Category: Journalist Killings

It’s here, it’s now: #IJAsia14,marketplace for muckraking

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By: DAVID E. KAPLAN, Global Investigative Journalism Network*

FIRST, the big news: In just over two weeks we’ll convene Uncovering Asia, the region’s first investigative journalism conference. Excitement is building, and we’ve got an extraordinary array of the best journalists from Japan to Pakistan coming our way – heading to Manila for a World’s Fair of muckraking from Nov. 22-24.

GIJN has teamed up with two great partners to help give Asian investigative journalism a boost: the Asian Media Programme of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the German foundation; and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. We’ll have journalists from 25 countries talking about setting up networks, collaborating on stories, and sharing tips and data.

Why Asia? Why Now?

So why are we heading to Asia? That’s easy. It’s where most of humanity lives, and the demand for quality investigative reporting is enormous. More than 4.3 billion people call Asia home – that’s 60% of the global population. It has the world’s second and third largest economies, and its share of global GDP is expected to double. But the region is also among the weakest links in an emerging global community of investigative journalists.

Asia is home to 4.3 billion people, 60% of humanity.

GIJN is a network of networks. We have more than 100 member organizations from nearly 50 countries, and many of them have their own memberships across nations and regions. Over the past 20 years these groups – which today form the backbone of global investigative journalism – have spread to every continent. In North America we have Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Investigative News Network, and dozens of other nonprofits. In Europe we have Journalismfund.eu, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Scoop, and also many more independent groups. In Africa there’s the Forum for African Investigative Reporters and, more recently, the African Network of Centers for Investigative Reporting. In the Middle East and North Africa there’s Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism. In Latin America we have the annual COLPIN conferences, growing networks like Connectas, and strong national associations like Brazil’s Abraji.

And in Asia? Not so much. No investigative networks. No annual conferences. No fund for investigative journalism. Of GIJN’s 107 members, only 5 are in Asia. All that needs to change.

Well, here’s the good news – it is in fact changing, and quickly. Our colleagues around the region tell us that Uncovering Asia is the right event at the right time. Fueled by the same forces that have made investigative reporting a force to be reckoned with elsewhere – globalization, computing power, mobile phones, and determined journalists — there are signs from Seoul to Islamabad that a new era of muckraking is at hand.

Sure, we’ve got huge challenges. Criminal libel laws are still on the books in many countries. China and Vietnam are among the world’s leading jailers of journalists. Traditional media are driven toward poorly reported scandals and sensation, not careful watchdog reporting. Journalists lack training and resources for in-depth reporting. Owners are too often in cahoots with the very people the media should be investigating. And it’s bloody dangerous out there. Too many of our colleagues from the Philippines to Pakistan have lost their lives simply for reporting the truth.

But history is on our side. A global marketplace means countries need to open up in order to compete. Smart leaders know that if they really want to fight corruption and promote public accountability, they need an investigative news media. Meanwhile, the Internet is bringing tools and techniques to our colleagues everywhere, and connecting journalists in unprecedented ways. Secrets are much harder to keep, while public records are more accessible than ever.

Asian investigative journalism nonprofits: A growth industry?

Major media plays a critical role in spreading investigative journalism around the world. But it is the nonprofits that have served as training centers, incubators, and models of excellence in the rapid growth of muckraking. And for years there was only one IJ nonprofit in Asia – the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, founded in 1989.

This is another reason we are heading to Manila – to mark and celebrate PCIJ’s 25 extraordinary years. In that quarter century, the Philippine Center has published more than 1,000 investigative reports, produced scores of documentaries, and launched some two dozen books. Its staff have run more than 120 seminars for journalists across Asia, and won 150 awards for their dogged work. PCIJ’s investigation in 2000 of then-President Joseph Estrada, which led to his impeachment, is taught in journalism schools as a case study in modern muckraking. Equally impressive, the PCIJ staff showed that an independent nonprofit could not only survive but thrive in a developing country, and its work over the years has served as a model for scores of nonprofit journalism centers around the world. That is worth heralding.

