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South Asian Media: Press for Change

Bangladesh:

1999 was a year of violence against freedom of the press in Bangladesh. It
was a year of intolerance among the ruling party and opposition activists. A
large number of press photographers and reporters experienced the wrath of
political activists and police. A number of senior journalists received
death threats and several newspaper offices were attacked.

According to MEDIA WATCH's monitoring cell:

ARRESTS: At least three journalists were arrested during 1999. They are:

Monir Hossain (reporter, ShathKhira Chitra), Abdul Hai Sikder (assistant
editor, Inquilab daily), Shaukat Milton (staff correspondent, Janakantha
daily).

ARREST WARRANTS: Arrest warrants were issued against one editor, one
publisher, one journalist leader and a correspondent during the year. Dhaka
police issued a warrant against Abu Saleh - a union leader (who supported
the opposition party) during the country-wide strike called by the
opposition in February. Arrest warrants were issued against the editor of
the Daily Muktakantha KG Mustafa, publisher Iqbal Ahmed and Lalmonirhat
correspondent Mukul Mahboob on a defamation case.

ASSAULTS/ WOUNDED: At least 40 reporters and 50 press photographers were
assaulted and injured. Most of the time they were the target of the police
and ruling and opposition party activists. At least 10 of them sustained
bullet injuries. Political activists manhandled the photojournalists, trying
to loot their cameras when the photojournalists were photographing their
activities, and often set fire to the vehicles carrying them. At least 10 of
them sustained bullet injuries.

ATTACKS ON NEWSPAPER OFFICES: In 1999 seven newspaper offices were attacked.
In Dhaka, the offices of the Daily Star, Janakantha, Sangram and Ajker Kagoj
were targeted. In May, Islami hatra shibir - the student front of the
fanatical Jamat-e-Islami - attacked the Chittagong office of the daily
Prothom Alo. In August, the office of the daily Janakantha was attacked in
Dhaka. A general employee of the paper sustained bullet wounds.

The office of two daily regional newspapers in the southern town Khulna, the
daily Janmobhumi and the daily Rajpather dak, was attacked by an
unidentified group. On 25 August, the BBC Dhaka office received a telephone
call warning them to stop broadcasting. The caller threatened them that
"otherwise the office will be the target of a bomb attack."

The Barisal press club was attacked by the ruling party's student wing in
October.

DEATH THREATS: At least 11 journalists, including three editors, one news
editor, an assistant editor and a columnist, received death threats.
Journalists working in the southern district town of Jessore received death
threats from an underground Maoist group. The group circulated leaflets
calling for the murder of the reporters and those who act against the "class
struggle". A group of reporters at Rajshahi University requested police
protection when they received death threats from the ruling party's student
wing.

GOVERNMENT ACTION: Asian television network ATN cancelled its scheduled
broadcast on the municipal polls. The presenter of the programme complained
that the government stopped the programme. At least six newspapers'
declarations were banned and an issue of the weekly DESH, published in
Calcutta, was censored.

Sri Lanka:

The Free Media Movement (FMM) is extremely concerned by the
unprecedented attack on the independent privately owned media in Sri
Lanka by President Chandrika Kumaratunga. In a three hour discussion on
State television the President accused the independent media of
"ganging up" against her and said she would no longer tolerate such
criticism. The President also launched a vicious attack on owners of media
organisation and editors of all independent newspapers by name,
threatening to take every action possible other than killing them. The President's remarks and the tone in which she made them is a clear
indication that the government is planning to bring in new laws to
further restrict media freedom and freedom of expression. The FMM condemns the defamatory statements against journalists made by
the President hiding behind the immunity granted to her by the
Constitution. The President's outburst was preceded by senior ministers and officials
of her government and state owned print and electronic media launching
a relentless hate campaign against the independent media since the
government's election victory three weeks ago. In any democracy the media is not merely an instrument of dissemination information to the public but also plays the role of a watch dog. In playing that role the independent media continuously comes into
conflict with those wielding power. It is also the responsibility of
the media to highlight corruption, mis-management and bad governance. It is an accepted norm in any democratic society that those who hold
public office come under closer scrutiny than others and pre requisites
to holding public office is the ability to tolerate criticism. The FMM would also like to print out that Sri Lanka has more legal protection than most countries in the world to those who feel they have been wronged by the media such as the Press Council and criminal and civil defamation laws.To further strengthen the rights of those who
cannot afford legal remedy the Free Media Movement, The Editor's Guild
of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Publishers Association are finalising
plans to set up a voluntary Press Complaints Commission, (PCC), in line
with such institutions in England and South Africa. The three
organizations are also discussing the setting up of a media training
institute to improve the professional standards of journalists. At the dawn of a new millenium when the rest of the world is shifting
the emphasis from cold war politics and totalitarianism to greater
democratic freedoms it would indeed be sad to see our country drifting
back to the dark days of elected dictatorship intolerant of criticism.

