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	Egypt"s persecution of journalists by Committee to Protect Journalists, agencies   13 February 2015   Egypt: UN’s Ban welcomes release of detained journalists, urges fair trial.   United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the decision by Egyptian authorities to release on bail the detained Al Jazeera journalists, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, bringing an end to their 400-day ordeal.   In a statement released by his spokesperson’s office, Mr. Ban said he hopes that both Mr. Fahmy’s and Mr. Mohamed’s cases, as well as those of other journalists currently held in detention, will be resolved “expeditiously and in accordance with Egypt’s international obligations to protect the freedoms of expression and association.”   The two journalists were arrested in 2013 along with their Australian colleague, Peter Greste, or carrying out legitimate news reporting activities, according to the UN human rights office (OHCHR), and were subsequently convicted and sentenced in June 2014 by an Egyptian court.   Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a binding treaty that Egypt ratified in 1982, states that ‘Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.’   Nevertheless, journalists working for other media organizations have reported being attacked by Government supporters after being accused of working for Al Jazeera . A video also emerged last year which appeared to show a police officer threatening a camera crew working for another TV station that, if they did not stop filming, he would tell bystanders they worked for Al Jazeera so that they would be attacked. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50088#.VOJRhSypX-Y   2 Feb 2015   Al Jazeera Journalist Peter Greste urges Egypt to free colleagues.   Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste has in his first interview since being freed from an Egypt jail after 400 days in captivity, called on the Egyptian authorities to release two of his colleagues still being held.   "I feel incredible angst about my colleagues, leaving them behind", Greste. "Amidst all this relief, I still feel a sense of concern and worry. If it''s appropriate for me to be free, it''s right for all of them to be freed," he insisted.   Two other Al Jazeera journalists - Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy - are still imprisoned in Egypt.   The three were sentenced between seven and ten years in jail on charges including spreading lies to help a terrorist organisation - a reference to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.   Greste said he was taken by surprise by his sudden release.   "When you spend 400 days in such close proximity with people, you get to know them really well. It was a really difficult moment walking out and leaving the prison, saying goodbye to those guys, not knowing how much longer they will have to put up with this."   "Mohamed Fahmy is an extraordinary professional, a dedicated journalist, very passionate. "Baher is one of the most amazing family men I''ve met. If anyone''s suffered out of all of this, it is Baher, he has a wife, and one of his children was born while he was prison."   http://www.aljazeera.com/topics/spotlight/freeajstaff.html   June 2014   ‘It is not a crime to carry a camera,’ UN rights chief warns as Egypt sentences journalists.   United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed deep concern over a string of recent court decisions in Egypt, including the verdicts and heavy jail sentences handed down today to three Al Jazeera journalists, as well as 11 other defendants who were tried in absentia.   “The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by recent court decisions in Egypt, particularly the confirmation of death sentences for 183 people and the sentencing of journalists, including from Al Jazeera today, to lengthy jail terms,” said a statement issued by his spokesperson in New York.   “Proceedings that clearly appear not to meet basic fair trial standards, particularly those resulting in the imposition of the death penalty, are likely to undermine prospects for long-term stability,” it continued.   The statement also noted that the constitutionality of the law regulating protest will be reviewed by the Supreme Constitutional Court. Mr. Ban recalled that both he and Ms. Pillay had expressed concerns that the law could lead to serious breaches of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and needed to be brought in conformity with Egypt’s international human rights obligations.   “The Secretary-General stresses that participation in peaceful protests or criticism of the Government should not be grounds for detention or prosecution. He believes Egypt will only be strengthened by empowering all its citizens to fully exercise their rights,” said the statement.   In her statement, Ms. Pillay said she was “shocked and alarmed” by the verdicts and jail terms of between 7 and 10 years handed down to three journalists and the 11 other defendants tried in absentia.   While noting that they are subject to appeal, Ms. Pillay said the Al Jazeera verdicts, along with Saturday’s confirmation by an Egyptian court of the death penalty for 183 Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters convicted in an earlier mass trial, are the latest in a string of prosecutions and court proceedings that have been “rife with procedural irregularities and in breach of international human rights law.”   The High Commissioner expressed her alarm at the increasingly severe clampdown and physical attacks on both media and civil society activists in Egypt, which is hampering their ability to operate freely.   “I am particularly concerned about the role of the judicial system in this clampdown,” she said. “Harassment, detention and prosecution of national and international journalists, including bloggers, as well as violent attacks by unidentified assailants, have become commonplace,” she added, noting that at least six journalists have been killed in Egypt since August 2013.   “Media employees trying to carry out their work in Egypt are now confronted by an extremely difficult and dangerous environment. They should be protected not prosecuted,” declared Ms. Pillay.   The High Commissioner went on to say that the charges levelled against the journalists, which include harming national unity and social peace, spreading false reports, and membership of a “terrorist organization,” are far too broad and vague, and therefore reinforce the belief that the real target is freedom of expression.   She noted that charges based on Egypt’s anti-terrorism law have also been used to bring convictions in a number of other trials, including the two mass trials of more than 1,100 people in Minya earlier in the year that led to at least 220 people being handed death sentences, including the 183 whose death sentences were confirmed on Saturday.   “I believe these mass trials and death penalty convictions are obscene, and a complete travesty of justice,” the High Commissioner said.   Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a binding treaty that Egypt ratified in 1982, states that ‘Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.’   “It is not a crime to carry a camera, or to try to report various points of views about events,” Ms. Pillay said. “It is not a crime to criticize the authorities, or to interview people who hold unpopular views. Journalists and civil society members should not be arrested, prosecuted, beaten up or sacked for reporting on sensitive issues. They should not be shot for trying to report or film things we, the public, have a right to know are happening.”   She urged the Egyptian authorities to promptly release all journalists and other media employees imprisoned for carrying out legitimate news reporting activities, including Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Bahar Mohamed, the three journalists who were convicted and sentenced on Monday.   Ms. Pillay, a former international judge, also called on Egypt’s judicial establishment to conduct a review of the handling of these and other cases. “Egypt’s reputation, and especially the reputation of its judiciary as an independent institution, are at stake,” she said. “There is a risk that miscarriage of justice is becoming the norm in Egypt.”   http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48106   June, 2014   Egypt"s Shame, by Joel Simon. (Committee to Protect Journalists)   This morning a judge in Egypt convicted journalists Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, Peter Greste, and Baher Mohamed of conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood and sentenced them to between seven and 10 years in prison. All three were working for Al-Jazeera when they were arrested six months ago, but have a wide range of professional experience, including stints with CNN, The New York Times, and the BBC. Three other journalists--Al-Jazeera English presenter Sue Turton, Al-Jazeera reporter Dominic Kane, and a correspondent for Dutch Parool newspaper, Rena Netjes--were sentenced to 10 years in absentia.   The verdict comes less than a month after the election of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as Egypt"s new president. Despite widespread concerns about the fairness of the vote, the president clearly hopes the election will legitimatize the current regime and repair international relationships. Indeed, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who passed through Cairo on Sunday on his way to Baghdad, indicated that U.S. military aid to Egypt could soon be restored.   But Egypt cannot be allowed to normalize its international relationships so long as it continues to jail journalists. While the focus has been on the Al-Jazeera journalists, in fact Egypt is currently holding at least 14 journalists in prison, placing the country among the world"s worst repressors. One journalist, Abdullah al-Shami, was released last week on medical parole after waging a hunger strike. His trial is ongoing.   Today"s verdict is even more acutely embarrassing for Egypt given the nature of the legal proceedings. The trial was almost farcical, and among the evidence admitted were family vacation photos and footage of news reports from other networks on unrelated subjects.   The clearly politicalized nature of the prosecution has also sent a chill through the Cairo press corps, which has rallied to support their imprisoned colleagues. In a letter sent to el-Sisi on Friday, dozens of leading international journalists called on the president to intervene to ensure justice.   The letter reads, "Whatever the verdict, we firmly believe that the release of the journalists--by acquittal, presidential pardon, or some other act of clemency--will send a positive message to Egypt and the world. It will demonstrate the confidence and stability of the government as well as an appreciation of the important role of journalism."   With all due deference to the reputed independence of the Egyptian judiciary, today"s verdict has nothing to the do with the law. It"s a transparently politicized result, in which the Al-Jazeera journalists have become pawns in a conflict with Qatar over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood. The verdict thus represents a political crisis for President el-Sisi--one he must find a way to resolve if he wants to achieve his goal of legitimating the government and restoring his country"s international standing.   * Joel Simon is the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists   http://www.cpj.org/blog/2014/06/egypts-shame.php http://www.amnesty.org.au/action/action/33972/ http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/06/outrage-as-egypt-jails-al-jazeera-staff-2014623234322236195.html   Egypt"s persecution of its own journalists.   Five journalists have been killed, at least 125 jailed and many more face harassment under military controlled regime since July 2013, according to Reporters Without Borders, writes Oliver Milman.   The imprisonment of Australian al-Jazeera journalist Peter Greste and his fellow accused has overshadowed Egypt’s active persecution of at least 100 of its own journalists, according to an exile who has fled to the US.   Yehia Ghanem, a journalist who edited the leading Egyptian newspaper, al-Ahram, said reporters in the country risked imprisonment and physical attack if they fell foul of an establishment heavily controlled by the military.   Ghanem fled Egypt last year after being sentenced to two years in prison with hard labour for setting up a journalism training school with $900,000 of funding from the US state department.   Ghanem was one of 43 workers convicted for what the court alleged was a conspiracy to divide Egypt.   The journalist, who left his wife and three children behind to flee to the US, said the imprisonment of Greste and his al-Jazeera colleagues is just the latest in a string of such convictions.   “I feel their pain because the day when the sentence came down it brought back all of the bad memories and nightmares I went through,” Ghanem told news reporters.   “I have to draw attention to at least 100 Egyptian journalists that nobody talks about. My heart goes out to them because I know what they are going through. I understand the injustice that has been inflicted upon them.”   Ghanem said his son was attacked by other children, resulting in two broken arms, after he attempted to defend his father’s name.   “That was one of the toughest moments because I felt so helpless,” he said. “I thought I should report the children but I backed off because they are not criminals. It’s the media in my country (which is to blame), which is unfortunately controlled by the military.”   According to Reporters Without Borders, five journalists have been killed at least 125 have been arbitrarily arrested in Egypt since July 2013.   20 al-Jazeera journalists – 16 of them Egyptians – were arrested for “broadcasting false information” and aiding a terrorist organisation the "Muslim Brotherhood".   Greste was jailed for seven years earlier this week, with his and his colleagues’ imprisonment provoking international outrage. http://en.rsf.org/ Visit the related web page
	US report downgrades Thailand, Malaysia over human trafficking by Reuters, AFP, agencies   June 2014   US report downgrades Thailand, Malaysia over human trafficking. (AFP)   The three countries, plus Gambia, on Friday found themselves added to nations such as Iran, North Korea and Syria already languishing on the lowest tier of the State Department"s annual report into human trafficking - a designation which could trigger US sanctions.   US Secretary of State John Kerry said the 2014 Trafficking in Persons report "is not just a book filled with stories that will touch you. This is a call to action. It"s a call to conscience. It is a reminder of what happens in many dark places that need light," he told reporters releasing the report.   "Wherever rule of law is weak, where corruption is most ingrained and where populations can"t count on the protection of governments and of law enforcement, there you find zones of vulnerability to trafficking," Kerry said.   "But wherever rule of law is strong, where individuals are willing to speak out and governments willing to listen, we find zones of protection."   The scale of human trafficking is staggering. The International Labor Organization estimates about $US150 billion ($A162.29 billion) in profits are generated annually from trafficking, of which $US99 billion goes to the sex industry.   And an estimated some 30 million people are believed to live in slavery around the world.   Tens of thousands of the world"s trafficking victims end up in Thailand as migrants from neighbouring countries "who are forced, coerced, or defrauded into labour or exploited in the sex trade," the report said, which was carried out before the military coup.   A high number are exploited in the fishing industry as well as garment factories or end up as domestic maids.   "Anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts remained insufficient compared with the size of the problem in Thailand, and corruption at all levels hampered the success of these efforts."   Thailand responded, by saying they were "disappointed" and that they "respectfully disagree with the State Department"s decision".   The report "did not recognise our government-wide efforts that have yielded progress and concrete results," Thailand"s ambassador to the US, Vijavat Isarabhakdi, said in a statement.   Malaysia was also downgraded to the so-called Tier 3, after ignoring warnings to draw up a plan to comply with "the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking".   Many Malaysian recruitment companies bring in workers who incur huge debts to people smugglers and ending up working in bondage on farms, fishing boats or again as prostitutes.   Those who manage to escape are often jailed by the Malaysian authorities - sometimes for as long as a year - faulted by the State Department for "flawed and inadequate" efforts to improve the country"s victim protection program.   Venezuela too found itself back on lowest ranking, after having been on the State Department"s Tier Two watch list since 2012, because it has no "written plan" for the elimination of trafficking.   May 2014   Nuns, backed by pope, warn of human trafficking at World Cup.