The Salvadoran Journalists Association (APES) has raised concerns of alleged watchlists and threats of arrest targeting journalists and human rights defenders.

The document calls on the Salvadoran government to “guarantee the physical integrity and freedom of all journalists and immediately cease any form of persecution, surveillance, or intimidation.”

Read the full statement in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Grave injustices are the hallmark of the Taliban’s rule,” CPJ’s Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi said on Wednesday. “The Taliban’s ruthless crackdown has pushed the few remaining media outlets in Afghanistan to the brink. The international community must stand with the Afghan people, and foreign governments should streamline resettlement processes and support journalists in exile so they can continue their work.”

Over the last year, the Taliban have detained at least 16 Afghan and foreign journalists, shut four radio and TV stations, banned a popular London-based broadcaster, and suspended the licenses of 14 media outlets. At least one of the detained journalists was severely beaten.

The Taliban have also banned the broadcast of women’s voices and announced a plan to restrict access to Facebook in Afghanistan.

The Taliban’s intelligence agency, the General Directorate of Intelligence, alongside the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice have been at the forefront of the ongoing media crackdown.

The hostile media environment has driven hundreds of Afghan journalists to flee to neighboring countries where many are stuck in legal limbo, without the right to work or clear prospects of resettlement. At least one Afghan journalist was injured in a shooting in Pakistan.

CPJ’s text messages to Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid requesting comment did not receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Nieves, editor of the independent news site El Toque, believes that the message came from agents of Cuban state security because he previously received other threatening messages from “Mabel” and “Franco,” the names used by police officers who interrogated him while he was still in Cuba, according to the Columbia Journalism Review. El Toque is a leading news website covering Cuba, and has angered authorities for its coverage of protest movements and the country’s economic struggles.

“The recent threats made against El Toque editor José Jasán Nieves Cárdenas are troubling,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “It is vital that U.S. authorities ensure that Nieves can work in exile without concern for his safety and thoroughly investigate the source of the threats against him.”

Nieves told CPJ he filed a complaint with the FBI on July 2. The FBI did not immediately respond to CPJ’s email requesting comment on the complaint.  

The threat came as Cuban authorities sought to suppress reporting related to commemorative events ahead of the anniversary of the July 11, 2021 anti-government protests in Cuba.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director.

On Thursday, May 16, officers with the Belarusian State Security Committee, or KGB, and representatives of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties sealed the apartment of exiled freelance journalist Zmitser Kazakevich after breaking down the door in the northeastern city of Vitebsk, according to media reports and Kazakevich, who spoke to CPJ and Radio Svaboda, the Belarusian service of U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

On Friday, law enforcement officers in the capital, Minsk, searched the apartment of Barys Haretski, the deputy head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), in connection to an unspecified criminal case, according to BAJ and Haretski, who spoke to CPJ. It is unclear whether officers seized anything in the apartment, as Haretski left Belarus in 2021 and had no belongings there.

BAJ is an exiled advocacy and trade group that documents press freedom violations and provides support for Belarusian journalists.

“After stifling independent media inside the country, the Belarusian authorities will stop at nothing to put pressure on exiled journalists like Zmitser Kazakevich and on those like Barys Haretski who defend repressed members of the press,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Authorities should immediately reveal any charges filed against Haretski and Kazakevich and stop harassing independent media both inside and outside the country.”

Kazakevich told Radio Svaboda he did not know whether the apartment was searched and that law enforcement officials asked his neighbors if anyone lived in the apartment a day before the raid. The journalist told CPJ he did not know what charges he faced or when they were filed.

“I consider the break-in and sealing of my house in Belarus as revenge. This is an invitation to be executed, which I decline,” Kazakevich told CPJ.

Authorities previously searched Kazakevich’s apartment three times between 2020 and 2021, he told CPJ, including in July 2021. Kazakevich, a freelance journalist who covered the 2020 protests against the disputed reelection of Aleksandr Lukashenko, has been fined and detained in connection to his work and left Belarus in 2021, he told CPJ.

Authorities labeled BAJ as “extremist” in February 2023. Belarusian authorities have obstructed BAJ’s work, raided its offices, and, in 2021, dissolved the organization, prompting its staff to leave the country.

“Searches and criminal proceedings against journalists who have left the country are aimed at intimidating media representatives in general,” Haretski told CPJ. “Authorities cannot influence the independent media, which work from abroad, but they keep reminding them: we are watching you, your every action, every content is monitored. Thus, the authorities force even journalists who have left Belarus to be in fear, to feel persecution and attention of the special services.”

Belarusian authorities recently initiated criminal proceedings against several exiled journalists, according to multiple media reports and BAJ. CPJ is working to determine whether their prosecution is connected to their journalism.

“Independent media still effectively deliver their materials to the audience in Belarus,” Haretski said. “Undoubtedly, this causes anger of the authorities, and they try to pressure people using the means available to them.”

CPJ emailed the Belarusian Investigative Committee, the KGB, and the Ministry of Taxes and Duties for comment but did not receive any response.

Belarus was the world’s third worst jailer of journalists, with at least 28 journalists behind bars on December 1, 2023, when CPJ conducted its most recent prison census.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

The 44-year-old journalist with the independent broadcaster Radio Télé Zip said he was shot at by two armed men on motorbikes who tried to block the road as he was driving home on September 29 in the Croix-des-Bouquets suburb on the northern outskirts of the city.

He believed the assailants were gang members and told CPJ he was later contacted by a member of the feared Mawozo 400 gang, who demanded payment of $1,700 as “protection money.”

Dorvil went into hiding but says he was attacked again on October 9 by half a dozen armed men while he was trying to visit his home.

“They tried to kidnap me. They hit the car and told me to get out. I refused,” he told CPJ in a phone call. He said one of the men fired a bullet through his windshield before he was able to get away.

Both incidents were reported to the police and the local judiciary visited the scene of the crime to speak to Dorvil, according to documents provided by Dorvil.

