IFEX Communique #4-5

[root at newsdesk.aps.nl]

From: tabe at newsdesk.aps.nl (Tabe Kooistra)
Subject: Re: IFEX Communique #4-5
Reply-To: root at newsdesk.aps.nl

--------- Forwarded from : ifex at web.apc.org (Int Freedom Expression ) ----------

**** ****** ****** **   **
 **  **     **      ** **     
 **  *****  *****    ***        COMMUNIQUE # 4 - 5
 **  **     **      ** **     
**** **     ****** **   **      January 30, 1995

International Freedom of Expression eXchange Clearing House
_________________________________________________________________

INDEX OF THIS WEEK'S NEWS:

-TURKEY: FREEDOM OF THE PRESS DETERIORATES FURTHER 
-ALGERIA: GIA THREATENS TO KILL ALGERIAN BROADCAST JOURNALISTS
-VENEZUELA: LICENSING LAW PASSED INCLUDES PRISON SENTENCES
-MEXICO: PRESS TRYING TO "SURVIVE THE CRISIS"
-CHILE: COMMUNITY RADIO LIMITED BY LEGISLATION
-SUDAN: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN ON RIGHTS ABUSES
-MYANMAR: AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S SENTENCE EXTENDED INDEFINITELY
-NEW ZEALAND: JOURNALISTS CRITICAL OF COPYRIGHT LAW
-HUNGARY: PARLIAMENT PREPARES TO ADOPT BROADCAST LAW
-AWARDS: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AWARDS PRESS FREEDOM PRIZES
-NIGERIAN PUBLISHER BAYO ONANUGA WINS 1994 ASTOR AWARD
-PHOTOGRAPHER RECEIVES OVERSEAS PRESS CLUB AWARD POSTHUMOUSLY
-OTHER NEWS FROM THE IFEX COMMUNITY: IAPA HOTLINE IN 4 COUNTRIES
-INTERNATIONAL PEN TO HOST DISCUSSION ON "CENSORSHIP IN NIGERIA"
-ALERTS/ADVISORIES CARRIED BY THE CLEARING HOUSE THIS PAST WEEK

** ** **

TURKEY: FREEDOM OF THE PRESS DETERIORATES FURTHER

WRITER YASAR KEMAL DECRIES SELF-CENSORSHIP AND NATIONALISM OF
PRESS

Freedom of the press is only one of the human rights elements at
risk of deteriorating further in Turkey, says a special report in
the latest issue (#1 1995) of "Index on Censorship". The conflict
between the government and the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK)
remains the source of many rights abuses in Turkey. Over 100
writers and intellectuals remained in jail by the end of 1994,
writes Nicole Pope in "Letting Go", one of the "Index" articles,
and "publications were banned or seized and death squads pursued
their dirty business without ever being caught." News of the
conflict is often distorted by the principle newspapers, which
are nationalistic, says Pope, and the public must rely on private
television stations for some semblance of the truth. In another
article in "Index", Pope writes that although editorial writers
may criticize the government on the Kurdish issue, "actual
coverage of the fighting generally remains patchy and limited."

In "The dark cloud over Turkey", journalist and author Yasar
Kemal writes that the people of Turkey are deprived of the truth
if they read the national newspapers. He suggests that the
government might not need to censor information about the
annihilation of the Kurds because the "press, with its sense of
patriotism and strong nationalist sentiment, chose not to write
about it assuming the world would neither hear nor see what was
happening." Kemal says that while the international press has
taken notice of the situation, "Our ostriches still bury their
heads in the sand. The country is awash with blood and how can
our illustrious media remove its head from the sand?" Pope writes
that the mainstream national newspapers are prone to self-
censorship possibly "because media owners often receive credits
at favourable terms from state banks, although this has become so
habitual it does not guarantee media compliance."

