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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