A witness, Wilmare Etienne, who is Dorvil’s brother-in-law, also provided a notarized statement in which he said that government collusion with the armed gangs had created a “general state of fear” that left Dorvil no option but to leave the country. “There is no guarantee of safety for anyone doing their job as a journalist in Haiti; their life is always in great danger,” Etienne added.

On November 7, Dorvil left the country and sent his family to live with relatives in another part of Haiti. “I can’t go back to Haiti right now. I’ll be killed if they find me,” he told CPJ.

For the last two years, armed gangs have taken control of large parts of the capital, including Croix-des-Bouquets, terrorizing the population with impunity after police and judicial authorities were forced to abandon their posts. In several cases, journalists have been swept up in the gang violence. At least six journalists were killed in Haiti in connection with their work in 2022 and 2023, placing Haiti as the third-worst country on CPJ’s 2023 Global Impunity Index.

In Dorvil’s case, it was not clear whether the attacks were related to his journalism. While his reporting occasionally involved criticism of the gangs, he was never directly threatened because of his coverage.

Dorvil said he began receiving threats from the Mawozo 400 in late 2022 while carrying out construction on his house. “The gangs think journalists are rich and they demand money as a tax on people who live in the neighborhoods under their control,” said Dorvil, who previously worked as a press officer for the Ministry of Public Health. “They need the money to buy guns and pay their members,” he added.

The head of the Mawozo 400 gang, Joseph Wilson, alias Lanmò San Jou, is wanted by the FBI for his alleged role in the kidnapping of a group of Christian missionaries from the U.S. and Canada in October 2021.

Dorvil provided CPJ with a handwritten letter he received from the gang leader in late 2022, accompanied by two bullets. In it, Wilson informed Dorvil that he knew where he lived, and that he and his family would be killed if he did not pay the money.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

“We are committed to the media within our cultural frameworks. Private media can continue to be free and independent. They can continue their activities,” Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said at the first news conference two days after the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021.

Two years later, the Taliban not only has reneged on that pledge, but intensified its crackdown on what was once a vibrant media landscape in Afghanistan.

Here is a look of what happened to Afghan media and journalists since the 2021 takeover:

What is the state of media freedom in Afghanistan?

Since the fall of Kabul, the Taliban have escalated a crackdown on the media in Afghanistan. CPJ has extensively documented cases of censorship, assaults, arbitrary arrests, home searches, and restrictions on female journalists in a bid to muzzle independent reporting.

Despite their public pledge to allow journalists to work freely, Taliban operatives and officials from the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) – the Taliban’s intelligence agency – have assaulted, arbitrarily arrested and detained journalists, while shutting down local news outlets and banning broadcasts of a number of international media from inside the country. Foreign correspondents face visa restrictions to return to Afghanistan to report.

Journalists continue to be arrested for their job. Since August 2021, at least 64 journalists have been detained in Afghanistan in retaliation for their work, according to CPJ’s research. They include Mortaza Behboudi, a co-founder of the independent news site Guiti News, who has been held since January.

Afghan journalists have fled in huge numbers, mostly to neighboring countries like Pakistan and Iran. Many who left are now stuck in legal limbo without clear prospects of resettlement to a third country, and their visas are running out, prompting fears they could be arrested and deported back to Afghanistan.

What trends have emerged in the last two years?

The Taliban have not ceased their efforts to stifle independent reporting, with the GDI emerging as the main driving force behind the crackdown. The few glimmers of hope that CPJ noted in its 2022 special report on Afghanistan’s media crisis are dimming as independent organizations like Ariana News and TOLO News face both political and economic pressures and Taliban intelligence operatives detained at least three journalists they claimed were reporting for Afghan media in exile.

The Taliban are also broadening their target to take aim at social media platforms, enforcing new regulations targeting YouTube channels this year while officials mull a ban on Facebook.

A clampdown on social media would further tighten the space for millions of Afghans to freely access information. The rapid deterioration of the media landscape has led to some Afghan YouTubers taking on the role of citizen journalists, covering issues from politics to everyday lives on their channels.

Meanwhile, the Taliban are seeking to end their international isolation. In recent weeks, they have sent a delegation to Indonesia and held talks with officials from the United States as the group tried to shore up the country’s ailing economy and struggle with one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. with more than half of its 41 million population relying on aid to survive.

A worsening media repression, however, is pushing Afghanistan deeper into isolation from the world, hurting its economy and people’s livelihoods, as CPJ’s Beh Lih Yi writes in an op-ed for Nikkei Asia.

What is CPJ hearing from Afghan journalists?

Even two years after the fall of Kabul, we hear from Afghan journalists on a near-daily basis – both from those who remain inside the country and those who are in exile – on the hostile environment they are facing.

Afghanistan remains one of the top countries for CPJ’s exile support and assistance to journalists. Since 2021, Afghan journalists have become among the largest share of exiled journalists getting support each year from CPJ, and contributed to a jump of 227 percent in CPJ’s overall exile support for journalists during a three-year period from 2020-2022. The support they received included immigration support letters and grants for necessities like rent and food.

We also increasingly received reports from exiled Afghan journalists who were being targeted in immigration-related cases. Afghan journalists who have sought refuge in Pakistan told us they have been arrested and extorted for overstaying their visas, and many are living in hiding and in fear.

What does CPJ recommend to end the Taliban’s media crackdown and help Afghan journalists forced into exile?

There are several actions we can take. Top of the list is to continue urging the international community to pressure the Taliban to respect the rights of the Afghan people and allow the country to return to a democratic path, including by allowing a free press.

The global community and international organizations should use political and diplomatic influence – including travel bans and targeted sanctions – to pressure the Taliban to end their media repression and allow journalists to freely report without fear of reprisal.

Foreign governments should streamline visa and broader resettlement processes, and support exiled journalists in continuing their work, while collaborating with appropriate agencies to extend humanitarian and technical assistance to journalists who remain in Afghanistan.