Kemal writes, "Turkey's administrators have got so carried away
that intellectual crimes have been regarded as among the most
serious; people have rotted away in prison, been killed and
exiled for such crimes." There are more than 200 people in prison
who have been sentenced for "thought crimes." Kemal not only
accuses the national papers of ignoring human rights crimes, but
he blames them for perpetuating the hatred. "The sole reason for
this war is that cancer of humanity, racism. If this were not so,
would it be possible for right-wing, racist magazines and
newspapers to declare that `The Turkish race is superior to every
other'?"

According to the Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of
International PEN, Kemal, Turkey's "greatest living writer," will
be prosecuted for "disseminating separatism" in connection with
an article published in "Der Spiegel" on 10 January 1995. The
Kurdish writer strongly criticizes the Turkish policy on the
Kurds in "Campaign of Lies". Kemal, author of the acclaimed novel
"Mehmet My Hawk" and the only Turkish author to have been
shortlisted for the Nobel Prize for Literature, was officially
charged under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law in court on 23
January. Some of Turkey's foremost writers and artists
accompanied him to court. Kemal believes he was charged on the
basis of the translation of excerpts from his article, which had
been published in the Turkish press. Kemal has been imprisoned
twice for "alleged communist sympathies."

MAGHREB

ALGERIA: GIA THREATENS TO KILL ALGERIAN BROADCAST JOURNALISTS
      
The Armed Islamic Group (GIA) of Algeria has issued a statement
saying it would impose the death penalty on television and radio
journalists who do not cease the practice of journalism
immediately, according to a report forwarded by the Committee to
Protect Journalists (CPJ). On Sunday 22 January, "Al-Hayat", the
London-based Arabic newspaper which obtained the statement,
reported that the GIA referred to Algerian journalists as "hired
media who justify the crimes and cover up the [government's]
evils." The statement, which concluded with the slogan: "Those
who fight us with the pen shall be fought with the sword," was
signed by the Amir Abdulrahman Aminleader, the GIA leader.

Federico Mayor, the Director-General of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said,
"UNESCO cannot tolerate the use of blind and savage violence
against journalists. These threats are a blow against freedom of
the press, freedom of expression, and freedom of society as a
whole. This is why we must rise against the tyranny of extremists
whose sole aim is to incite hatred within the national community
and to substitute violence and intolerance for freedom of
expression and the press." Mayor concluded, "UNESCO salutes the
courage of those women and men who face harassment daily and
death threats because of their profession. The Organization
further encourages the authorities to take every necessary step
to restore conditions whereby journalists and media professionals
may exercise their profession in freedom and in security."

TUNISIA: JOURNALIST JAOUHARI SAHNOUN DIES IN CUSTODY

On 25 January, journalist Jaouhari Sahnoun, 42, died of unknown
causes while under arrest in Tunis, reported the Writers in
Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN in an alert
circulated by the IFEX Clearing House. Sahnoun worked for
"al-Fajr", a newspaper supporting the Islamist al-Nahda movement,
and was a former member of the board of directors of the Tunisian
League of Human Rights. Sahnoun had been arrested on 23 March
1991 and allegedly tortured. WiPC reports that he was sentenced
in the al-Nahda military trials in 1992 to 15 years in prison
after being charged with "attempting to overthrow the state with
violence." In early 1994, he reportedly suffered a nervous
breakdown; and he was transferred to the 9 Avril prison in
December 1994 for tests. He was moved to a Tunis hospital on 17
January, where he subsequently died. The circumstances of his
death are unclear.

AMERICAS

VENEZUELA: LICENSING LAW PASSED INCLUDES PRISON SENTENCES

On 22 December, President Rafael Caldera of Venezuela signed a
licensing bill that includes penalties of three to six months in
prison for journalists who do not join the national Journalist
Guild. According to the November/December 1994 issue of the
newsletter of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), "IAPA
News", the Venezuelan Congress approved legislation on 6 December
"requiring journalists to belong to the national Colegio and to
hold a university degree in journalism to practice their
profession." There are currently 8,300 members of the Guild (or
Colegio.) Licensing has been obligatory for journalists since
1972, but the legislation invoking sanctions is new. At the
Summit of the Americas in Miami last December, IAPA urged Caldera
to veto the bill. But IAPA reports that it received a letter from
Caldera later in the month rejecting its veto request, in which
he said that "the law could not reasonably be interpreted as a
violation of freedom of expression." IAPA President Raul E.
Kraiselburd warned that "Venezuela continues to move away from
the principles of freedom of expression and the press." The
Venezuelan Press Association is vigorously opposed to the
legislation.

