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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Rights are constant victim of constant conflict: governments, media, nonprofits collude against public interest



Biasing reality: jounralists under fire and torture
Editing, bracketed notes, brief commentary by Carolyn Bennett

“Torture prevention is not about asking what happened and how it happened, but asking why it happens and how we can stop it happening.” [Victor Rodriguez, UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture]

Dark deed denied by Key Democracies

The risk of torture and other ill-treatment exist in all situations where people are deprived of their liberty, particularly in places closed to the outside world.

The Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2002 and came into force in 2006.

It aims to minimize the risks of abuse by opening up prisons, police stations, mental health institutions and all other places of detention to examination by independent watchdogs.

The basic premise behind the OPCAT is that the more open and transparent places of detention are, the lesser the risk for abuse. 

Despite its absolute prohibition, torture continues to persist in all regions of the world.

In this month’s update the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) reports 65 States Parties; 21 Additional State Signatories; 46 Designated National Preventive Mechanisms

A
bsent from Torture Prevention States: United States of America

OPCAT States Parties: 65

Albania
Argentina
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Benin
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Cambodia
Chile
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Estonia
France
Gabon
Georgia
Germany
Guatemala
Honduras
Hungary
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Panama

Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Romania
Senegal
Serbia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Togo
Tunisia
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Uruguay

Additional States Signatories: 21

 Australia
 Belgium
 Cameroon
 Cape Verde
 Chad
 Congo, Republic of
 Finland
 Ghana
 Greece
 Guinea
 Iceland
 Ireland
 Italy
 Madagascar
 Norway
 Portugal
 Sierra Leone
 South Africa
 Timor-Leste
 Venezuela
 Zambia

States having designated their National Preventive Mechanisms (NPM): 46

Albania
Argentina
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Cambodia
Chile
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Estonia
France
Georgia
Germany
Guatemala
Honduras
Hungary
Kyrgyzstan
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Mauritius
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Paraguay
Poland

Senegal
Serbia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Uruguay


There are linkages among rights. Whether torture or news coverage and those who try to cover people and events and issues fairly and justly and truthfully, rights jointly suffer during perpetual war and conflict, occupation and provocation, amidst dark politics, hardened ideological positions and propaganda.  



Italian journalist 
Giuliana Sgrena 
kidnapped during 
U.S. invasion of Iraq
Journalists in line of fire
Not all culprits exposed

Egyptian journalist El Husseini Abu Deif died Tuesday never waking from a coma by a rubber bullet that fractured his skull resulting in severe brain damage. A reporter for the “Al Fajr” independent news weekly, El Husseini Abu Deif had been covering the conflict in Cairo.

He was reportedly “shot at close range by an unidentified gunman during clashes that erupted between supporters and opponents of President Mohammed Morsi outside the presidential palace on December 5, 2012.
Egyptian photojournalist
El Husseini Abu Deif
killed in Cairo


O
mitted in CPJ’s jailed journalists report, noted by CJR

Behind the News, Borders & Bylines — Columbia Journalism Review April 2, 2012 03:17 p.m.: Which Countries Jail the Most Journalists Per Capita? Taking the CPJ data one step further (By Justin D. Martin)

Journalist Anna Politkovskaya
killed in Russia
At the end of each year, the Committee to Protect Journalists counts the number of journalists imprisoned worldwide and lists the countries in which they’re locked up.

Though these data are very helpful, “we can consider them under a new lamp,” Martin writes, “by taking into account each country’s size. China and Eritrea, for example, have about the same number of journalists rotting in prison, 27 and 28 respectively; but the population of China is more than 250 times the population of the small dictatorship.

Any country that unjustly arrests or imprisons a single journalist is democratically suspect ─ and that includes America.

Ratings of press freedom in the United States tanked after 2011, as counts of arrested journalists in this country soared.

Police in the United States tend to arrest journalists filming or otherwise documenting unrest. Their bosses usually get embarrassed at the media blowback and drop the charges.


C
Journalist Maya Naser
killed during
Syrian conflict
ommittee to Protect Journalists’ December Special Report, “Number of jailed journalists sets global record,” conveniently fails to mention the United States and Israel.