CPJ is also working with other rights groups to advocate for the implementation of recommendations that include those in its 2022 special report on Afghanistan’s media crisis. (Read CPJ’s complete list of 2022 recommendations here.)  

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Beh Lih Yi.

On Tuesday, July 25, Boscán, co-founder of La Posta, and Velásquez, his wife and a journalist with the social media-based outlet, left the country shortly after publishing a report on corruption and drug trafficking allegations involving the brother-in-law of President Guillermo Lasso and members of the Albanian mafia, according to news reports.

In a statement to CPJ, Boscán said that officials with a European intelligence agency contacted La Posta about “a plan of attack” against the outlet’s founders orchestrated by the Albanian mafia. The statement said La Posta’s reporters had also obtained audio files that featured a local Ecuadorian businessman speaking to a member of the Albanian mafia about targeting Boscán in an unspecified attack.

“Ecuadorian authorities must thoroughly investigate the threats against journalists Andersson Boscán and Mónica Velásquez, and ensure they can return to the country safely,” said Cristina Zahar, CPJ’s Latin America and the Caribbean program coordinator. “It is outrageous that journalists are fleeing Ecuador amid such widespread threats in response to their work.”

In his statement, Boscán said that Ecuadorian police were aware of the threats made in that recording, but said “they didn’t alert us to the risk we were running.”

“La Posta will continue to do its job, confident that this country deserves the truth and free journalism,” the statement said.

CPJ contacted Ecuadorian Communications Secretary Wendy Reyes for comment via messaging app but did not immediately receive any reply. The outlet’s report said that the president’s brother-in-law did not comment on La Posta’s investigation.

Earlier this year, Ecuadorian journalist Karol Noroña left the country after receiving death threats, and in March, five bombs were mailed to journalists throughout the country, injuring one.

In June, CPJ published a Ecuador on edge, a report examining how political turmoil and a deepening security crisis have put reporters and press freedom at increasing risk.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

On Tuesday, July 25, two unidentified men with Cuban accents threatened Jiménez as he was walking home with his two-year-old son in Barcelona, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ by phone.

Jiménez, who also posted about the encounter on Twitter, said that the men shouted at him, “Abraham, we know you are close to your home.” The journalist was not able to see their faces but said he could hear them laughing as they walked away from him and his son. 

“I was so afraid because I was with my son that I didn’t know what to do,” he told CPJ. He wrote on Twitter that the scene reminded him of his life in Cuba. 

Jiménez is a freelance Afro-Cuban journalist, co-founder of the online narrative journalism magazine El Estornudo, and a columnist for The Washington Post. 

He left Cuba in September 2021 following persistent harassment from authorities in retaliation for his critical coverage, and received CPJ’s 2022 International Press Freedom Award for being a prominent outspoken voice within Cuba’s media community. 

“We are concerned by the threatening comments made to Cuban journalist Abraham Jiménez Enoa,” said Cristina Zahar, CPJ’s Latin America and the Caribbean program coordinator. “Spanish authorities must conduct a thorough investigation into the threats against Jiménez and his family and make sure they remain safe. It is incumbent upon Spain and other European Union countries to ensure the safety of journalists who are facing threats within their borders.”   

The journalist told CPJ that he did not report the threat to the police because he did not know who his aggressors were. CPJ emailed the Barcelona police for comment but did not immediately receive any reply.

Jiménez told CPJ that this was not the first time he has been threatened by individuals with Cuban accents. In March 2022, during a panel in Amsterdam, one Cuban man asked to speak from the audience and tried to discredit him, claiming that everything he said was a lie. 

“When the panel was over, he sought me out and offended me until the event organizers got him off my back,” he said. In June 2023 during Madrid’s Book Fair, a man with a Cuban accent also followed and photographed him.

In October 2020, Cuban authorities detained and interrogated Jiménez over his work. Shortly thereafter, he published a column in The Washington Post titled “If this is my last column here, it’s because I’ve been imprisoned in Cuba,” where he described his interrogation.

More recently, Jiménez has written about racism he has experienced while living in Europe, and also about efforts the Cuban government made to strengthen its national baseball team.

Jiménez was the winner of the 2023 Michael Jacobs Traveling Writing Grant, and was also chosen as one of five young journalists to receive the One Young World award this year. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

Mohammad knows firsthand the challenges of exile. In 2019, he made a new life in Spain after fleeing the Syrian civil war with CPJ’s help, and has continued to cover his country from abroad while learning Spanish. “Being forced to leave your country is one of the most difficult moments in life,” he told CPJ in a 2021 interview. But journalists “have a major role to play” in helping the world understand the countries they left.

Mohammad’s story is hardly unique. In 2020, CPJ issued assistance to journalists in exile 63 times, in the form of immigration support letters and grants for necessities like rent and food. Throughout 2022, CPJ provided help 206 times, an increase of 227% over the three-year period.

The spike in support underscores the growing number of journalists fleeing their home countries, and the growing need for assistance. This year to date, CPJ has provided help 71 times to exiled journalists. Journalists from Afghanistan, Iran, and Nicaragua make up the largest shares. (This data solely reflects direct assistance to journalists from CPJ’s Emergencies team, and not other ways the organization supports those in exile through advocacy and other means.)

The total number of journalists in exile is unknown. Some have crossed a border to a neighboring country, and others have traveled thousands of miles. Over the past three years, CPJ has helped journalists who have relocated from Cuba to Spain, from Ethiopia to Kenya, from Myanmar to Thailand, and from Afghanistan to Pakistan, Brazil, France, and Canada. Each journey reflect’s an individual’s life upended; considered together, they show how press freedom’s global decline contributes to the increasing number of people forced to flee their home countries. As the number of exiled journalists grows, viable pathways to safety remain difficult for many to access.

Journalists have unique reasons for leaving their countries. Members of the press hold people in power to account. They have public profiles. When subjects don’t want to be covered, they can make life difficult and dangerous for journalists and their families; politics and corruption are particularly risky beats. Some journalists flee to escape imprisonment or the threat of physical attacks; others worry that they will be killed if they stay.  

