SrinagarArrest of a freelance journalist from Kashmir Valley Kamran Yousuf by National Investigation Agency of India, and former BBC journalist Vinod Verma by the Chhattisgarh police figured in a report published by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Wednesday.
The CPJ said that the number of journalists imprisoned for their work hit a new high in 2017 for the second year in a row.
The report by the New York-based non-profit also names India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, adding that the pattern reflects a dismal failure by the international community to address a global crisis in freedom of the press.
Yousuf, a 23-year-old freelance photojournalist and regular contributor to leading local daily was arrested by the NIA on charges of stone-pelting in September. Verma was arrested inGhaziabad in October for allegedly blackmailing a Chhattisgarh BJP leader with a sex CD. Verma denied the charge and said he was being framed.
More than half the these journalists are from Turkey, China and Egypt, the report said.
In its annual prison census, CPJ found 262 journalists were behind bars around the world for doing their work a new record after a historical high of 259 last year.
India ranks 13th on CPJ’s Global Impunity Index, which spotlights countries where journalists are murdered regularly and their killers go free. In 2017, India ranked at an abysmal low of 136 in the World Press Freedom Index.
Among other countries in South Asia, the CPJ list features two jailed journalists from Pakistan, four in Bangladesh.
Trump “Cozied up to Strongmen” and Done Little for Human Rights: CPJ
US President Donald Trumps nationalistic rhetoric, fixation on Islamic extremism, and insistence on labeling critical media ‘fake news’ serves to reinforce the framework of accusations and legal charges that allow such leaders to preside over the jailing of journalists, the CPJ said.
The group cited Turkey as an egregious offender, even before a press crackdown that began early last year by President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and accelerated after an attempted coup in July 2016.
In China, the number of journalists behind bars rose to 41 from 38 a year earlier. The census report mentioned Trump’s November visit to Beijing where he made no public reference to human rights, despite an ongoing crackdown that has led to the arrests of Chinese journalists, activists, and lawyers.
The visit came shortly after Xi Jingping tightened his grip on power at the Communist Party Congress, where his name was written into the Constitution and no successor was identified. According to news reports, analysts dont expect improvement in human rights.
Impossible For Global Media To Report On Kashmir: IFJ
The International Federation of Journalists has said that in addition to the blockade of information for local journalists, it is almost impossible for the international media to report on Kashmir due to non-issuance of journalist visas.
The IFJ in a statement in Brussels expressed serious concerns over the arrest and detention of French journalist Paul Comiti, who was arrested by Indian police while filming pellet victims in Kashmir on Sunday. It demanded his immediate release.
The IFJ said the restrictions are attempts to control access to information by denying journalists their legitimate rights. The IFJ also urged the Indian government to ensure respect to international standards of dealing with journalists.
The IFJ said: The IFJ expresses serious concerns over the arrest and detention of French journalist Paul Comiti in Kashmir, India and demands his immediate release.
In addition to the blockade of information for local journalists, it is almost impossible for the international media to report on Kashmir due non-issuance of journalist visas.
The IFJ believes these restrictions are attempts to control access to information by denying journalists their legitimate rights. The IFJ also urges the Indian government to ensure that it respects international standards of dealing with journalists, IFJ said.
On Sunday, Kashmir police arrested Comiti for violating visa regulations by filming protest activities in Kashmir, and presented him to the court, which remanded him on custody for five days.
Comiti, 47, was visiting Kashmir to research for his documentary on a business visa valid until December 2018.
Meanwhile, Indian Journalists Union (IJU), representing organisation of working journalists in the country in a statement said, It is practice by scribes to visit conflict place on business visas. It demanded that the French journalist Paul Comiti should be immediately released.
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