04 September 2012
To IFJ
Asia-Pacific affiliates and friends,
Welcome to
the IFJ Asia-Pacific’s monthly e-bulletin. The next bulletin will be issued on October
1, and contributions from affiliates are most welcome. To contribute, email ifj@ifj-asia.org Please distribute this bulletin
widely among colleagues in the media.
In this bulletin:
1. In Cambodia,
ban on foreign radio broadcasts lifted
2. New
leadership teams at IFJ affiliates in Vanautu, Sri Lanka and India
3. Journalists
locked out in Korea; laid off in India
4. Sri Lankan journalists
demand accountability as threats and violence continue
5. Sexual
assault on Indian journalist; journalists assaulted by supporters of cult
leader
6. Journalists
in China face harassment and arrest, as websites are shut down
1. In Cambodia,
ban on foreign radio broadcasts lifted.
On July 1 the IFJ and its partners in
Cambodia welcomed the lifting of the briefly imposed ban on local radio
stations beaming foreign broadcasts. The ban was imposed by the Cambodian
government in what it described as an effort to neutralise alleged possible
interference by foreign powers in the July 28 national general elections. Further
details here.
2. New
leadership teams at IFJ affiliates in Vanautu, Sri Lanka and India
The IFJ has extended its greetings to the new
new leadership teams affiliates of IFJ the Media Asosiesen blong Vanuatu, the
Free Media Movement in Sri Lanka and the National Union of Journalists (India).
Further details here, here and here.
3. Journalists
locked out in Korea; laid off in India
The IFJ and its partners have strongly
protested the lock-out of more
than 180 journalists by the management of the Korean daily newspaper HankookIIbo. In India, a major news
broadcaster Network 18 laid off 350 workers
as part of a corporate plan to integrate the newsrooms of print, digital and
broadcast operations. Also, Outlook Publishing (India) Ltd, announced it would terminate the
employment of several journalists after shutting down publication of four
lifestyle magazines.
4. Journalists
in Sri Lanka demand accountability as threats and violence continue
IFJ partners in Sri Lanka have sent a
petition to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human
Rights who recently visited the country for to assess the human rights
and national reconciliation situation. Days earlier, the country’s leading
journalist groups wrote to the National Human Rights Commission demanding it
establish accountability for incidents of media freedom violations that have
taken place during and after the civil war. In Colombo, the home of a
journalist couple was raided by masked
assailants and media workers have targeted during
peaceful protests.
5. Sexual assault
on Indian journalist; journalists assaulted by supporters of a cult leader
The IFJ’s partners have condemned the
criminal sexual assault of a
journalist on assignment in Mumbai. Meanwhile, journalists reporting on the
aftermath of a police investigation into an alleged sexual assault by the
leader of a spiritual cult were attacked by
followers of the cult.
6. Journalists
in China face harassment and arrest, as websites are shut down
Journalists
in China continue to confront harassment in
reporting on the misdeeds of some Government officials, and are being pressured
to leave their jobs. Meanwhile, on August 4 photographers were
verbally harangued, blocked and pushed to the ground while recording a scuffle in
Hong Kong. China’s internet regulatory authority has ordered the shutdown of 107 websites.