PCIJ helped inspire the Nepal Centre for Investigative Journalism, launched in 1996, which has been rejuvenated and is back doing first-rate work. And now look what has followed:

A Promising Start

These nonprofits and networks are, of course, in addition to the extraordinary work being done by mainstream media, both local and international. To name but a few: the New York Times work on the corrupt wealth of China’s leadership; Reuters’ projects on mistreatment of Myanmar’s Rohingya minority, and its Connected China data project; the Japanese media’s digging into the Fukushima nuclear disaster; the gutsy reporting by Chinese journalists from Caixin, Southern Weekend, and CCTV, among others; and a growing force of world-class reporters across South Asia, who refuse to accept government press releases and corporate payoffs as real journalism. And don’t forget the Philippine Daily Inquirer‘s exposés of pork barrel politics, determined digging by Indonesia’s Tempo magazine and Taiwan’s CommonWealth, and watchdog reporting by Malaysia’s Malaysiakini and Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post – these are but a few of the noteworthy efforts in recent years.

Journalism professors are playing a critical role, as well, training a new generation of journalists in how to dig, analyze data, and find documents. We’ve had tremendous response from top “J schools” in the region to Uncovering Asia. Among the schools which will be represented at the conference: the Ateneo de Manila University’s Asian Center for Journalism (Philippines), Asian College of Journalism (India), Chung-Ang University’s School of Journalism & Mass Communication (Korea), Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism (U.S.), Hong Kong University’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre (Hong Kong), and Waseda University’s Journalism School (Japan).

So, come join us in Manila if you can, and hear first-hand the reporters involved in charting the future of in-depth journalism. We’ll have more than 30 sessions ranging from tracking assets and dirty money to the latest data tools and how to set up your own investigative team. If you can’t join us, you can follow it all on Twitter at #IJAsia14. And don’t’ worry if you miss much. This isn’t the end of something big – it’s the beginning.

*Story originally titled “Why Asia? Why now?”

A million flames for justice, hope

Julius Mariveles Leave a comment

A GATHERING of hundreds of journalists and press freedom advocates from around the world, and the lighting of a million candles to rekindle dimming hopes and to light the way for justice will mark the commemoration of the Ampatuan Massacre on November 23.

This year marks half a decade after the carnage in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao where 58 people were killed – 32 of them reporters and media workers – making it the single deadliest attack on journalists all over the globe. The killings were allegedly ordered by members of a warlord clan who were allies of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

For the first time, hundreds of journalists will gather in a single place in the Philippines as two big events – Uncovering Asia: The First Asian Investigative Journalism Conference, and Journalism Asia – dovetail with the commemoration in the capital of Manila.

Uncovering Asia, organized by the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), will gather more than 200 investigative journalists from at least 25 countries in Asia and other regions. Journalism Asia, on the other hand, is organized by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and the Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA).

The “Million Candles Campaign,” led by CMFR in the Philippines, and the International Freedom Exchange (IFEX), will also be held on the International Day to End Impunity. IFEX declared the international campaign in 2011 to coincide with the commemoration of the Ampatuan Massacre.

Delegates to Uncovering Asia and Journalism Asia are expected to join Filipino journalists in lighting candles at the EDSA Shrine at 6 p.m.

You can take part in this activity by lighting a candle wherever you are on November 23, 2014 at 6 p.m.

Zero dark fifth year

Julius Mariveles Leave a comment

FIFTY-EIGHT dead, five years, zero justice.

This, in a nutshell, is the Ampatuan Massacre case as journalists and press freedom advocates prepare to mark the fifth year of the deadliest single attack on reporters and media workers across the globe.

Almost half a decade after 58 people were slain – 32 of them journalist and media workers – the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) launched on Monday the planned activities to commemorate the massacre.

"Five years of loss and of a search for justice that remains elusive as if it, too, was buried but was not exhumed in the pit in which madmen believed they could bury all evidence of their orgy of blood," says Rowena Paraan of NUJP | Photo by Cong. B. Corrales

“Five years of loss and of a search for justice that remains elusive as if it, too, was buried but was not exhumed in the pit in which madmen believed they could bury all evidence of their orgy of blood,” says Rowena Paraan of NUJP | Photo by Cong. B. Corrales

“Six days from today, the families, friends and colleagues of the 58 mercilessly slaughtered on a hilltop in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman, Ampatuan, Maguindanao will mark five years of loss and of a search for justice that remains elusive as if it, too, was buried but was not exhumed in the pit in which madmen believed they could bury all evidence of their orgy of blood,” said NUJP national chair Rowena Paraan.

