Freedom of the press subjected to discrimination; democratic rights thwarted

Dear Editor,
The world remembers the brutal slaying and kidnapping of US journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a sad, disgusting and inhumane act, cowardly perpetrated by destabilisers of democracy and those who are committed to denying the freedom of the press. Khashoggi wanted to expose the fear, intimidation, arrests and public shaming of people who dare to speak their minds.
It is acclaimed that he was killed and dismembered by Saudi Government agents at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, (the same day that the world was celebrating the 149th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who represents truth, peace and non-violence in today’s global environment). Initially, officials in Riyadh insisted that the journalist had left the building alive.
After almost three weeks of denial, they acknowledged that Khashoggi was murdered but portrayed the assassination as a rogue operation of which the country’s top leaders were not aware. In Washington, the killing sparked outrage in Congress, which blamed the assassination on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
On the eve of the second anniversary of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, several American legislators are calling for justice for the slain journalist and berating President Donald Trump for shielding Saudi Arabia’s rulers from accountability. At a virtual event hosted by the Washington-based Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) on Tuesday, members of the US Senate and House of Representatives vowed to stress human rights in America’s relations with Riyadh.
President Trump has embraced Saudi Arabia’s rulers instead of criticising them over their human rights violations, including the murder of Khashoggi and the war in Yemen that has killed more than one hundred thousand people. Congressman Tom Malinowski, a former human rights campaigner and Assistant Secretary of State under President Barack Obama, said Washington’s ties to Riyadh should be based on interests and values.
Over the past two years, Congress has passed several resolutions to push back against Saudi Arabia, including measures to end US support for the kingdom’s war in Yemen and halting an arms deal with Riyadh – bills that were vetoed by Trump. On Thursday, Malinowski said he is confident that these measures will become law if Democratic candidate Joe Biden beats Trump next month.
Meanwhile, over in Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, a city of 1.2 million people, about 380 kilometres (235 miles) east of Moscow, the editor of a Russian news website, Irina Slavina, died after setting herself on fire outside a regional police headquarters Friday, a day after officers searched her residence.
The nature of the search was uncertain, but it was reported that she left a message on Facebook saying her death should be blamed on Russian authorities. Slavina had written on social media on Thursday that Police and federal guards burst into her flat in an early morning raid. She said they were searching for evidence of links to Open Russia, an opposition movement founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky that has been ruled undesirable by the authorities, amid allegations that it funded protests in the city.
The site became inaccessible shortly afterwards. Her death prompted tributes from journalists and activists including rights advocate Pavel Chikov who wrote on the Telegram messenger that he had worked with her twice when she was charged with disrespecting the authorities and publishing fake news. Local news website NN.ru reported that people were holding a vigil in Slavina’s memory on a city street, with one man holding a placard saying “the state kills”.
Across the Asian continent, in Islamabad, Pakistan also is consumed with human rights issues and questionable democratic freedom. As per the Associated Press, retired university professor Mohammad Ismail said he has a number of court appearances this month after an anti-terrorism court charged him, his wife and daughter with involvement in two suicide attacks, one in 2013 and one in 2015.
His wife and their daughter, who has already fled to America after being targeted by the country’s powerful military for her investigations into human rights abuses by soldiers, also include charges against the 66-year-old Ismail and his family for an allegation by Pakistan’s civilian investigation agencies lodged with an anti-terrorist court in the northwest city of Peshawar.
It alleges that a donation to his daughter’s children’s charity, Aware Girls, was spent on cars that were used as suicide bombs. Aware Girls fights discrimination and abuse of girls and women. Gulalai Ismail went into hiding and eventually fled the county after Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency, known by its acronym ISI, accused her of sedition because of a report she and other rights workers published into allegations of soldiers sexually harassing women and girls in Pakistan’s tribal regions.
Advocacy groups have also been critical of a heavy-handed approach to journalists who write critically of the military, which is widely considered to be the power behind the country’s civilian Government. The Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Federation of Journalists have issued a number of statements in recent weeks.
Most recently the federation was critical of sedition charges against journalists Asad Toor, Bilal Farooqi and Absar Alam “for publishing allegedly ‘objectionable’ and ‘derogatory’ material online. The journalists’ federation called on authorities to “reign in the broad powers of this Act to ensure no journalists are charged solely for criticising Government officials and institutions.”
Back in Guyana, freedom of the press was always subject to discrimination and the democratic rights thwarted under the PNCR Government. The national press, media, TV and radio were all controlled and used by the PNCR Government for propaganda advertisement.
As recently as March 2020 during the election, reporters and journalists were hassled, their presence was controlled and their autonomy was limited. Back in the Burnhamite days, publications with opposing views were demolished and demoralised. Reporters and journalists feared for their lives and Father Drake, editor for the Catholic Newspaper, was murdered by the House of Israel thugs, affiliated to the PNC, in broad daylight.
Importation of papers was reduced and denied and circulation of news was at a risk. Organised thugs by the PNC roamed the streets and venues, ensuring that cameras and recording devices were forcefully taken away and destroyed (in the presence of the police), while many journalists suffered great physical injuries and their presence was not welcomed. Guyanese should ensure that those dark and ugly days never return to visit this land.

Respectfully,
Jai Lall