MEXICO: PRESS TRYING TO "SURVIVE THE CRISIS"

Many journalists in Mexico find their access to information
limited, as happened with the recent devaluation of the peso,
said a Mexican publisher at a panel discussion organized by the
Freedom Forum on 24 January. "Mexico: Surviving the Crisis" was
the topic of discussion for panellists Alejandro Carillo Castro,
Secretary General of international affairs of the ruling Partido
Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), Mexico City; Alejandro Junco
de la Vega, the publisher of Mexico's newest daily, "La Reforma"
of Mexico City, and "El Norte" in Monterrey; and William Orme,
the Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists in
New York. The panel was moderated by WUSA-TV reporter Miriam
Hernandez.

One of the issues the panel discussed was "the media's role in
covering and anticipating the substantial drop in the value of
the peso, which has severely threatened Mexico's economy." Junco
said he thought the media had done a bad job covering the crisis,
and that the crisis would not have been as severe if people could
have seen it coming. He said, "There is a very serious problem in
Mexico vis-a-vis getting information.... only a handful of people
had access to that information.... Everywhere you look, there's a
horror story on how information doesn't flow." Carillo said the
government was "most interested not only in opening the economic
system but also the political system, and that includes the
press." Junco disagreed with Carillo on certain points and
concluded by saying that, "In Mexico, we have not had a history
of free speech."

CHILE: COMMUNITY RADIO LIMITED BY LEGISLATION

Community radio broadcasters in Chile "literally had the door
slammed in their faces" when the government passed a bill that
limits broadcasting to one watt, says the World Association of
Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) in the latest issue of its
newsletter (Vol.6 No.3. 1994), "Interadio". AMARC says Chilean
community radio broadcasters anticipated the law for four years,
during which they agreed to suspend broadcasts for two years, in
the hope that it would allow them the same rights as state or
commercial radio stations. Instead, the government hit them with
a bill which designates them as "minimum coverage radio" with a
maximum power of one watt. Subsequently, most of the stations
which applied for licenses did not qualify under these and other
severe restrictions. According to Luis Gallegos, of the
Asociacion Nacional de Radios Populares (ANARAP), "The
authorities used technical requirements for discriminatory
political purposes. Basically, we were not granted licenses
simply because the authorities do not like what we do,
politically speaking."

In contrast, AMARC says a new law passed in Colombia last summer
was welcomed by community radio broadcasters. Under the new law,
up to 500 watts is allowed; and while community radio
broadcasters are not pleased with the limit, "they do acknowledge
that this is a great victory that may pave the way for future
negotiations," says AMARC. In Paraguay, community radio
broadcasters are working towards a bill that recognizes their
medium so that "community radio can be heard all over Paraguay,"
says AMARC. In an editorial in "Interadio," Gallegos says, "The
possibility that community radio may operate in a legal framework
is important because it permits the legitimization of the right
to free expression and supports attempts to gain a democratic
space."   

AFRICA

SUDAN: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN ON RIGHTS ABUSES

Journalists are among those arrested and tortured in "ghost
houses" by the government in Sudan for suspected opposition
activities, says a new report by Amnesty International (AI). AI
called on the United Nations to create an international civilian
human rights monitoring team as an initial step towards halting
the abuses in both the government-controlled north and the
war-torn south. "Having international monitors on the ground
would make it more difficult for government and opposition forces
to get away with the killings, torture and arbitrary detentions
that have fractured Sudanese society and deepened political
hatreds over the past five years," said Pierre Sane, AI Secretary
General, at a press conference launching the campaign in Nairobi.