Paraan lamented that the stream of issues competing for the public’s attention—from ebola to the alleged hacienda of the vice president—have contributed to the diminished public interest in the case and have disheartened families of the victims.

“The purpose of this continuing campaign is to remind the people of the massacre and that five years have passed but justice remains elusive,” Paraan said.

INFOGRAPHIC by Cong. B. Corrales

INFOGRAPHIC by Cong. B. Corrales

Paraan said that of the 197 persons accused with multiple murder before Branch 221 of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, 28 bear the Ampatuan surname, including clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., former ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan and former Datu Unsay town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr.

As of Monday, there have been 111 arrested and arraigned but 89 of the accused still remain at large.

Paraan said that the Ampatuan massacre trial, which started in January 2010, has been characterized by word wars between prosecutors, delaying tactics by defense lawyers, bribery accusations and abject lack of updates for the families of victims.

“The prosecution presented a total of 152 witnesses. Since the trial started, at least three possible witnesses have been killed,” added Paraan.

Meanwhile, at least 33 more journalists have been killed after the massacre, Paraan pointed out, which only reflects government’s unfulfilled and broken promises of justice, of respect for basic rights and freedoms, and of good governance.

Among the activities lined-up for the commemoration this year include an International Solidarity Mission with delegates representing the International Federation of Journalists-Asia Pacific Office, National Union of Journalists-Malaysia, Southeast Asia Journalists Union, Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance-Australia, and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance.

REPORTERS and media workers watch the public service announcement of NUJP during its public launch last November 17, 2014 in Quezon City, Philippines to mark the fifth year of the Ampatuan Massacre | Photo by Cong B. Corrales

REPORTERS and media workers watch the public service announcement of NUJP during its public launch last November 17, 2014 in Quezon City, Philippines to mark the fifth year of the Ampatuan Massacre | Photo by Cong B. Corrales

The schedule of activities are as follows:

November 19: Arrival in Manila of foreign delegates for the International Solidarity Mission

November 20: Arrival in General Santos City of International Solidarity Mission

November 21: Massacre site visit by 8 a.m. and meeting with Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu at 3 p.m.

November 22: Arrival in Manila, meeting with Justice Sec. Leila De Lima at 2 p.m.

November 23: Press Conference at 9 a.m. and unveiling of installation art at Bantayog ng mga Bayani and lighting of candles at EDSA Shrine by 5 pm.

November 24: Meeting with Task Force Usig head, Colonel Henry Libay at Camp Crame at 10 a.m.

The NUJP also launched a public service announcement produced by the Philippine Integrated Advertisement Agency (PIAA), with editorial supervision of the NUJP.

“Six days from today, we will look back and see how five years of corruption and apathy have conspired to thwart not only justice for the Ampatuan 58 but allowed the impunity with which journalists, activists, lawyers, environmentalists, farmers, indigenous people, religious and other whose only crime is to exercise their right to free expression continue to be murdered,” the NUJP statement reads. – Cong B. Corrales

Killed, tortured, jailed, missing: Impunity most foul, most cruel

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KILLED execution-style. Blown up by a bomb. Tortured. Held incommunicado for 13 years. Disappeared.

And all that for chasing stories of crime, corruption, and conflict. Or for sketching cartoons.

They are all journalists. Their tragic stories now constitute the 10 “emblematic cases of impunity” that Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres or RSF) has chosen to highlight as part of its #FightImpunity campaign for the first International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.

The aim, RSF said, is “to involve the general public and step up pressure on governments to bring those responsible for these crimes to justice.”

According to RSF, around 800 journalists have been killed in connection with their work in the past decade.

The deadliest year was 2012, with 88 journalists killed.

The number of killed fell slightly in 2013 but the figures for physical attacks and threats against journalists continued to rise.

