Category: Letters to Countries

The OPC objects strenuously to the crack-down on the independent press in Yemen, and asks the government to immediately suspend attacks on the press by its military units.

We wish H.E Asif Ali Zahari great success in his campaign against the Taliban in the northwest. And we ask that he direct the military to give some protection to journalists in the area to allow them to inform Pakistani citizens about the truth of what is happening.

As H.E. Audrey Rajoelina’s rise to power as head of the High Transitional Authority in Madagascar, Rajoelina is challenged by fellow citizens and the global community to demonstrate stable judgment, commitment to the law and the integrity of democracy. The OPC is aware of the restraints and abuses of media freedom during the months from January to late March, and deplore that, as indeed Rajoelina did when he was in opposition.

We write to protest the increasing persecution of bloggers in Egypt, who are simply exercising the right to free expression guaranteed by the nation’s constitution.

Yet another Russian journalist has been beaten nearly to death, the latest victim of an on-going series of attacks that notoriously go unpunished in your country.

The OPC joins CPJ, RSF and other press freedom groups in denouncing the “brazen murder” of radio journalist José Everardo Aguilar on April 24. We echo the call for an open and aggressive investigation by authorities to demonstrate your nation’s commitment to a free press.

The OPC strenuously objects to the expulsion of independent journalists from Fiji and urges its government to restore press rights under the United Nations convention that guarantees universal freedom of expression.

The OPC learned of Ahmadinejad’s letter to Tehran’s prosecutor upholding the legal right of Roxana Saberi to defend herself — days after Saberi’s secret trial on a charge of espionage for which she was given a sentence of eight years in jail.

We write to protest again, in the strongest possible terms, the Korean government’s detention of two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee. They have now been held for a month and are reportedly to be tried on charges of illegally entering North Korea.