AI noted that the government has prevented the UN's human rights
expert on Sudan from entering the country and that the peace
process is stalled. Thousands have been unlawfully detained and
tens of thousands killed in Sudan since the 1989 coup. AI says,
"Since coming to power, the Sudanese government has made torture
and the detention of suspected opponents in so-called `ghost
houses' -- the security forces' secret detention centres --
standard practice throughout the country as it crushes political
opposition and attempts to mould society to its own version of a
radical Islamist agenda. Many suspected government opponents --
trade unionists, activists in banned political parties, students,
journalists, Southerners suspected of supporting armed opposition
groups -- are arrested, tortured, held for short periods,
released and then re-detained."  AI's report "SUDAN: The Tears Of
Orphans" (ISBN:#0-93994-95-X, $10.00); and briefing "SUDAN: What
Future For Human Rights" (ISBN: #0-939994-96-8, $7.00) are
available through AI USA, Publications Dept., 322 Eighth Ave, New
York, NY 10001, and other AI offices worldwide.

ASIA-PACIFIC

MYANMAR: AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S SENTENCE EXTENDED INDEFINITELY

The detention of democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate,
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, in Myanmar was extended indefinitely last
week, reported ARTICLE 19. ARTICLE 19 calls on the State Law and
Order Restoration Council (SLORC) "to immediately end censorship
and to free Aung San Suu Kyi and others imprisoned for exercising
their right to free speech. There can be no meaningful dialogue
about Burma's future without full respect for freedom of
expression and basic human rights." Dr Frances D'Souza, ARTICLE
19's Executive Director, said, "The Special Envoy of the UN
Secretary-General, who has been mandated by the UN General
Assembly to continue talks with the SLORC in order to `achieve
national reconciliation,' should be dispatched to Burma
immediately to try to halt the upsurge in fighting and to secure
the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi."

On 22 January, Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest in Rangoon,
dismissed the notion that she had made secret deals with the
government at the expense of the democracy movement. In a
statement released by her husband in Bangkok the following day,
she writes, "It has always been the firm conviction of those
working for democracy in Burma that it is only through meaningful
dialogue between diverse political forces that we can achieve
national reconciliation, which is the first and most vital
requisite for a united and prosperous country. That the
international community shares this view is evident from clause 5
of the General Assembly resolution of December 1994 which
encourages the government of Burma to engage in `a substantive
political dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and other political
leaders, including representatives from ethnic groups, as the
best means of promoting national reconciliation and the full and
early restoration of democracy.'"

Aung San Suu Kyi continues, "It was in full acceptance of this
view and with genuine good will that I approached the meetings
with members of the State law and Order Restoration Council on 20
September and 28 October 1994. There has not been and there will
not be any secret deals with regard either to my release or to
any other issue. I adhere to the principle of accountability and
consider myself at all times bound by the democratic duty to act
in consultation with colleagues and to be guided by the
aspirations of those engaged in the movement to establish a truly
democratic political system in Burma. I remain dedicated to an
active participation in this movement."

NEW ZEALAND: JOURNALISTS CRITICAL OF COPYRIGHT LAW

New Zealand has changed its copyright law despite protests from
members of the media and academics, reports the Commonwealth
Press Union in the January edition of "CPU News". The Copyright
Bill is consistent with international copyright laws and protects
against pirating, says the CPU, but it "removes the traditional
rights of print media journalists to have copyright over their
work, in favour of newspaper owners." The vote was very close on
the bill and CPU says "both Radio New Zealand and the Independent
Broadcasters Association accused the Government of indecent haste
in passing the bill." University chancellors also cited the
enormous costs involved in conforming to the bill's regulations.