To mark World Refugee Day on June 20, here are three takeaways from CPJ’s work with exiled journalists.

1. Journalists are being driven out of countries where press freedom is under attack

While historically people have been driven into exile by wars, many of the journalists CPJ has supported in recent years were forced out not due to armed conflict but because of specific attacks on the press. Prior to the Taliban takeover, CPJ received few exile support requests from Afghan journalists. But since 2021, Afghan journalists fleeing the Taliban’s repressive regime, under which journalists have been beaten and jailed, have represented the largest share of exiled journalists receiving support each year.

CPJ has also helped journalists from Nicaragua, where the government of President Daniel Ortega has engaged in systematic attacks on freedom of expression, forcing out journalists and media workers as part of a mass deportation of political prisoners to the United States in February. Iranian journalists make up another large share of CPJ exile support; the country was listed as the world’s worst jailer of journalists in CPJ’s 2022 prison census, amid a crackdown on anti-state protests.

CPJ has also supported journalists from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Venezuela, all places that have seen serious erosions in press freedom.

CPJ has also provided aid to journalists fleeing conflict zones like Iraq and Syria. More than 100 journalists escaped the Syrian civil war with CPJ’s help between 2011 and 2015.

2. Journalists who go into exile need more reliable pathways to safety

Journalists forced to make the stark choice between continuing to report in dangerous environments or leaving home must often decide quickly. In Afghanistan, journalists were sometimes told they had hours to gather precious belongings, pack their bags, and leave their country behind. When a journalist does make the leap, few mechanisms exist to support them.

Members of the press often wait months or even years for visas; in some cases, they are forced to remain in the very country where their lives are imperiled. Other times, journalists move abroad but get stuck in bureaucratic limbo, unable to leave, see their families, or work. Sometimes, journalists who have faced charges or have a criminal history in their home country due to their work face difficulties at international borders, or when applying for asylum or visas.

Emergency visas would allow journalists to quickly and safely relocate, and CPJ has long advocated for their wider availability. In May, the Estonian government heeded the call, announcing a program that will provide 35 emergency visas to journalists each year. A number of other countries, including Canada, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Germany have also taken concrete steps to providing safe refuge for journalists. More countries should follow suit.

Until they do, options for help are limited. The vast majority of journalists who go into exile are often left to navigate and engage with complex immigration bureaucracies on their own, a daunting and arduous process. CPJ has written hundreds of letters of support for journalists to include in immigration applications; these letters typically explain why it’s too dangerous for a journalist to return to their home country. CPJ provided dozens of these letters for Afghan journalists alone over the past two years, underscoring the severe need for assistance in navigating immigration bureaucracies.

3. Exile is a press freedom issue

When a journalist is forced into exile, journalism suffers. Many journalists cease reporting when they relocate, and readers, viewers, and listeners are robbed of the information they need to make informed decisions about their lives.

Challenges persist even for those who find a way to keep reporting from exile. Setting up newsrooms and re-establishing oneself as a journalist in another country can be a costly, confusing process. The very threats and attacks that caused journalists to flee may also follow them into their new country, and the overlapping stressors put a strain on journalists’ mental health. Iranian journalists in particular remain vulnerable in exile. In some cases, like that of exiled Bangladeshi journalist Kanak Sarwar, authorities target a journalist’s family members after the individual has left the country.  

Supporting journalists in exile — whether through direct financial assistance, advocating for safe refuge, or shining a light on their stories to help the public to understand why they needed to flee — remains a crucial focus of CPJ’s work. Exile should be a last resort. But it’s still a chance for freedom, which journalists need to survive and tell the stories that shape our world.

“Maybe you expect I’d complain about exile, but I’m satisfied here because this is my choice,” Iranian blogger and editor Arash Sigarchi, who fled to the United States in 2008, told CPJ that year. “I had two options: one, to stay in Iran and be in prison under torture, and two, to be in exile.”

Data and map by CPJ Emergencies Administrator Anastasia Tkach

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Lucy Westcott.

General guidance

• Journalists should research the tech capacity of those that they feel threatened by. To do this, you can look up the name of the person, group, or authority targeting you alongside keywords, such as spyware, phishing attacks, surveillance, and hacking.

• Know the laws and regulations of the countries you are traveling to or through with regards to encryption and the use of pirated software. Read CPJ’s guide on border crossings and digital safety for more information.

• Stay up to date with the latest news on technology, especially in the region you are from and the region you are now living in. Sign up to tech newsletters which are often put out by major news outlets. Look for news on hacking, changes to laws around surveillance or encryption, as well as developments in business related to technology.

• If you need to visit a government website to look at information and/or download documents and you do not want their website to register your internet protocol (IP) address, use a virtual private network (VPN). This will mask your IP address, including your location data.

Keeping accounts safe from hacking attempts

Journalists may be targeted by hacking attempts on their accounts by governments, government supporters, and others. This may be to obtain information held in the accounts, to use the accounts to publish erroneous information, or to lock journalists out of their accounts. The guidance below explains how best to protect yourself.

Two-factor authentication (2FA)

The best way to secure accounts from being hacked is to turn on 2FA. This is an extra layer of security that takes the form of a code sent to your phone via an app or via SMS. To log into your account you will need your email address, your password, and then the code. Turning on 2FA will prevent others from accessing your account unless they have access to the code.

• All major online services now offer 2FA and you should turn it on for all your accounts, not just email and social media. 

• Use an app like Authy as your form of 2FA. Download the app onto your phones and follow the instructions to set it up. Then go to the online account you want to secure, for example your Gmail account. Go to the settings section of the account, and then to privacy and security, and add two-factor authentication. Choose the app option and follow the instructions to link the app to the account. 

• You won’t be prompted for a code each time you log in, rather only if you sign in from a different device. The service may request the 2FA code from time to time to ensure that the service is working. 

• Each online service that offers 2FA should also offer the option to save a backup code or backup codes. This is a one-time code that you can use should you lose access to your form of 2FA and are unable to log into your account. 

