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New York, December 29, 2010--Belarusian authorities continued their massive crackdown on critical news media on Tuesday as security agents raided offices shared by the independent weekly Nasha Niva and the Belarusian PEN Center.
Committee to Protect Journalists
Belarus
2010
New York, December 27, 2010--Belarusian authorities must immediately halt their assault on independent and pro-opposition news media, a crackdown that has led to unjust detentions, raids, and seizures, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
New York, December 23, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by the ongoing detention and potential prosecution of Belarusian journalists Natalya Radina , editor of the pro-opposition news website Charter 97, and Irina Khalip, local correspondent for the Moscow-based independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta. Both are considered suspects in organizing and participating in mass disorder--a charge that carries up to 15 years in prison if convicted, according to the website of the State Department of Internal Affairs (GUVD) in Minsk. It is not clear whether the two have been officially charged yet.
New York, December 21, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the prison sentences handed down to journalists who reported on post-election protests in Belarus, and the anti-media rhetoric by President Aleksandr Lukashenko.
New York, December 20, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the violent government crackdown against journalists covering demonstrations in Minsk against Sunday's flawed presidential vote won by President Aleksandr Lukashenko. Security police have arrested at least 20 journalists and beaten at least 20 more between the outbreak of rallies Sunday evening and their forcible dispersal in the early morning, according to local news reports.
As I mentioned last Friday, local journalists in Belarus were preparing for targeted disruption to Internet communications during Sunday's presidential elections. The online news site Charter '97, which has experienced more than its fair share of denial-of-service (DOS) attacks and police raids in the past, was already warning its readers last week to use their Facebook page as an alternative, in the event of its main site being attacked.
The extent of the widespread press crackdown in Minsk is still being measured, but I've been reading reports from within Belarus that spell out the drastic Internet side of the restrictions. Not only was Charter '97 attacked over the weekend, but apparently sites like Facebook and Twitter were also blocked by Belarus ISPs. Even more significantly, there has been widespread filtering of the channels that encrypted communications like "https" and secure email use. These filters aren't specific to one site, but block traffic based on how it connects to remote sites. That means that not only news or social networking sites, but banking, financial and most website login pages would be disrupted. It also means that journalists on the ground have been unable to access services like Gmail, or even send email directly from mail clients.
Hal Roberts at Berkman has more details. As the Charter '97 English Twitter feed notes, when your electricity is cut off and editors are being detained, such subtle technical censorship is somewhat of a side-note for journalists working within the country. But during key events, when reporters and eye-witnesses are working with foreign news media, such blocking can seriously hamper the ability to gather information and describe what is happening to the world at large.
This week, CPJ published its year-end analysis of work-related fatalities among journalists. Six of the 42 victims worked online. While you can read the full statistics and our special report elsewhere, I want to highlight the stories of these six journalists who worked on the Web.
Reports
| Afghanistan, Belarus, Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Honduras, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, Thailand, Yemen
At least 42 journalists are killed in 2010 as two trends emerge. Suicide attacks and violent street protests cause an unusually high proportion of deaths. And online journalists are increasingly prominent among the victims. A CPJ special report
New York, December 10, 2010--Belarusian authorities must stop harassing independent media outlets and journalists and allow them to cover the December 19 presidential elections without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
CPJ Internet Channel
| Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam
CPJ has documented for several years the use of spurious anti-piracy raids to shut down and intimidate media organizations in Russia and the former Soviet republics. Offices have been shut down, and computers seized. Often, security agents make bogus claims to be representing or acting on behalf of the U.S. software company Microsoft.
New York, December 3, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that Belarusian prosecutors have closed their investigation into the September death of Aleh Byabenin, founder and director of the Minsk-based, pro-opposition news website Charter 97. Authorities said Wednesday that they did not find evidence of foul play.
Today we will report another murder of a journalist. This one was in Argentina. The last one we documented was a couple days ago--Alberto Graves Chakussanga was shot in the back in Angola. These tragedies are part of our daily work at CPJ, but this week was different. There have been eight killings of journalists around the globe since September 3, an unusually high number during my three years as an editor here.
New York, September 8, 2010--Belarusian authorities must thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Aleh Byabenin, founder and director of the Minsk-based pro-opposition news website Charter 97, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Byabenin's brother and several friends found the journalist hanging from a stairway in his summer house outside the capital city of Minsk on Friday at around 5 p.m., Natalya Radina, editor of Charter 97, told CPJ. Byabenin had made plans with friends Thursday afternoon to go to the movies the same evening, but failed to show up at the theater, Radina said.
We issued the
following statement after learning that Belarusian authorities have stripped
Pavel Sheremet, a prominent journalist living in Russia, of his
Belarusian citizenship. In an interview today for the independent news Web site
Belarussky Partizan, Sheremet
said he received a notice about this from the Belarusian embassy in
New York, March 23, 2010—The Belarusian Supreme Court has upheld a government order that will obstruct the work of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, the country’s most prominent press freedom and media support organization. The Committee to Protect Journalists denounced the ruling, which was handed down Monday.
New York, March 16, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns raids
conducted today by Minsk police at the offices of the independent news Web site
Charter 97, the independent newspaper Narodnaya Volya, and the
home office of freelance reporter Irina Khalip.
• Restrictive law requires media obtain government registration.
• Administration eases some repressive tactics to gain EU favor.
Key Statistic
13: Independent papers blacklisted by state-controlled distributors.
Authorities eased their heavy-handed tactics of repression for much of the year even as a restrictive new media law took effect. The change in tone coincided with the European Union’s suspension of a three-year-old travel ban against President Aleksandr Lukashenko and 35 top officials that was first imposed in response to the regime’s treatment of opposition activists and journalists.
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