operator for ANI, was fatally injured when
a letter bomb addressed to Yusuf Jameel, Srinagar correspondent for the BBC and Reuters,
exploded in his hands on Sept. 7. The package, which had been delivered to Jameel's office by an unidentified woman wearing an enveloping black burkha,
was opened by Ali while Jameel was on the phone. The explosion severed Ali's left
hand, disfiguring his face and severely injuring his right hand and abdomen. He died
of his injuries three days later.
MEXICO
Confirmed: 1
Ruperto Armenta Gerardo,
El Regional
Date of Death:
February 5, 1995
Place of Death:
Guasave
Armenta, editor of the Guasave-based weekly El Regional
in Sinaloa, was beaten to death by the lawyer Felipe de Jesús Lizárraga. His body
was dumped in a canal near Guasave. Lizárraga, who was an acquaintance of Armenta
and was driving with him in the car that was found at the scene, originally claimed
that they were attacked by police agents. But because of contradictions in his statement
and other circumstantial evidence, the lawyer was charged with the murder and detained.
Soon after, however, Lizárraga, then the president of the Lawyer's Guild of Sinaloa,
was freed, setting off demonstrations by journalists who believe he killed Armenta
after a fight about articles the journalist had written about him. As a result of
the demonstrations, Lizárraga was rearrested and put on trial. On Nov. 18, he was
convicted and sentenced to 13 years and three months in prison and fined 11,000 nuevos pesos.
Lizárraga has appealed the sentence.
RUSSIA
Confirmed: 7
Jochen Piest,
Stern
Date of Death:
January 10, 1995
Place of Death:
Chervolyonna, Chechnya
Piest, a correspondent for the German newsmagazine Stern,
was killed in a suicide attack by a Chechen rebel in the village of Chervlyonna, about
15 miles northeast of the Chechen capital of Grozny. The rebel was firing his submachine
gun as he drove a small diesel locomotive at high speed toward an empty Russian troop train parked on the track. Piest was fatally hit by three bullets. Rossiskaya Gazeta
correspondent Vladimir Sorokin was wounded in the attack. The gunman died when the
locomotive collided with the military train.
Viatcheslav Rudnev,
Free-lancer
Date of Death:
February 17, 1995
Place of Death:
Kaluga
Rudnev, a free-lance journalist who worked in Kaluga, a district outside of Moscow,
was found on February 13 in the hallway of his apartment building with a serious
skull injury. He died four days later in the local hospital. Rudnev was known for
his exposés of corruption and the criminal underworld, which were published in regional newspapers
such as Znamya
(Flag) and Vest
(News). Rudnev apparently had received death threats prior to the incident and had
reported them to the local police. The circumstances of his death are still unknown.
Vladislav Listyev,
Russian Public Television (OTR)
Date of Death:
March 1, 1995
Place of Death:
Moscow
Listyev, executive director of the newly formed public television station OTR, was
shot dead as he entered his apartment building. Listyev was one of Russia's best-known
TV journalists. Some observers suspect his murder is connected to a controversy over
whether to permit advertising on the new network.
Farkhad Kerimov,
Associated Press Television (APTV)
Date of Death:
May 29, 1995
Place of Death:
Chechnya
Kerimov, a cameraman with APTV, was shot dead in Chechnya. He was reported missing
on May 27, and his body was found on May 29. The circumstances of his murder are
unknown.
Natalya Alyakina,
RUFA News Agency and Focus magazine
Date of Death:
June 17, 1995
Place of Death:
Budyonnovsk
Alyakina, a Russian journalist with the German weekly newsmagazine Focus
and the RUFA News Agency, was killed by a Russian soldier. She had been given permission
by Russian soldiers to cross a Russian army checkpoint leading into the southern
city of Budyonnovsk, where she was going to report on a mass hostage-taking by Chechen rebels, but she was shot shortly after passing through the roadblock.