• If you are from a country where the government has a history of orchestrated and successful hacking attacks against journalists, including journalists in exile, then you should consider using a security key as your form of 2FA. This is a device that you insert into your phone or laptop in order to access your account. Examples of keys include Yubikey and Google Titan.

• Consider signing up for Google’s Advanced Protection scheme. This program is designed for journalists and human rights defenders and offers extra protection for your Google services. You will need to have security keys in order to use this service. 

Creating secure passwords

• A secure password is a long password, more than 15 characters. The longer the password, the more difficult it is for an algorithm to crack or for someone to guess.

• A password can be a mixture of numbers, symbols, and letters or a collection of words that have no relation to each other, known as a passphrase. An example of a passphrase is elephanticecreamswimmingtelephone. Passphrases are often easier to remember.

• Do not use personal information, such as your date of birth or pet’s name in your password. This is information about you that can easily be found online and can be used to guess your password.

• Do not reuse passwords on accounts. You should use a different password for each online account. This is because if you use the same password for an online service, for example a food delivery service, as you do for your email account and the online service is hacked, your password will be available online for criminals and others to look at and/or buy. They will then also have the password to your email account.

• Remembering passwords can be challenging. Use a password manager, such as 1Password to create, store, and autofill passwords on websites. You will not have to remember all your passwords, but you will have to create a strong password for your password manager and remember it. If you are not at risk in your home, do not travel frequently, and are not at risk of arrest and detention, then you may want to write your passwords down and keep them somewhere safe. This is safer than using short passwords or reusing passwords.  

Protecting against phishing and spear phishing

Phishing is when you are sent a generic message asking you to do something urgently; for example, to click on a link or download a document. Spear phishing is when the attacker studies the person they want to phish and tailors a message specifically for them. Both these types of messages can be sent via SMS, email, messaging apps, and social media, and the objective is to infect your device with malware.

• Think before clicking on links or downloading documents. Try to verify who has sent you the information. Check to see if this information is available elsewhere, for example on a website.

• Preview attachments in email by using the preview button available in most email services. Alternatively, upload the document to the cloud account linked to the email. This will allow you to view the document but it will not be downloaded onto your device.

• Review the link and check to see if it looks legitimate. To do this, hover your cursor over the link until it fully displays. Do not click on it. Check that the link includes information that matches the sender. For example, if the link comes from a company, it should contain data about the company, such as the name. 

• Be aware that links and documents shared in group chats that have many participants may be attempts to infect users with malware.

• Use a password manager. A password manager will only fill out your passwords on a legitimate website, for example a Gmail login page. It will not fill out your passwords on fake sites designed to steal your account passwords.

Learn more about protecting yourself against phishing with CPJ’s Digital Safety Kit.

Protecting your online personal data

The data you and others put online about yourself can give away information about your location, routine, and can be used to harass you and your family. Take the following steps to be more secure.

• Look yourself up online using all search engines and make a note of anything you feel uncomfortable having in the public domain. You may want to look up family members as well, as they could also be targeted.

• Ideally any data that can be used to locate you, contact you via a means you do not want, or any information that can be used to commit identity theft against you, such as your date of birth, should be kept offline.

• Take steps to remove your personal data online. This could include deleting or hiding content on your own social media accounts as well as on the accounts of others. Review data held in third-party platforms, for example a public database, and see if you are able to remove it.

• Think about what data you share online about yourself and others who may be in exile with you. Be mindful about posting photos and information that could give away your location. This can include tagging locations or sharing images of notable landmarks in the area you are staying in.

• Better protect your location by turning off location data for apps and online services where it is not needed.

For more information on how to protect your data online please read CPJ’s guide to online abuse and protecting personal data.

Communicating with others in your country of origin

Communicating with people, including sources, back in your country of origin could put both them and you at risk. Follow the guidance below to ensure your communications are secure as possible.

• Consider that the person you want to speak to might be under surveillance or may be at risk of arrest and detention. Things to think about include whether their devices are infected with spyware, whether their home phone number is tapped, whether they are under physical surveillance, or whether they will be detained and their devices searched.

• Think about whether you may be targeted by digital surveillance. This can include being subjected to high-level phishing attacks with the aim of infecting your devices with spyware. Research whether your government has a history of using spyware against journalists especially when they are outside of their country of origin.

• Think about what you want to speak about. The more sensitive the conversation, the greater the risk to the person in the country as well as to yourself.

• Use end-to-end encrypted messaging apps, such as WhatsApp and Signal, to communicate with others. All content sent via those apps is encrypted, which means it cannot be intercepted. The content is also stored in encrypted form on the server of the company, which means it cannot be legally requested by a government.

• Follow best practices for securing your messaging apps and for communicating with others; for example, by turning on disappearing messages.

• Ensure that the people you speak with back in your country do not store conversations or content shared with you on their phone in case they are detained and their devices are searched. Encourage them to regularly delete content from their phones.

• Be aware that any contact with others that is not encrypted can potentially be accessed by others, including governments and mobile phone providers.

• If you are a journalist in exile from a country where the government has a history of carrying out physical threats outside of their own jurisdiction, then think carefully about what details you are giving away during a conversation. Be cautious about sharing details about your location, daily routine, and people you spend time with.

• Be aware that if you or the person you are speaking with has spyware on their phone, then all forms of communications can be accessed, including calls and messages, even if you are using an end-to-end encrypted messaging app, such as Signal or WhatsApp. This is because the device itself is compromised.

• Users of Apple devices with iOS 16 or devices using the company’s latest software, including phones, laptops, iPads, and the Apple watch, can better protect themselves from spyware by turning on Lockdown Mode. Learn more about how to better protect yourself against spyware in CPJ’s Pegasus spyware safety advisory.

• For those working with sensitive sources, learn more about how to best protect them in CPJ’s guide to better protecting confidential sources.

For more information on securing encrypted messaging apps and for working with sources to manage content on phones, see CPJ’s guide to encrypted communications.

