• Amara al-Khatabi in his hospital bed where he remains under heavy guard in Tripoli, Libya on April 10, 2013.
    © 2013 Ramadan Salem
    Libya: Release Ailing Newspaper Editor
    Libyan authorities should immediately drop criminal defamation charges and free Amara Hassan al-Khatabi, editor of al-Ummah daily. Al-Khatabi, who has been in detention since December 19, 2012, is on trial for “insulting” and “slandering” members of the judiciary. His private lawyer was not allowed to visit him while he was detained in prison and says he was transferred to a medical facility due to his fragile health on April 6, 2013, where he remains detained under guard.
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Press Freedom

  • Iraq: Cancel Revocations of TV Station Licenses
    Apr 30, 2013
    Iraq’s media commission should immediately reverse the license suspensions for ten satellite television stations and allow them to continue broadcasting. A senior official has admitted the suspension was not according to any law, nor could the commission produce any evidence of direct incitement to violence by any of the stations, leading to the conclusion that the suspension was arbitrary.
  • South Africa: ‘Secrecy Bill’ Improved But Still Flawed
    Apr 29, 2013
    South Africa’s “secrecy bill,” adopted by the National Assembly on April 25, 2013, lacks essential protections for whistleblowers.
  • Burundi: Concerns About New Media Law
    Apr 25, 2013

    Letter to President Pierre Nkurunziza

    Human Rights Watch urges President Pierre Nkurunziza not to sign the new media law adopted by the Senate on April 19, 2013, and to prevent it from being enacted in its current form. Human Rights Watch urges him instead to send it back to Parliament for amendment and ensure that the final version restores media freedoms, in line with Burundi’s national and international commitments.

  • Kenya: New Leaders Should Put Rights First
    Apr 23, 2013
    Kenya’s new administration should take urgent steps in four key areas to address longstanding human rights challenges, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The administration should ensure that abusive security forces are held to account, protect independent voices, accelerate key police and land reforms, and cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court (ICC).
  • Universal Periodic Review: HRW Submission on Azerbaijan
    Apr 18, 2013
    Azerbaijan’s human rights record has been on a continual decline since the previous UPR in 2009, casting serious doubt on the government’s willingness to abide by its commitments and to reform. The long-repressive atmosphere for independent journalists, political activists, and human rights defenders has grown acutely hostile, with authorities using imprisonment as a tool for political retribution and clamping down on freedom of assembly, breaking up peaceful demonstrations, often violently.
  • Burundi: New Law Would Muzzle Journalists
    Apr 12, 2013

    The adoption of a new media law by Burundi’s National Assembly on April 3, 2013, is an attempt to curtail free speech and independent journalism. The Senate and president should reject this version of the draft law, which would undermine Burundians’ hard-won struggle for fundamental freedoms.

  • Libya: Release Ailing Newspaper Editor
    Apr 12, 2013
    Libyan authorities should immediately drop criminal defamation charges and free Amara Hassan al-Khatabi, editor of al-Ummah daily. Al-Khatabi, who has been in detention since December 19, 2012, is on trial for “insulting” and “slandering” members of the judiciary. His private lawyer was not allowed to visit him while he was detained in prison and says he was transferred to a medical facility due to his fragile health on April 6, 2013, where he remains detained under guard.
  • Ethiopia: Muslim Protesters Face Unfair Trial
    Apr 2, 2013
    The prosecution of 29 Muslim protest leaders and others charged under Ethiopia’s deeply flawed anti-terrorism law raises serious fair trial concerns. The trial is scheduled to resume in Addis Ababa on April 2, 2013, after a 40-day postponement.
  • Yemen: Possible Military Role in Journalist’s Killing
    Mar 16, 2013
    Yemeni authorities should ensure that an investigation into the killing of a journalist and another man in Aden fully and impartially examines the military’s possible role and brings those responsible to justice.
  • Somalia: Woman Alleging Rape Cleared, Journalist Convicted
    Mar 3, 2013
    An appeals court’s ruling to uphold the conviction of a journalist who interviewed a woman alleging rape by government forces is a major setback for freedom of the media in Somalia. The woman, who had also been convicted of “insulting the government” and other alleged crimes, was found not guilty.
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