Articles Written By: Lindsay Ross

Fiji rejoins Commonwealth as a full member

Commonwealth Secretariat Fiji was reinstated as a full member of the Commonwealth following a decision by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) at their 44th meeting in New York. The group concluded that Fiji’s suspension from the Councils of the Commonwealth should be lifted in recognition of the credible elections held on 17 September 2014 and the assumption of office by a democratically elected government. The Pacific island state was suspended from the Councils of the Commonwealth in 2006 following a military coup d’état. This meant that Fiji could not attend intergovernmental Commonwealth meetings,…Read more

Sunday Standard editor Outsa Mokone arrested in Botswana

Committee to Protect Journalists The image of Botswana as a bastion of press freedom and good governance has been dented following the arrest of an editor of a privately owned newspaper, and the seizure of his computer. A tweet from a reporter in Botswana on Tuesday morning alerted the Committee to Protect Journalists to the arrest: "Editor Outsa Mokone arrested and veteran reporter Edgar Tsimane flees Botswana says he fears for his life!"   The local press reported that police had arrested Sunday Standard editor Mokone on Monday when he could not account for the whereabouts of…Read more

Zambian government launches code of ethics for journalists

Media Institute of Southern Africa  At the launch of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) in Lusaka on 3 September 2014, Zambia's Information and Broadcasting Services Minister Joseph Katema also launched a code of ethics for Zambian media. Katema told Zambian media they must be loyal to the public and are responsible for delivering the truth to the public, rather than to individuals and their private agendas. Dr Katema said all media institutions in the country, whether private or public, should maintain high ethical and professional standards in carrying out their noble role of…Read more

Shots fired at home of senior leader of Pakistani journalists’ union

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reiterates its serious concerns towards safety of journalists in Pakistan after the senior leader of the IFJ affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), had shots fired at his home this week. Unidentified people fired shots at the home of Rana Mohammad Azeem, the Lahore-based president of the PFUJ, on September 16 in a move he believes was intended to intimidate and silence him. The PFUJ said this was the second time in a week that shots have been fired. No one was hurt in either…Read more

In Telangana, India, 70 members of press detained, two channels blocked, media threatened

Scores of journalists and media workers were briefly detained Tuesday and Wednesday [September 10 and 11, 2014] in India's newly carved state of Telangana after protesting the blocking of two local TV news channels, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detentions and calls on the state's chief minister to stop using incendiary language against the press. Around 70 journalists, media workers, and employees of news outlets werearrested earlier this week while protesting the blacking out of two local TV channels, according to news reports. The privately owned Telugu-language news channels, TV9 and ABN…Read more