Protecting your website

If you run your own online website or blog and have concerns that it could be targeted by hacking attempts or taken offline, then the following steps will help you best secure it.

• Regularly back up the content on the site in case it is targeted and data is lost. There are two ways to do this. If you are using a hosted service, such as WordPress, export your pages, comments, and posts into a single XML file. Be aware that this will not backup images. The second way to backup content is to create a mirror of the site. You can read more about creating mirrored sites in this guide by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). 

• Ensure that you follow good account security practices for your website, including using a password manager and turning on 2FA. See the section above on keeping accounts safe for more information.

• If you own a web domain, the personal data you used to register the site as well as other details, such as the hosting provider, are likely to be available for others to view online. You can check this by using a service like Whois Look Up. If your details are publicly available, then you should contact the domain service to see if they are able to remove this data. There may be a fee for doing so.

• Protect yoursite from a DDoS attack by registering it with a service such as Project Shield.

• Ensure that your contact management system (CMS) and any plugins that you use on your site are updated regularly.

• Consider whether you want comments enabled on your site. If you do allow comments, it is better to moderate these in advance of them being posted. This will reduce spam as well as offensive commentary. If you feel unable to moderate those comments yourself, it can be helpful to have a colleague or trusted person do so.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

On April 13, Thai, an independent journalist who posts political commentary on YouTube and has about 119,000 followers, went missing in Bangkok, Thailand, according to multiple news reports.

He had lived in Thailand as a refugee since 2020 and visited the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ office hours before his disappearance, according to those reports and Nguyen Van Hai, a colleague familiar with Thai’s situation and CPJ’s 2013 International Press Freedom Award winner, who communicated with CPJ via email.

On April 16, Vietnamese state media reported that Thai had been arrested while allegedly trying to enter Vietnam and was being held by police in the Huong Son district of central Ha Tinh province.

“Vietnamese authorities must immediately release journalist Duong Van Thai and disclose the exact details of his detention,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Vietnam has a history of targeting journalists living in exile. Thai authorities should thoroughly and transparently investigate the circumstances of his disappearance in Bangkok, and ensure that members of the press are not targeted for their work.”

Those Vietnamese state media reports alleged that Thai was arrested while attempting to illegally enter Vietnam on April 14. CPJ called and emailed Thai after his arrest was announced but did not receive any replies.

On his YouTube channel, Thai recently aired commentary critical of Vietnam’s industrial policy, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and the country’s finance minister.

In 2019, Vietnamese blogger Truong Duy Nhat was abducted in Thailand; he resurfaced in Vietnam days later and was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison. Two of Nhat’s associates, who spoke with CPJ on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal, said they suspected that he was abducted by Vietnamese agents working in cooperation with Thai authorities. Nhat was seeking refugee status in Thailand at the time of his disappearance.

CPJ emailed Thailand’s Immigration Police and Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security for comment on Thai’s status but did not immediately receive any replies.

Vietnam was one of the world’s worst jailers of journalists, with at least 21 behind bars, when CPJ conducted its annual prison census on December 1, 2022.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

The University of the South Pacific’s vice-chancellor and president, Professor Pal Ahluwalia, was given a rousing welcome at Nadi International Airport today returning to Fiji from exile.

He returned two years after he and wife Sandra Price were detained and deported by the former FijiFirst government for allegedly breaching provisions of the Immigration Act.

“We have arrived in Nadi. What a fabulous reception. USP staff, students and so many well wishers to meet us fills out hearts with joy. Beautiful singing and prayer. Thank you Fiji,” he wrote on Twitter, as the couple were received by USP deputy vice-chancellors and vice-presidents, Professor Jito Vanualailai and Dr Giulio Paunga.

• READ MORE: Professor thrilled over USP return – Fiji to pay $90m university debt
• Other USP saga reports

USP Council Secretariat representative Totivi Bokini-Ratu, Lautoka campus director Pramila Devi, and representatives from the USP Students Association, USP Staff Association and Association of the USP Staff were also at the airport to greet Professor Ahluwalia.

“I’m so humbled to see everyone. It is an absolute joy to be back and an opportunity for us to continue serving USP,” he said in a statement.

We have arrived in Nadi. What a fabulous reception. USP Staff, Students and so many well wishers to meet us fills our hearts with joy. Beautiful singing and prayers. Thank you Fiji.

— Professor Pal Ahluwalia, USP VC (@pal_vcp) February 9, 2023

“The support from staff, students and regional governments has just been incredible.

“It was so beautiful to see how much our staff fought. The fight wasn’t just for me; it was for a bigger cause and I’m just a catalyst for the bigger change they wanted to see.”

Next step for students
Professor Ahluwalia said the next step was to work with his senior management team to ensure they got the best out of their students and the region.

He is expected to visit the USP Pacific TAFE Centre in Namaka and Lautoka campus today with other events and meetings scheduled for the coming week, including a launch of the Alumni Relationship Management Service, and the welcoming of international students.

Professor Ahluwalia and his wife’s controversial exile from Fiji followed months of increased tensions between USP and the previous government over allegations of financial mismanagement and corruption.

With the new People’s Alliance-led coalition government in power after ousting the FijiFirst administration in the 2022 general election, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has vowed to right the wrongs of the past administration.

Last December, he declared that Professor Ahluwalia and Dr Padma Lal, widow of another exiled academic, the late Professor Brij Lal, were free to enter the country.

“I am ready to meet Dr Lal and Professor Ahluwalia personally. I will apologise on behalf of the people of Fiji for the way they were treated,” Rabuka had said.

Working from Samoa
He said prohibition orders against Professor Ahluwalia, Dr Lal and the late Professor Lal, were “unreasonable and inhumane”, and “should never have been made”.

Professor Ahluwalia has been working out of USP’s Samoa campus since 2021, and said he looked forward to working with the coalition government to strengthen the relationship between USP and Fiji.

