Freedom of expression is a fundamental right that underlies the ability to exercise all other rights, and hence is one of the first targets when governments seek to crack down on their citizenry. The Arab world, of course, has long suffered from the repression of independent media and free expression, and before the uprisings got underway it once again fared the worst of any region in Freedom House's Freedom of the Press 2011 survey (full disclosure, I wrote three of the chapters). The Arab Spring (guess the pundits were too lazy to come up with a new label and had to reuse the one from 2005) was in large part driven by the innate desire of people to express themselves, especially youth who were growing up in an era of satellite TV, internet and social media and had all the tools but none of the rights.
But the fight is not over yet. Bahraini authorities apparently prevented Nabeel Rajab (@NABEELRAJAB), president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, from traveling to Beirut today to attend the conference. In Libya the journalist death toll continues to rise at 5 and counting, not to mention the arrests. The Egyptian military issued an archaic demand requiring that any content that dealt with the military pass through the 'Moral Board' while the Tunisian mainstream media continue to have much of the same staff who were put in power under Ben Ali.
The Arab Spring is on the top of the agenda for the General Meeting of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange network, or IFEX taking place over the next week in Beirut, Lebanon. Representatives of close to 100 groups devoted to free expression will converge on Beirut for a week of business and discussion about issues including impunity, journalism and new media, and host of other issues. You can track it on the IFEX blog here.
But the fight is not over yet. Bahraini authorities apparently prevented Nabeel Rajab (@NABEELRAJAB), president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, from traveling to Beirut today to attend the conference. In Libya the journalist death toll continues to rise at 5 and counting, not to mention the arrests. The Egyptian military issued an archaic demand requiring that any content that dealt with the military pass through the 'Moral Board' while the Tunisian mainstream media continue to have much of the same staff who were put in power under Ben Ali.
The Arab Spring is on the top of the agenda for the General Meeting of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange network, or IFEX taking place over the next week in Beirut, Lebanon. Representatives of close to 100 groups devoted to free expression will converge on Beirut for a week of business and discussion about issues including impunity, journalism and new media, and host of other issues. You can track it on the IFEX blog here.
0 comments:
Post a Comment