In other news, an editor complained about political pressures on
the media in New Zealand. "Probably what depresses editors most
in my country lately have been political pressures or moves that
interfere with press freedoms that we must preserve," said Geoff
Adams, Editor of the "Otago Daily Times" and Chair of the New
Zealand Section of the CPU. At CPU's Malta Conference last
November, Adams said editors have reacted proactively, countering
the government by distributing a booklet on freedom of the press.

EASTERN EUROPE

HUNGARY: PARLIAMENT PREPARES TO ADOPT BROADCAST LAW

A broadcast law which would take control of the broadcast media
out of the hands of the government is in the works in Hungary,
says the Centre for Foreign Journalists (CFJ) in the January
issue of the "CFJ Clearinghouse on the Central & East European
Press". Parliament is "nearly ready to adopt" the law, says the
CFJ, which would privatize the Hungarian national radio and
television. The law would also license privately-owned
independent national broadcast companies. According to the CFJ,
"Media experts of the two parties in the governing coalition
announced agreement on principles of a draft law." Some of the
CFJ's sources remain sceptical that the new law would allow
totally unfettered broadcasting, with one source predicting that
"any law adopted will permit limited independent broadcasts while
letting the government retain direct control of Hungarian TV and
radio."

AWARDS: 

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AWARDS PRESS FREEDOM PRIZES

Columbia University of New York has awarded the 1994 Maria Moors
Cabot Prizes to four journalists for "the advancement of press
freedom and inter-American understanding," according to the
November/December 1994 issue of the newsletter of the Inter
American Press Association (IAPA), "IAPA News". The winners were
Oscar Jorge Serrat, a correspondent for The Associated press in
Buenos Aires, Argentina; James B. Brooke, a correspondent for
"The New York Times" in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Carlos Mauricio
Funes Cartagena, the Executive Producer and news anchor at Canal
12 de Television in San Salvador, El Salvador; and Susan
Meiselas, a freelance news photographer with Magnum Photos in New
York. 

NIGERIAN PUBLISHER BAYO ONANUGA WINS 1994 ASTOR AWARD

Nigerian publisher Bayo Onanuga slipped out of his country to
accept the 1994 Astor Award, reports the Commonwealth Press Union
in the January edition of "CPU News". The award was presented to
him at the opening of the CPU Conference in Malta last November.
Onanuga is the founding Editor of the banned magazine, "The
News", as well as "Tempo" magazine and "PM News", which are
published in Lagos. He was previously Editor of "African
Concord", a banned paper owned by Chief Moshood Abiola. The
"Concord" was very critical of the government and Onanuga
resigned rather than apologise when it cracked down on his paper.
Onanuga was the first to publish an underground publication, "The
News", in Nigeria. He then went on to publish "PM News", for
which he has been detained a number of times. The Publisher noted
that the bannings and shutdowns have resulted in a loss of $150
million and over 5,000 jobs for the press. "The decline of the
economy and the high costs of newsprint are beginning to also
affect the impact of the vigourous pro-democracy media," he
warned.

PHOTOGRAPHER RECEIVES OVERSEAS PRESS CLUB AWARD POSTHUMOUSLY

Photographer Dan Eldon was given the President's award
posthumously by the Overseas Press Club (OPC) at the 1994 OPC
Awards Dinner, reported the last (fourth quarter) issue of "Press
Review". Eldon's award was accepted by his mother, Kathy Eldon,
who spoke about her son and the three other journalists who were
murdered in Somalia on 12 July last year. According to Kathy
Eldon, Dan Eldon, Hansi Kraus, Hos Maina and Anthony Macharia
"were stoned and beaten to death following a UN bombing raid on a
house thought to contain General Aideed's followers.... some 55
Somalis were killed and another 150 were wounded.... Dan and his
colleagues were taken under protection to record the disaster. As
they began to shoot the carnage for the world to see, the mob
turned on them, enraged by the death and mutilation of so many
innocent people and virtually tore the journalists apart."