“As a regional institution, USP will continue to serve its island countries — particularly Fiji — and work hard to shape Pacific futures,” Professor Ahluwalia said.

Meanwhile, USP and the Fijian government are expected to conduct a joint traditional welcome ceremony for Professor Ahluwalia, followed by a thanksgiving service at the Japan-Pacific ICT Multipurpose Theatre, Laucala campus next Tuesday.

Geraldine Panapasa is editor-in-chief of the University of the South Pacific’s journalism newspaper and website Wansolwara News. Republished in collaboration with the USP journalism programme.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Wansolwara.

Exiled University of the South Pacific vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia says he is thrilled at the prospect of returning to Fiji.

Speaking to The Fiji Times from Los Angeles in the United States yesterday, he said Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka — when he was in opposition- made a commitment to pay Fiji’s outstanding debt of $90 million to USP and to allow him to return to Fiji.

“Mr Rabuka said it, National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad said it, and the Social Democratic Liberal Party leader also said it,” Professor Ahluwalia said.

• READ MORE: USP unions slam Fiji’s Sayed-Khaiyum for ‘damaging’ Pacific university
• Other USP saga reports

“So it’s part of all three parties’ manifestos and part of their public statements, so we as a university are delighted that this amount that has been outstanding for so long will finally come to the university.

“It’s excellent news, not just for the Fijian students but for the entire region because the region has been carrying Fijian students for quite a while and there will now be a chance for us to do a lot of things that we have deferred and not been able to do, particularly issues around maintenance.

“It also means we can now aggressively look for quality academic staff.”

Rabuka issued a statement on Boxing Day saying the prohibition order against Professor Ahluwalia had been lifted and he was welcome to travel to Fiji at any time.

Professor Ahluwalia and his wife Sandra Price claimed that on Wednesday February 3, 2021, 15 people made up of immigration officials and police stormed into their USP home and forcefully removed them at about 11.30pm.

They claimed they were driven the same night to Nadi International Airport and deported on the morning of Thursday, February 4, to Australia.

The FijiFirst government on February 4, 2022 issued a statement that the Immigration Department had ordered Professor Aluwahlia and his partner Sandra Price to leave Fiji with immediate effect following alleged “continuous breaches” by both individuals of Section 13 of the Immigration Act.

Government said under Section 13 of the Immigration Act 2003, no foreigner was permitted to conduct themselves in a manner prejudicial to the peace, defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, security, or good government of Fiji.

Fiji now ‘free country’
RNZ Pacific reports that Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad said all three parties in the coalition had promised this in their election campaigns and manifestos.

The former FijiFirst government have withheld the payments since 2019 over a protracted battle with Professor Ahluwalia, now operating in exile out of Samoa.

“They didn’t like a man who was doing the right thing who exposed corruption within the university,” Professor Prasad said.

“And it has done you know, to some extent, terrible damage not only to the university, but also the unity in the whole region.”

In July, the two unions representing staff at the university said the Fiji government owes the institution F$78.4 million and the debt has increased since then.

“Well, I can’t tell you the timetable, but all I can say is…that the university will receive the appropriate funding, as well as the government will pay what is due as a result of the previous government withholding the grant to the university,” Professor Prasad said.

His revelation comes after the government statement by Prime Minister Rabuka inviting Professor Ahluwalia to return to Fiji.

Personal apology
Rabuka said he wanted to apologise to Professor Ahluwalia in person upon his arrival for the way he had been treated by Fiji.

The prime minister has also invited the widow of exiled Fijian academic, Professor Brij Lal, who passed away on Christmas Day last year to bring home his ashes for burial at Tabia near Labasa.

Professor Prasad said they look forward to welcoming home more Fijians and expatriates exiled during Voreqe Bainimarama’s 16-year-reign.

“Fiji is now a free country. We will welcome everyone who wants to come to Fiji. No one should fear about any kind of vindictiveness or harassment,” Professor Prasad said.

“That is what we promised during our campaign, and that is what this government will deliver.”

Felix Chaudhary is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with Fiji Times permission. This article is also republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

The greenlight has been given to University of the South Pacific vice-chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia, and Dr Padma Lal, to return to Fiji by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.

Professor Ahluwalia was deported in 2021 and Dr Lal — widow of the late leading Fiji academic Professor Brij Lal — was refused entry to Fiji along with her husband.

Exiled Professor Ahluwalia currently resides in Samoa and Dr Lal in Australia.

• READ MORE: How Fiji could help resolve the Pal Ahluwalia and USP crisis
• Professor Brij Lal: A champion of democracy and Fiji’s finest scholar

Rabuka has made it clear today that both of them are free to enter the country.

“I am ready to meet Dr Lal and Professor Ahluwalia personally,” he said.

“I will apologise on behalf of the people of Fiji for the way they were treated.”

Dr Lal had been prevented from coming to Fiji with her husband’s ashes for them to be taken to his birthplace at Tabia, near Labasa.

First anniversary
Today marks the first anniversary of Professor Lal’s death.

Rabuka said prohibition orders against Professor Brij Lal and Dr Lal, as well as Professor Ahluwalia, were “unreasonable and inhumane” and should never have been made.

He had promised his government would bring to an end the injustices suffered by Professor Ahluwalia, and Professor Lal.

“I received a clarification today from the Department of Immigration that neither Dr Padma Lal nor Professor Ahluwalia were the subject of written prohibition orders,” he said.

Josefa Babitu is a Fiji Sun reporter. Republished from the Fiji Sun.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

I remember that day — February 25, 1986. I was then a teenager. My family stood outside the iron gates of Malacañang Palace among a massive wave of people armed with yellow ribbons, flowers and rosaries.

After a four-day uprising, we heard on the radio that the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his family had fled the country.

Ramming through the gates of the now forlorn presidential palace, people found signs of a hurtled retreat. Hundreds of pairs of shoes, gowns and other evidence of the Marcoses’ profligacy had been abandoned. Documents and bullets were scattered on the floor.