“Imprisonment of journalists worldwide reached a record high in 2012, driven in part by the widespread use of charges of ‘terrorism’ [the U.S.’s global 11-year reckless coinage] and other anti-state offenses against critical reporters and editors,” says the Committee to Protect Journalists’ latest report.

Turkey [U.S. ally of convenience] is world’s worst jailer. At least 49 journalists remain jailed in Turkey. (AFP)

232 individuals were behind bars on December 1 ─ a rise of 53 compared with CPJ’s 2011 tally.

A 29.6 percent worldwide increase over 2011, the largest percentage jump in a decade and the second consecutive annual increase of more than 20 percent.

Imprisonments increased 23.4 percent from 2010 to 2011.

Elena Poniatowska
Mexico
States singled out by CPJ, in addition to U.S.-allied Turkey, were Iran, China, east Africa’s Eritrea, Middle East’s Syria; plus top-teners Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, and [U.S.-allied] Saudi Arabia identified

Its list of states jailing journalists, CPJ said, “is a snapshot of those incarcerated at 12:01 a.m. on December 1, 2012, [and] does not include the many journalists imprisoned and released throughout the year.”

At its website, the Committee to Protect Journalists describes itself as “an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide.” Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t “independent.”

Israeli government impunity

In its own letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conveniently one day after its jailed journalists tally, the CPJ made strong sounds. “All journalists,” the letter said, “whether local or foreign, regardless of the perspective from which they report, are afforded the same civilian protections under international law.” Continuing, it said ─

The Israeli government does not have the right to selectively define who is and who is not a journalist based on national identity or media affiliation. International law also places strict limits on military attacks on all civilian sites, including media outlets.

Article 51 of ‘Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions’ prohibits attacks on civilian sites in which potential damage and loss of civilian life ‘would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.’

“We request your government provide an immediate and detailed explanation for its actions in targeting Mahmoud al-Kumi, Hussam Salama, and Mohamed Abu Aisha and the two media buildings in the Gaza Strip.”

Were these mere words, bluster lending cover to collusion with the sitting national government in Washington, its corporate and nonprofit allies and mass media; all the while adhering to an underling mission of biasing truth against the public interest?


Attack on journalists December 14 UPDATE [CPJ missed Israel]

Israeli Soldiers Attack Journalists in Hebron

“In Israel and the Occupied Territories, Israeli troops have attacked two journalists with the news service Reuters as they covered the aftermath of the fatal shooting of a Palestinian boy. Camera operators Yousri Al Jamal and Ma’amoun Wazwaz were on their way to the Hebron military checkpoint where Israeli troops had shot the boy dead when they were stopped by an Israeli military vehicle. According to their account, the Israeli soldiers punched them, forced them to strip in the street, and then fired off a tear gas canister. Wazwaz was overcome by the tear gas fumes and treated in a local hospital. Two other Palestinian journalists working for local outlets were also stopped and accosted. Democracy Now headlines, December 14, 2012, http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/14/headlines#12142

Israeli forces assault Reuters cameramen in West Bank, December 14, 2012, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/12/14/277965/israeli-forces-attack-reuters-cameramen/

Sources and notes

“Egyptian journalist dies of wounds from clashes,” December 12, 2012,
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/ae6b3a73-a375-4383-995e-06f273ef2648.aspx

Behind the News, Borders & Bylines — April 2, 2012 03:17 PM
Which Countries Jail the Most Journalists Per Capita?
Taking the CPJ data one step further (By Justin D. Martin)
Columbia Journalism Review, behind the news, http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/which_countries_jail_the_most.php

“Number of jailed journalists sets global record,” Special Reports (CPJ), December 11, 2012,
https://www.cpj.org/reports/2012/12/imprisoned-journalists-world-record.php
This report was compiled by CPJ staff with additional reporting by CPJ Steiger Fellow Sumit Galhotra. https://www.cpj.org/about/

“INTERNATIONAL: Number of jailed journalists sets global record”
Wednesday, December 12th, 2012 at 08:28 am http://www.raxanreeb.com/2012/12/international-number-o f-jailed-journalists-sets-global-record/

“Israel must explain targeting of journalists in Gaza,” December 2, 2012, http://cpj.org/2012/12/israel-must-explain-targeting-of-journalists-gaza.php


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