Shamkhan Kagirov,
Rossiskaya Gazeta and Vozrozheniye
Date of Death:
December 13, 1995
Place of Death:
Near Grozny
Kagirov, a reporter for the Moscow daily newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta
and the local paper Vozrozheniye,
was shot and killed in an ambush in Chechnya. Kagirov and three local policemen were
traveling in a car near Grozny when they were attacked. The three policemen were
also killed.
Vadim Alferyev,
Segodnyashnyaya Gazeta
Date of Death:
December 27, 1995
Place of Death:
Krasnoyarsk
Alferyev, a crime reporter with Segodnyashnyaya Gazeta
in Krasnoyarsk, was beaten to death in the entrance of his apartment building. Alferyev
was writing about economic crimes in the region and had received repeated threats.
SOMALIA
Confirmed: 1
Marcello Palmisano,
RAI
Date of Death:
February 9, 1995
Place of Death:
Mogadishu
Palmisano, a cameraman for the Italian public television station RAI, was shot and
killed on the road to the Mogadishu airport, where he and reporter Carmen Lasorella
were to cover the withdrawal of U.N. troops. It is believed the attack on the two
Italians was part of a dispute called the "banana war" between two rival banana export firms,
Somalfruit and Sombana. The journalists were riding in a car belonging to Somalfruit
when they were attacked by gunmen riding in Sombana's "technical"--a vehicle mounted with heavy weapons. Witnesses report that Palmisano was mistaken for a Somalfruit
executive.
TAJIKISTAN
Confirmed: 1
Mohyedin Alempour,
BBC
Date of Death:
December 12, 1995
Place of Death:
Dushanbe
Alempour, head of the BBC's Persian Service bureau in Tajikistan, was found dead near
the University of Tajikistan in Dushanbe with a bullet wound to his head. Nothing
had been stolen from him, even though he was wearing a gold ring and carrying his
documents. Alempour was the 28th journalist to be killed in Tajikistan since mid-1992.
TURKEY
Confirmed: 1
Sayfettin Tepe,
Yeni Politika
Date of Death:
August 29, 1995
Place of Death:
Bitlis
Tepe, a correspondent for the banned Yeni Politika
newspaper in the southeastern city of Batman, was taken into custody on Aug. 22.
Four days later he was moved to the Bitlis Security Directorate. He died in custody
on Aug. 29. His family was told that he committed suicide, but rejects that official
explanation.
UGANDA
Confirmed: 1
Hussein Musa Njuki,
Assalaam
Date of Death:
August 28, 1995
Place of Death:
Kampala
Njuki, editor of the opposition weekly newsletter Assalaam,
died in police custody in a hospital. He had been arrested three days earlier and
was immediately taken to the Criminal Investigations Division (CID). While CPJ has
received several different reports regarding his arrest and death, it is certain
that he was taken into custody by a group of plainclothesmen from the Anti-Robbery Squad, an
extension of the government's Internal Security Organization (ISO). One source claimed
that Njuki had been suffering from a debilitating illness, the effects of which were fatally exacerbated by the shock of the ambush by the ISO squad. Another source reports
that Njuki was in perfect health before the arrest and was beaten to death by ISO
agents. Yet another report contends that he collapsed during an attempt to escape
and died in the hospital of a heart attack. A police guard remained in Njuki's hospital
room throughout his stay.
UKRAINE
Confirmed: 1
Vladimir Ivanov,
The Glory of Sebastopol
Date of Death:
April 18, 1995
Place of Death:
Sebastopol
Ivanov, editor in chief of the Sebastopol local daily The Glory of Sebastopol,
was fatally injured when a bomb, triggered by a remote control, exploded in a garbage
can outside his home on April 14. He was taken to a local hospital where he underwent
three operations and had his legs amputated. He died of his wounds four days after the explosion. Ivanov was an ethnic Russian, and his paper's editorial line supported
greater autonomy for the predominantly Russian population of Crimea. Shortly before
the attempt on his life, Ivanov had begun a campaign in his newspaper denouncing
the Crimean Mafia and protesting the construction of an oil refinery by a Ukrainian-Swedish
company. His newspaper had also recently published several articles supporting the
creation of a free trade zone in Sebastopol, a plan that was expected to strengthen Crimean autonomy.