(Reuters)   Roman Catholic nuns backed by Pope Francis have raised the alarm over increased risks of human trafficking, exploitation of workers, forced prostitution and sexual tourism at the football World Cup in Brazil.   The nuns, announced an international campaign called "Play in Favour of Life - Denounce Human Trafficking," on the risks they say will be associated with the June 12 - July 13 tournament.   "We need to make people conscious of what happens on the margins of big world events such as the FIFA World Cup and the suffering of those who are trafficked," said Sister Carmen Sammut, a Maltese nun and one of the campaign organisers.   "Without this awareness, without acting together in favour of human dignity, the World Cup finals may turn out to be a terrible shame instead of a celebration for humanity," she told a news conference.   Sammut said the initiative had the full backing of Pope Francis, an avid Argentine football fan who has called several conferences at the Vatican to study ways of combating human trafficking.   Sister Gabriella Bottani, an Italian nun who works in Brazil, said human traffickers and others took advantage of large events like the World Cup to exploit the most vulnerable.   She said young people from the countryside are lured with the promise of a job and forced into prostitution. Children in rural areas may be kidnapped and taken to cities hosting the venues and forced to beg.   Others who are already being exploited as sex workers may be forced to move to one of the 12 venue cities because they would be more profitable to their pimps.   In countries like Brazil, she said, large events could also give rising to kidnapping for adoption. "It is amazing how so many forces of evil can converge to cause so much harm against human freedom."   The nuns said statistics showed that sexual exploitation rose 30 percent in connection with the World Cup in Germany in 2006 and 40 percent at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.   The nuns will be raising awareness of the dangers of human trafficking and other crimes connected to the World Cup through their blog http://gritopelavida.blogspot.com.br/   Volunteers will be handing out leaflets in cities in Brazil and other Latin American countries, warning of human trafficking and how to spot it. Several demonstrations are planned.   Catholic nuns have for years been active in the fight against human trafficking.   They have formed the International Network of Consecrated Life Against Trafficking in Persons, known as Talitha Kum (Little Girl, Arise), a phrase in Aramaic taken from the Bible. It has members in more than 30 countries.   Apr 2014   Child sex trafficking is a growing problem in the US. (AAP)   Sex trafficking of children is growing in many urban areas of the United States, according to a new survey.   Forty per cent of counties with populations higher than 250,000 reported an increase in sex trafficking of youngsters under 18 in the past two years, said the survey from the National Association of Counties.   For all age groups, human sex trafficking was deemed "a major problem" by authorities in 48 per cent of all larger counties.   "Sex trafficking is a problem across America, particularly for large urban counties," Don Knabe, a member of the elected Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County, told reporters in Washington.   In his own jurisdiction of 10 million, which includes the city of Los Angeles and its many sprawling suburbs, girls - some as young as 12-years-old - have been "bought and sold on the streets ... for sex", he said.   The survey, based on interviews with sheriff"s departments in 400 counties earlier this month, also indicated a link between sex trafficking and minors who have been in foster care, group homes or involved in abuse cases.   "Protecting young children and keeping them safe from their pimps is a major challenge to us and something for which we need to find solutions and funding," Knabe said.   According to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, at least 100,000 minors, more often than not children, are victims of sexual exploitation in the United States every year.   Feb 2014   Child abduction is a major problem in China despite harsh punishments for traffickers.   Chinese police have rescued 382 abducted babies and arrested 1094 suspects in a national operation that busted four major internet-based baby trafficking rings, the Public Security Ministry says.   The operation came after police in Beijing and the eastern province of Jiangsu last year found four websites selling babies under the cover of adoption, the ministry said, adding that internet technologies have assisted baby traffickers by providing more secretive covers for their businesses.   Child abduction is a major problem in China despite punishments as harsh as the death sentence for traffickers, and national-level busts of trafficking rings have been frequent in recent years.   Strict laws that limit many families to one child, a traditional preference for boys, poverty and illicit profits drive a thriving market in babies and children.   To address the problem, China is considering tougher penalties for parents who sell their children, as well as for the buyers.   http://www.ohchr.org/EN/issues/Trafficking/Pages/Traffickingindex.aspx http://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/slavery/srslavery/pages/srslaveryindex.aspx http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58005.html http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/ http://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/ http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2009/child-trafficking-eu-challenges-perspectives-and-good-practices http://www.unodc.org/unodc/human-trafficking-fund.html http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48370#.U9l9zWP_J31
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