Crisis: International

Thai gov’t shuts down online forum
THE Thai government has ordered the shutdown of a political chat room on the grounds of national security.
The chat room Ratchadamnoen, dedicated to political discussions on the website www.Pantip.com, was ordered taken down by the Thai government on April 8 for the sake of national security.
Information and Commu-nications Technology Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom told the media that the chat room has in recent days been “flooded with posts compromising national security.”
The Thai government has also banned YouTube, a video sharing website, in reaction to a video clip mocking the highly revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
A draft law on computer-related crimes, which has serious implications on free expression on the Internet, is awaiting second reading by the junta-appointed National Assembly.— SEAPA

Violence vs. journalists rising in Latin America
SIX JOURNALISTS were killed in Mexico, one in Haiti and most recently, one in Peru, with many more receiving death threats and being abused, said organizations advocating free expression across the region.
In a report issued at its March 2007 conference in Colombia, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) concluded that the assassinated journalists were mostly victims of drug and gang wars.
In Uruguay last March, an editor was assaulted in Montevideo by a suspected drug trafficker, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). César Casavieja, founder and editor of the weekly newspaper Señal de Alerta, received death threats and was later assaulted after publishing a photo of a man arrested for preparing a 100-kg shipment of cocaine.
In Peru on March 14, journalist Yolanda Mío Arteaga, vice-director of television station Canal 31’s news program Primer Impacto, was assaulted and her video camera stolen by alleged members of a gang involved in illegal fishing, said the Institute for Press and Society. The assault took place moments after Mío filmed a police search of premises owned by the group in the port of Chimbote, northwestern Peru.
There were nearly two dozen more cases of reported death threats in Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela, and Brazil, some related to the reporting of corruption, said IAPA at its conference.—IFEX

Malaysian ruling party attacks 2 journalists
TWO JOURNALISTS covering a legislative assembly election in Malaysia were verbally and physically attacked by supporters and members of the incumbent political party, said the Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ), a local free expression group and SEAPA partner.
On April 3, photographer P. Malayandi, 49, of Makkal Osai was allegedly pushed and punched by S.A. Vigneswaran, parliamentary secretary for the Youth and Sports Ministry and youth head of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), a component party of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition. Meanwhile, other MIC members shouted vulgarities at R. Malini, 30, of Malayan Nanban, a daily paper in Tamil.
Both journalists were covering the nomination day for the polls in Machap, Melaka, 150 km south of Kuala Lumpur, when a scuffle broke out between supporters of the two contesting parties outside the nomination center.
Malini said that when she tried to take pictures of those involved after the police controlled the fight, an MIC member verbally abused her and warned her not to take or publish any pictures.
Malayandi, who also tried to photograph the aftermath of the scuffle, was stopped from entering the nomination hall by Vigneswaran. Malayandi claimed that when he protested, Vigneswaran shoved and punched him.
When contacted by CIJ, Vigneswaran denied the allegations.—SEAPA/IFEX

Iraqi reporter murdered, another abducted
RADIO FREE Iraq reporter Khamail Khalaf, who was kidnapped on April 3 from Baghdad’s Yarmouk district, was found dead in Baghdad’s Jamia neighborhood recently, ac-cording to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sources.
Police received an anonymous call informing them that there was a body on the street. They came under heavy fire by unidentified assailants when they went to retrieve her body, according to RFE/RL and CPJ sources.
RFE/RL reported that an unidentified caller used Khalaf’s cell phone to contact her family, but no demand for ransom was made. Khalaf received prior threats, according to RFE/RL. It is not clear if the threats were directly work-related.
Khalaf had reported on social and cultural life in Iraq for Radio Free Iraq since 2004. Radio Free Iraq is the Arabic language service of RFE/RL in Iraq and broadcasts from its headquarters in Prague.
In a separate incident, reporter Othman al-Mashhadani, 29, for Saudi Arabia’s daily newspaper Al-Watan, was abducted in western Baghdad’s Al-Shouleh neighborhood on his way home from work on April 4, the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory reported. His abductors called his family hours after his abduction demanding a ransom for his release. According to a CPJ source, al-Mashhadani received prior threats for his work as a journalist.
According to CPJ research, at least 48 journalists, including Khamail Khalaf and Othman al-Mashhadani, have been abducted since 2004.
At least 98 journalists and 37 media support staffers have been killed since the US-led invasion in March 2003, making Iraq the deadliest conflict for the press in recent history. Insurgents are responsible for the bulk of media deaths. More than 80 percent of all media deaths have been Iraqis working for local and international news outlets. Murder is the leading cause of death.—CPJ/IFEX

Journalist charged with sedition
A COURT in Banjul, the capital of Gambia, handed down on April 4 criminal charges to a U.S.-based journalist, detained since March 28 and released her on bail. The journalist, Fatou Jaw Manneh of the US-based opposition website All-Gambian.net, was charged for her critical commentary of President Yahyah Jammeh, according to local journalists. Gambia is a country in West Africa.
Manneh was charged with three counts of sedition under Gambia’s Criminal Code. Each count carries a prison term of two years, a fine, or both. She was released on bail of 25,000 dalasis (US$950), but was ordered to surrender her travel documents. The trial was remanded to April 11.—CPJ/IFEX n

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