OTHER NEWS FROM THE IFEX COMMUNITY

IAPA HOTLINE AVAILABLE IN FOUR COUNTRIES

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has hotlines
available for members of the media in four countries. Journalists
abducted, attacked, arrested, or in any kind of trouble are
advised to call the appropriate number. In the United States and
Canada, call 1-800-542-3732; in Mexico, call 95-800-010-1794; and
in Colombia, call 980-121-127. 

INTERNATIONAL PEN TO HOST DISCUSSION ON "CENSORSHIP IN NIGERIA"

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN will host a
discussion on "Censorship in Nigeria" on 31 January at the
British Parliament. Speakers will be Adewale Maja-Pierce, writer
and the Africa editor of "Index on Censorship"; journalist
Patrick Wilmott; author Biyi Bandele-Thomas; and Omohan
Ebhodaghe, writer and Publicity Secretary of the Association of
Nigerian Authors. The subjects covered will include "censorship
of individual writers such as Wole Soyinka and Ken Saro-Wiwa
(whose trial is due to begin the week of 30 January) and the
broader question of censorship against the press and in the
publishing world," says the WiPC. The discussion, to be chaired
by MP Diane Abbott, will take place from 11:00 to 12 noon in
Committee Room 17 of the House of Commons. For information,
contact Mandy Garner at tel: +44 71 253 3226.


ALERTS/ADVISORIES CARRIED THIS PAST WEEK BY THE CLEARING HOUSE

23/01/95
TURKEY: "Ozgur Ulke" correspondent Salih Guler's detention
extended; torture alleged (CCPJ) - alert update

25/01/95
ALGERIA: GIA threatens to kill Algerian broadcast journalists
(CPJ) - advisory
CHINA: Dissident Wei Jingsheng's secretary, Tong Yi, detained
without trial; beaten in detention (HRW/Asia) - alert

26/01/95
PERU: Verdict overturned in the case of journalist Pedro Valdez
Bernales; date for retrial imminent (IPYS) - alert update
HONG KONG: Government responds to International PEN's concerns on
repatriation of Vietnamese writers and journalists (WiPC, Int
PEN) - alert update

27/01/95
BANGLADESH: Taslima Nasrin trial further postponed (WiPC, Int
PEN) - alert update
TURKEY: Kurdish writers released (WiPC, Int PEN) - alert update
TURKEY: "Ozgur Ulke" correspondent Dogan Denizhan detained (AI) -
alert
TURKEY: Judge blames writer Aziz Nesin for provocation in Sivas
arson attacks (Int PEN) - alert
URUGUAY: Radio Panamericana CX 44 enters fifth month off the air
(JSS) - alert update
BURMA/MYANMAR: Army's latest attack threatens Burma's new
"peacemaker" image; Aung San Suu Kyi's detention extended
indefinitely (A19) - press release
ALGERIA: UNESCO Director-General expresses outrage over death
threats (UNESCO) - press release
SYRIA: Journalists Nizar Nayyuf & Jadi Nawful enter fourth year
in prison (WiPC, Int PEN) - alert
TURKEY: Writer Yasar Kemal charged under Anti-Terror Law (WiPC,
Int PEN) - alert
POLAND: Editor of "Gazeta Wyborcza" sentenced to prison (WiPC,
Int PEN) - alert
TUNISIA: Journalist Jaouhari Sahnoun dies in custody (WiPC, Int
PEN) - alert
ALGERIA: Journalist Mohammed Rebah seriously injured (RSF) -
alert
MAURITANIA: Journalists attacked (RSF) - alert

** ** **

The IFEX Communique is published weekly by the IFEX Clearing
House, Toronto. The facility is operated by the Canadian
Committee to Protect Journalists in partnership with the member
organizations of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange
(IFEX). Material may be submitted to the Communique at E-mail:
ifex at web.apc.org; Fax: (1-416) 867-1034; or Tel: (1-416)
867-1638. Editor this week: Kristina Stockwood. Subscriptions are
available by e-mail and surface mail.

----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------