Unconfirmed Deaths
BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA
Unconfirmed: 1
Sasa Kolevski,
Bosnian Serb Television
Date of Death:
September 23, 1995
Place of Death:
Mount Ozren
Kolevski, a cameraman for Bosnian Serb Television in Banja Luka, and the station's
driver Goran Pejcinovic, disappeared on Sept. 23 while covering fighting on Mount
Ozren. The Bosnian Foreign Ministry issued a statement claiming that the two were
killed in cross fire during the fighting. The Bosnian Serb news agency, SRNA, claims that
they were killed while in custody of Bosnian Muslims. According to a Bosnian Serb
Television reporter who was riding with them at the time of the incident, Bosnian
troops shot at their vehicle, seriously wounding or killing Kolevski and Pejcinovic. The body
of Pejcinovic was returned to Bosnian Serb authorities on Oct. 25.
BURUNDI
Unconfirmed: 1
Pamphile Simbizi,
RTNB
Date of Death:
June 7, 1995
Place of Death:
Bujumbura
Simbizi, director of the French radio section of the state-run National Radio and
Television of Burundi (RTNB), was stabbed to death by soldiers of unknown affiliation
in the Gasenyi district of Bujumbura. Simbizi was part of the moderate Hutu movement.
GUATEMALA
Unconfirmed: 1
Alberto Antoniotti Monge,
El Gráfico
Date of Death:
January 29, 1995
Place of Death:
North of Guatemala City
Monge, columnist for the daily El Gráfico
and president of the Broadcasters Association, was gunned down by five unknown men
in front of his home north of Guatemala City. Monge, a former correspondent of "ECO,"
a television news program of the Mexican Televisa chain, was also a press attaché
for Public Prosecutor Ramses Cuestas Gómez, who has been investigating top military officials
for alleged corruption and criminal activity.
RUSSIA
Unconfirmed: 4
Maxime Chabalin,
Nevskoye Vremya
Felix Titov,
Nevskoye Vremya
Date of Death:
Unknown
Place of Death:
Unknown
Chabalin, the assistant political editor of the St. Petersburg daily Nevskoye Vremya,
and Titov, a photographer for the paper, were reported missing in Chechnya. They
left Nazran on Feb. 27 for their fifth trip to the breakaway republic since fighting
there began. According to Nevskoye Vremya
's editor in chief, the journalists were due back on March 4. But they have not been
heard from since, and are feared dead.
Sergei Ivanov,
Nevskoye Vremya
Date of Death:
Unknown
Place of Death:
Unknown
Ivanov, a correspondent for Nevskoye Vremya,
a St. Petersburg daily, was last seen by his colleagues on June 16 when he left for
the Oryokhnov region of Chechnya. Ivanov was going to look for Nevskoye Vremya
journalists Maxime Chabalin and Felix Titov, who had not been heard from since Feb.
27. By year's end, Ivanov's colleagues still had not heard from him, and they fear
he may have been killed.
Ivanov, a correspondent for Nevskoye Vremya,
a St. Petersburg daily, was last seen by his colleagues on June 16 when he left for
the Oryokhnov region of Chechnya. Ivanov was going to look for Nevskoye Vremya
journalists Maxime Chabalin and Felix Titov, who had not been heard from since Feb.
27. By year's end, Ivanov's colleagues still had not heard from him, and they fear
he may have been killed.
Andrew Shumack,
Free-lancer
Date of Death:
Unknown
Place of Death:
Unknown
Shumack, an American free-lance journalist, was last seen on July 28, when he left
the Chechen capital of Grozny and headed toward the surrounding mountainous area.
The St. Petersburg Press,
an English-language newspaper, had provided Shumack with a letter of introduction
on July 20 to help him obtain press credentials. In return, Shumack was to provide
them with photographs and stories for three months. He is feared dead because no
one from the newspaper has heard from him since, and U.S. Embassy officials have not been
able to locate him despite repeated trips to the region.
