EM News
The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) released a new report covering press freedom vulnerabilities throughout the region. After the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) shifts from Thailand to Vietnam in 2010, its approach to press freedom will have a crucial influence on issues like impunity, election coverage and access to the Internet, says the report.
Struggles faced by journalists and media workers in Southeast Asia in 2009 continue. The massacre of 32 journalists last November in the Philippines was the most vicious example of a culture of impunity that exists throughout the region. Journalists also suffered from physical threats, imprisonment and legal harassment, while national security laws are being used as an excuse to curb free speech and defamation remains a criminal offense.
The report, "Southeast Asia's Press Freedom Challenges for 2010", provides country profiles detailing the free expression battles that lie ahead. Burmese media must be able to provide independent coverage of upcoming elections to educate Burmese citizens and to monitor the integrity of the polls, says the report. In Cambodia politically motivated intimidation and imprisonment of editors, reporters and human rights defenders continue. Religious tensions in Malaysia are being used as an excuse to restrict press freedom and Internet access.
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