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Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exercised freely. Such freedom implies the absence of interference from an overreaching state; its preservation may be sought through the constitution or other legal protection and security. It is in opposition to paid press, where communities, police organizations, and governments are paid for their copyrights.
Reporters Without Borders is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as founded on the belief that everyone requires access to the news and information, in line with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that recognizes the right to receive and share information regardless of frontiers, along with other international rights charters. RSF has consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the International Organisation of the Francophonie.
Veronica Guerin Turley was an Irish crime reporter who was murdered by drug lords. Born in Dublin, she was an athlete in school and later played on the Irish national teams for both football and basketball. After studying accountancy she ran a public-relations firm for seven years, before working for Fianna Fáil and as an election agent for Seán Haughey. She became a reporter in 1990, writing for the Sunday Business Post and Sunday Tribune. In 1994 she began writing exposes about organised crime for the Sunday Independent. In 1996 she was fatally shot in a contract killing while stopped at a traffic light. The shooting caused national outrage in Ireland. Investigation into her death led to a number of arrests and convictions.
International Press Institute (IPI) is a global organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of press freedom and the improvement of journalism practices. The institution was founded by 34 editors from 15 countries at Columbia University in October, 1950, and has members in over 120 countries as of 2021.
José Rubén Zamora Marroquín is an industrial engineer, entrepreneur, and the founder of three Guatemalan newspapers: Siglo Veintiuno in 1990, and El Periódico in 1996, and Nuestro Diario in 1998. He has been threatened and attacked on several occasions for his work, including being held hostage in his home in 2003 and being kidnapped and beaten in 2008.
Siglo Veintiuno or stylized Siglo XXI is a Guatemalan daily newspaper. Founded in 1990 by José Rubén Zamora, the paper earned a reputation for independent, high-risk reporting. In 1995, its staff won the International Press Freedom Awards of the Committee to Protect Journalists and Zamora has won several individual awards for his work with the paper.
Morocco became a highly repressive country under the absolute monarchy of King Hassan II, and continues to be considered repressive under the reign of King Mohammed VI, though the latter has instituted some reforms. Dozens of journalists, artists, and ordinary citizens are regularly sentenced to lengthy prison sentences for exercising basic rights enjoyed elsewhere in the world, such as freedom of the press, protesting the government, or criticizing government officials. Morocco heavily restricts basic human rights, such as freedom of speech, the right to assembly, and the right to criticize officials. Moroccans also feel the pressures of inflation within the country, such as the lack of basic services like healthcare, clean water, and the difficulty of parents to access quality education for their children. While there have been a handful of reforms that have been generally welcomed internationally, most Moroccans feel this is insufficient, and continue to be unhappy with the trajectory of the country under the policies of King Mohammed VI, despite his transition of the government to an ostensible constitutional monarchy. Notwithstanding this, Morocco has taken substantial steps to improve its human rights record, including introducing new family laws, and bringing about sweeping reforms to enshrine human rights in legislation, protect the independence of the judiciary, safeguard journalists, as well as safeguard the traditions and national identity of Morocco. Under his father, King Hassan II, Morocco had one of the worst human rights records in Africa and the world, especially during the time period known as the "Years Of Lead", which lasted from the early 1960s until the late 1980s; it was a period in the country's history that was known for the brutal repression of political dissent and opposition, that involved wide-scale arrests, arbitrary detention, lengthy imprisonment, and even killings of political opponents. Currently, Morocco continues to face some of these issues, as well as other human rights problems, such as poor prison conditions, the mistreatment of women and the LGBT community, and the widespread use of torture by police. Despite the considerable improvements made in the last several years under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, who has rolled back some of his father's harshest decrees, repression of political dissidence, and torture of citizens by officials, is still commonplace in Morocco today.
Human rights in Egypt are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt under the various articles of Chapter 3. The country is also a party to numerous international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. However, the state of human rights in the country has been criticized both in the past and the present, especially by foreign human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. As of 2022, Human Rights Watch has declared that Egypt's human rights crises under the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, is "one of its worst ... in many decades", and that "tens of thousands of government critics, including journalists, peaceful activists, and human rights defenders, remain imprisoned on abusive 'terrorism' charges, many in lengthy pretrial detention." International human rights organizations, such as the aforementioned HRW and Amnesty International, report that as of January 2020, there are some 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt. Other complaints made are of authorities harassing and detaining "relatives of dissidents abroad" and use of "vague 'morality' charges to prosecute LGBT people, female social media influencers, and survivors of sexual violence". The Egyptian government has frequently rejected such criticism, denying that any of the prisoners it holds are political prisoners.
Gwen Lister is a Namibian journalist, publisher, anti-apartheid and press freedom activist.
Human rights in Burkina Faso are addressed in its constitution, which was ratified in 1991. The 2009 Human Rights Report by the United States Department of State noted concerns regarding restrictions on the press and the operation of the judiciary system. In its 2021 report, Human Rights Watch described the human rights situation in Burkina Faso as being "precarious" in light of ongoing violence committed by Islamists, government security forces, and pro-government militias.
Kenneth Yakpawolo Best is a Liberian journalist who founded the Liberian newspaper The Daily Observer and a paper of the same name in The Gambia.
Jiří Dienstbier was a Czech politician and journalist.
Omar Belhouchet is an Algerian journalist who is renowned for his investigative reporting and supporting freedom of the press; his work and persistence have received international recognition. During the civil war of the 1990s, which put enormous pressure on the free press from both sides, Belhouchet was prosecuted numerous times by his government and survived two assassination attempts.
Nedim Şener is a Turkish writer and journalist who has written for the Milliyet and Posta newspapers. He has received a number of journalism awards, including the Turkish Journalists' Association Press Freedom Award, the International Press Institute's World Press Freedom Heroes award, and PEN Freedom of Expression Award. He is particularly known for his 2009 book on the assassination of Hrant Dink, which showed the role of Turkish security. He is under indictment in the Odatv case of the Ergenekon trials because, he believes, his 2009 book alleged that police officers responsible for the Ergenekon investigation were responsible for the Dink murder.
Fred M'membe is a Zambian journalist known for his editorship of the Zambia Post. He has received numerous international awards for his reporting. In 2000, the International Press Institute named him one of its World Press Freedom Heroes.
Freedom Neruda is an Ivorian journalist. In 1996, he was imprisoned for seditious libel after writing a satirical article about Ivorian President Henri Konan Bédié. The following year, he won an International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists, and in 2000, he was named one of the International Press Institute's 50 World Press Freedom Heroes of the past 50 years.
Ocak Işık Yurtçu was a Turkish reporter detained for thirty-two months between 1993-1997 by the Turkish government for his reporting on the Kurdish–Turkish conflict, a case The New York Times called "emblematic" of the Turkish press's struggle for press freedom in the 1990s.
Global Internet Usage is the number of people who use the Internet worldwide.
References
- ↑ Robert Louw (2000). "Choosing Heroes is a Difficult Task". IPI Report, No. 2. International Press Institute. Archived from the original on 4 January 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
- ↑ "World Press Freedom Heroes". International Press Institute. 2000. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
- 1 2 Report, Star Digital (2021-09-07). "Belarus's Yuliya Slutskaya named World Press Freedom Hero". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2021-09-08. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
- ↑ Al Jazeera 25 April 2019