Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) yesterday named the world’s 40 worst “predators of the press” including politicians, religious leaders and militias to mark World Press Freedom Day.
“They are powerful, dangerous, violent and above the law,” the Paris-based watchdog group said. “These predators of press freedom have the power to censor, imprison, kidnap, torture and, in the worst cases, murder journalists.”
Seventeen presidents and several heads of state are on the list, including Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, Cuba’s Raoul Castro and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
New entrants on the annually updated list of “predators” included Taliban chief Mullah Omar.
The Taliban leader, “whose influence extends to Pakistan as well as Afghanistan, has joined the list because the holy war he is waging is also directed at the press,” RSF said.
Mullah Omar’s “thugs threaten local reporters who do not relay his propaganda,” while about 40 Taliban attacks directly targeted journalists and news media last year, it said.
Chechnya’s pro-Kremlin President Ramzan Kadyrov was also added to the list.
Under Kadyrov, the watchdog said “anyone questioning [his] policies ... is exposed to deadly reprisals,” citing the murders of reporter Anna Politkovskaya and human rights activist Natalia Estemirova.
“Often referred to as ‘Putin’s guard dog,’ Ramzan Kadyrov shares the Russian prime minister’s taste for crude language and strong action,” RSF said.
Yemeni President Ali Abdulah Saleh was branded a “predator” after Sanaa set up a special court for press offences in what RSF said was a bid “to limit coverage of dirty wars being waged in the north and south of the country.”
The entry on Saleh read: “Eight independent newspapers are currently subject to a printing ban for ‘separatism.’”
Private militias in the Philippines were also added following the massacre of about 50 people, including 30 journalists, by “the local governor’s thugs” in Maguindanao province in November.
Figures whose names have been removed from the “predator” list included Nigeria’s State Security Service, which RSF said has “has been reined in.” The Nigeria police force, however, “has emerged as the leading source of abuses against the press,” it said, with poorly trained police “encouraged to use violence against journalists.”
RSF also removed several Iraqi Islamist groups, arguing that while levels of violence remained high, journalists were no longer being singled out.
An RSF tally shows nine journalists have been killed this year and 300 media professionals are in prison.
CHINESE CONTROL
In related news, China said yesterday that it would target online information from “overseas hostile forces” in its next crackdown to tighten Internet controls, Xinhua news agency reported.
The announcement gave no details about which groups might be targeted.
The move is part of efforts to step up a crackdown on online smut, gambling, fraud and other offenses, said Wang Chen (王晨), chief of the Cabinet’s Information Office.
“We will strengthen the blocking of harmful information from outside China to prevent harmful information from being disseminated in China and withstand online penetration by overseas hostile forces,” Xinhua quoted Wang as saying.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a