UKRAINE
Unconfirmed: 1
Viktor Frelix,
Independent journalist
Date of Death:
June 2, 1995
Place of Death:
L'vov
Frelix, an independent journalist and a founder of the ecological group Green World
of Ukraine, died in L'vov of poisoning. He had been investigating the military's
connection with an epidemic in the city of Chernovtsy, in the central oblast of Bukovina,
and had alleged that the illnesses resulted from the city's proximity to a military
base. The Ukrainian prosecutor stated that Frelix's death was the result of a terrorist
act. Colleagues report that the day before his death, Frelix obtained further evidence relevant to his investigation. The autopsy concluded that the cause of the publisher's
death was kidney failure caused by poisoning.
UNITED KINGDOM
Unconfirmed: 1
Tarsem Singh Purewal,
Desh Pardesh
Date of Death:
January 24, 1995
Place of Death:
London
Purewal, editor and publisher of Desh Pardesh,
was shot and killed near his newspaper's office in London's Southall neighborhood.
Desh Pardesh
is Britain's largest-circulation Punjabi-language newspaper.
HONORED FOR THEIR EXTRAORDINARY COURAGE
Journalists Receive 1995 International Press Freedom Awards
The International Press Freedom Awards are given annually by CPJ to journalists around the world who have courageously provided
independent news coverage and viewpoints under difficult circumstances. To defend
press freedom, award winners have risked arrest, imprisonment, violence against themselves and their families, and even death.
The 1995 Awards were presented on Dec. 6 in New York City to the following people:
Yevgeny Kiselyov
is cofounder of NTV, Russia's first financially and editorially independent television
network, and anchor of its uncompromising news show "Itogi." Under Kiselyov's leadership,
NTV has proved to be a reliable and unbiased news source. Its reputation--both in the minds of the viewers and the Kremlin--was cemented by its unflinching coverage
of the Chechen conflict. Kiselyov was warned that he risked losing NTV's license
if he did not present the government's policy in a more favorable light. Presenting
the award, ABC News' Peter Jennings said of Kiselyov, "He was the one who took the phone
call from the Kremlin and ignored it. And it was Kiselyov who went on the air when
his colleague Vladislav Listyev was murdered and called it what it was--an act of
intimidation." Kiselyov accepted the award on behalf of all Russian journalists who have
resisted threats of censorship and other government pressure to provide the Russian
public with balanced coverage of the Chechen conflict and other matters of public
interest.
José Rubén Zamora Marroquín
is founder and editor in chief of Guatemala's most daring newspaper, Siglo Veintiuno
(21st Century). In a country where at least 50 journalists of Zamora's generation
have been killed for their work, his paper is known for its exposés of corruption,
drug trafficking and human rights violations. In May 1993, when the president suspended
the constitution, shut down the legislature and sent state censors under military guard
to all newspaper offices, Zamora altered the paper's masthead to Siglo Catorce--
14th Century--and ran solid blocks of ink in place of censored stories about the president's
actions. "Without the power of the word, there was only the power of silence," said
award-winning photojournalist Susan Meiselas presenting the award. "Zamora believed that silence could be heard." Readers understood, and while army troops seized
copies and burned them in the streets, Zamora faxed the original uncensored newspapers
around the world. The daily's coverage of the president's actions helped fuel an
international protest, ultimately forcing him to quit and flee the country in disgrace.
"You may think that we are courageous," Zamora told the guests at the awards dinner,
"but in my country, many people think we are crazy. This award proves to us that
we are the sane ones."
Fred M'membe
, editor in chief of Zambia's leading independent newspaper, The Post,
faces criminal charges that could result in up to 100 years in prison for his paper's
exposés of drug trafficking, abuses of power and government corruption. The Post
became a defiant voice as Frederick Chiluba, the country's first democratically elected
president, began to renege on his promises for reform. "As M'membe has written,the
bitter truth is that free and fair elections do not guarantee the end to human rights violations," said NBC's Jane Pauley presenting the award. Chiluba has demonstrated
his intolerance b