World Water Forum of Journalists:

Journalists covering the Second World Water Forum and Ministerial
Conference on Water Resources here launched an independent global network
of print and electronic media called "World Water Forum of Journalists [WWFJ]. The meeting, held on the World Water Day at Yukno Hall of the Conference
Centre in Dutch capital, chose Dhaka to be the headquarter of the WWFJ
while Cairo, Egypt, will be the new forum's alternative office. Said Khilla of Egypt was unanimously elected Chairman of the newly launched
WWFJ while Quamrul Islam Chowdhury, Chairman of Forum of Environmental
Journalists of Bangladesh [FEJB], was elected its Secretary-General. The primary objectives of WWFJ, said Quamrul Chowdhury, are to help raise
awareness about water-related problems and issues across the world, promote
the cause of conservation of the nature, and organise training programmes,
study tours and annual conferences of journalists covering water issues.
WWFJ will also build up an information network to cater to the needs of
different international organisations, peoples bodies, and professional and
media organisations working on water-related issues. The meeting also decided to hold the first global conference of the WWFJ in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in September 2000. The theme of the conference will be Water for People: The Role of Media.

Following is the full committee of the WWFJ;
Chairman-Said Khilia (Egypt),
Vice Chairman-Manuel Satorre (Philippines),
Secretary General- Quamrul Islam Chowdhury (Bangladesh),
Assistant Secretary Generals;
Anna Brouwer (Netherlands),
Dhumian Wickremratne (Sri Lanka),
Sharf E. Khatib (Syria),
Kouassi S. DOHOU (Benin),
Karin Jordan (Canada),

Members;
Richard Jordan (USA),
Geraldine Coughlan (UK),
Noriko Goi (Japan),
Yekaterima Aleksanyan (Armenia),
Aditya Manshresht (Nepal),
Hamid Ali (Pakistan),
Basam ewader (Palestine),
Aida Tawid (Jordan),
Daniel Sikazwe (Zambia),
Alexander Kanengoni (Zimbabwe),
Sharif Shahabuddin (Bangladesh),
Lilit Stepangan (Armenia),
Elizabeth C. Roxas (Philippines),
Faise Mulkuwer (Jordan),
Dr Said Sobki (Holland)
Arhny N. Chilema (Zambia),
Pascal Adissoda (Benin),
Alexander Ramirez (Costa Rica),
Mohamed Faiyaz Patel (South Africa),
Martin Barbarana Kruz (Mexico),
Bon Saroeun (Cambodia),
Ahmet Kot (Turkey).

Pakistan:

When Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was deposed last October by a coup, few independent journalists regretted his departure. Now, in a special report released
today on its Web site (www.cpj.org), the Committee to Protect Journalists
details the brutal tactics used by the Sharif administration to curb
dissent and explains why many journalists felt that democracy in Pakistan
was endangered long before the coup. The report also raises concerns about
the future of press freedom in Pakistan under the present regime, despite their promises to respect civil liberties. The story of the Pakistani press over the past year is a tale of
independent journalists in a very flawed democracy continuing to publish in
the face of oppressive tactics aimed at censoring and controlling the press. The report, written by CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Kavita Menon, is
largely the result of a research mission she conducted over the course of
two weeks last fall-a mission she completed just three days before the coup. The report explains how, in a country in which the prime minister
systematically undermined nearly all democratic institutions-he engineered
the dismissal of the chief justice, forced a president to resign, compelled
an army chief to step down, and packed the courts and bureaucracy with
loyalists-elements of the press remained vigorous and aggressive, sometimes
providing the only check on what was becoming increasingly unbridled power. One senior correspondent for the Islamabad edition of the English-language
daily, The News, told CPJ before the coup: "The Pakistani press has in fact
replaced what think tanks and political parties in other countries would do."

Former Prime Minister Sharif exerted control over much of the Pakistani
press by rewarding journalists who heeded government demands while
punishing those who did not toe the line. For example, the Jang Group,
Pakistan's largest newspaper publishing company, came under intense
pressure from the Sharif regime. The company was hit with crippling taxes,
its newsprint supplies were blocked by the government, and many of its
senior reporters and editors were harassed and threatened by government
agents. The government made an example of the Jang Group, demonstrating its power
to bring a publishing giant to its knees-and then tried the same with Najam
Sethi, editor of the weekly The Friday Times. In May of 1999, Sethi was
abducted from his home in the middle of the night, beaten, and held
incommunicado for a week, then finally released after being held nearly a
month without charge.

"The government's persecution of Sethi," writes Menon, "was a signal that
it would not spare anyone." One journalist told her the government was
"trying to force a purge in the media of all liberal elements" by using
Sethi as an example. Sethi and his wife, Jugnu Mohsin, the publisher of The
Friday Times, were honored with CPJ's International Press Freedom Award
last November. But, concludes the report, "One of the most serious miscalculations of
Sharif's career was that these actions drew attention to his autocratic
tendencies . . . Over time, press reports on the prime minister's political
errors, personal corruption, and abuses of power undermined his popular
support." The question now is how the independent press will fare, having survived
Sharif. Will it be cowed into submission under yet another military
dictatorship, or will it continue to call the powerful to account?