At total of 56 journalists have been killed since the start of 2014.

RSF said those responsible were many and varied, and include governments, armed groups and hit-men. It blamed the shortcomings of police and justice systems for the failures to solve these cases or to convict the perpetrators and instigators, it added.

On Dec. 13, 2013, the United Nations General Assembly declared November 2 as International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. The day marks the anniversary of the murder of the two Radio France Internationale journalists, Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon in Kidal, Mali, in 2012.

RSF has chosen 10 cases “to put names and faces to the tragic statistics and to show the scale and different forms that impunity can take.”

But it lamented that, “the resources deployed by authorities to solve these and many other cases have been either non-existent or hopelessly inadequate.”

More than 90 percent of crimes against journalists are never solved and therefore never punished, RSF said.

These 10 impunity cases are presented on a specially created website.

Four of the victims had disappeared: Mexican crime reporter María Esther Aguilar Casimbe, Abidjan-based French journalist Guy-André Kieffer, Iranian newspaper editor Pirouz Davani and Sri Lankan political analyst and cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda.

Some had been murdered: Pakistani reporter Syed Saleem Shahzad, the young Serbian journalist Dada Vujasinovic, the Beirut-based columnist Samir Kassir and the Dagestani journalist Akhmednabi Akhmednabiyev, who was gunned down in 2013.

One, Dawit Isaak, a journalist with Swedish and Eritrean dual nationality, has been held incommunicado in Eritrean President Issayas Aferworki’s hellish prison camps for the past 13 years.

Another, Bahraini reporter Nazeeha Saeed, had been tortured by police officers for covering pro-democracy demonstrations.

“We must never abandon journalists who are the victims of crimes, not even posthumously,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

“The ten impunity cases we are presenting are shocking examples of incompetence or wilful inaction by officials who should be punishing despicable crimes against those who have tried to describe reality as it is,” RSF said.

“Such a level of impunity just encourages those who commit these abuses. International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists is an occasion for paying tribute to the victims, reminding governments of their obligation to protect journalists and combat impunity, and reminding those who target journalists that one day they will be held to account for their actions.”

“Whether killed execution-style, blown-up by a bomb, tortured to death or disappeared, these journalists paid the price for their commitment to freedom of information,” RSF said. T”hey were targeted for investigating corruption or drug trafficking, for criticizing the government or intelligence agencies or for drawing attention to human rights violations.

Yet while some of the cases have become emblematic, “others are less well known.”

To combat impunity, RSF urged the creation of the position of special adviser to the UN secretary-general on the safety of journalists, saying that “creating such a post at the heart of the UN system would enable monitoring and verification of states’ compliance with their obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 1738 and the General Assembly resolution of 18 December 2013.”

Adopted 23 December 23, 2006, Resolution 1738 reminds states of their “obligations under international law to end impunity.”

The resolution passed by the UN General Assembly on 18 December 2013 calls on states to conduct “impartial, speedy and effective investigations into all alleged violence against journalists (…) to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to justice and ensure that victims have access to appropriate remedies.”

A resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on September 10 called in similar terms for an end to impunity. “A proper international monitoring and verification mechanism is needed so that all these resolutions can be implemented,” RSF said.

RWB also called for an amendment to Article 8 of the International Criminal Court’s statute “so that deliberate attacks on journalists, media workers and associated personnel are defined as war crimes.”

As a member of the French coalition of the ICC, RSF said it is urging states to pass legislation allowing them, under the principle of universal jurisdiction, to prosecute those in their territory who committed grave crimes in another country.

The European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have ruled that respect for freedom of information not only requires states to abstain from arbitrarily interfering in the use of the right to information but also requires them to protect journalists and prosecute those who target them, it added.

RSF exhorted governments to “implement these provisions by conducting immediate, effective and independent investigations into attacks against journalists and prosecuting those responsible.”

“The authorities that conduct these investigations must be able to resist any political, diplomatic or technical pressure or obstacles they may encounter.” it said. “In some ongoing cases, RWB has seen how the threat of ending a judicial investigation represents a victory for impunity.”