• READ MORE:  Covid tames race to replace Duterte as Philippine president
• US, Philippines kick off their largest-ever military drills
• What’s the point of celebrating People Power?
• Other Philippine elections reports

They’re gone, the Marcoses!

People burst into song. The poignant “Bayan Ko” (My Country) — the metaphor of a caged bird that yearns to be free — was the anthem of the EDSA revolution: People Power.

The Marcoses had been obliterated from our lives.

Or so we thought.

My generation — we were called “The Martial Laws Babies” — is beginning to realise now that only the glorious part of Philippine history is being obliterated.

‘Bongbong’ Marcos the frontrunner
Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., only son and namesake of the late dictator, is the frontrunner in the Philippines’ upcoming presidential election in May. Polls in January and February show Marcos Jr. ahead in the race with 60 percent of the national vote.

He was 29 when the family was ousted and sent into exile in Hawai’i. He had since returned to the Philippines, where he served as governor of Ilocos Norte, as congressman and senator.

Now he is aiming to go back to his childhood playground — the Malacañang Palace.

His campaign has revived “Bagong Lipunan” (The New Society), the anthem of martial law. I shudder. It summoned the dark years.

Now as an adult, watching how North Koreans live now gives me a perspective of how we were brainwashed into subservience during the martial period when the media was controlled by the regime.

Political opinions had no place in the public sphere. Dissidents disappeared, plucked out of their homes by military men, never to be seen ever again. Those who had heard of these stories of desaparecidos had to zip their mouths. Or else.

The government slogan “Sa Ikakaunlad ng Bayan Displina Ang Kailangan” (For the Nation’s Progress Discipline is Necessary) was forever stuck in our heads.

Marcos family’s extravaganzas
My generation lived through different political eras. We grew up watching the Marcos family’s extravaganzas. They acted like royalty.

Imelda Marcos paraded in her made-for-the-queen gowns and glittering jewelry, suffocating Filipinos with her absolute vanity amid our dystopian society.

“People say I’m extravagant because I want to be surrounded by beauty. But tell me, who wants to be surrounded by garbage?” she said.

“Bagong Lipunan” was constantly played on the radio, on TV and in public places. It was inescapable. Its lyrics were planted into our consciousness: “Magbabago ang lahat tungo sa pag-unland” (Eveyone will change toward progress.)

Marcos created a fiction depicting his purported greatness that fuelled his tyranny.

During the two decades of media control, the brainwashing propaganda concealed what the regime represented — world-class kleptocrats, murderers and torturers.

Marcos Jr. gave no apology, showed no remorse and offered no restitution. And why would he? Maybe no one remembers after all. None of the Marcoses or their cronies ever went to jail for their transgressions.

Marcos rewarded many times
Marcos Jr. has been rewarded many times, repeatedly elected to various positions. And now as president?

It’s perplexing. It’s appalling. And for people who were tortured and the families of those killed, it’s revolting.

Marcos Jr. appeals to a fresh generation that doesn’t hear the shuddering beat of “Bagong Lipunan” the way my generation does.

The Philippines’ median age is 25. Their lack of a personal link to the martial law experience perhaps explains their historical oblivion.

But history is still being written. Pre-election polls are just polls. The May 9 ballot will decide a new chapter in history.

As Filipino journalist Sheila Coronel said, “A Marcos return is inevitable only if we believe it to be.”

Mar-Vic Cagurangan is editor-in-chief and publisher of the Pacific Island Times in Guam. This article is republished with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

A human rights advocate in Fiji says the country should be ashamed of the exile of the now dead celebrated academic professor Brij Lal and his family.

Professor Lal was expelled from Fiji in 2009 after speaking out against coup leader Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s FijiFirst government.

Lal died at his home in Brisbane on Christmas Day. Tributes have been pouring in since.

• READ MORE:  The Fiji Times: Professor Lal’s life leaves many lessons to appreciate and value
• Professor Brij Lal: A champion of democracy and Fiji’s finest scholar
• Renowned Fijian academic dies in exile
• Professor Brij Vilash Lal passes away
• Fiji’s finest scholar dies

Rights advocate Shamima Ali, coordinator of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre, said that while the region mourned Professor Lal’s death, people should not forget the injustice meted out to him and his wife.

Ali said the government disrespected academia and the contributions academics made to Fiji’s development.

In the case of the Lals, Ali said there had been a “miscarriage of justice and a gross violation of their basic human rights — the right to nationality and citizenship and to a fair trial”.

Ali said Lal’s “writings and utterances irked the government” so they banned him from Fiji.

‘Smacks of sexism’
“And Dr Padma Lal, along with her husband, was also banned from Fiji.

“This smacks of sexism and once again disregards Dr Lal’s illustrious career as an ecological economist and her work on the sugar industry and environment.

“I urge the Fiji Human Rights and Anti Discrimination Commission to step up and challenge this draconian decision of arbitrarily banning citizens and taking away their birthright.”

Lal’s legacy would live on as an upstanding human being and citizen of our country, Ali said.

“Shame on you, Fiji. Those who violated his and Padma’s rights will surely live in ignominy and infamy.

“There is still time for a change, to amend the wrongs, too late for Brij but not for his family.”

Sad day for Fiji, says Sodelpa
Fiji’s main opposition party said the death of Professor Lal in exile was a sad time for Fiji.

The Social Democratic Liberal Party said Lal had hoped that he would one day return to his homeland.

Fiji claimed to have democracy but it still has a very long way to go, said Sodelpa leader Viliame Gavoka.

“The news of Professor Brij Lal’s passing fills me with great pain,” he said.

“We all know about him, a favourite son of Fiji who was refused permission to return home.

“He lived and hoped that he would one day come home and many of us pleaded for his case.”

But Gavoka said now he had died in a foreign land, away from his people and loved ones.

“How can our hearts be so hardened that we denied someone the right to his homeland and all because he expressed views different from those at the helm of leadership.

“Professor Brij Lal was loved by many and his legacy will live on in Fiji.”

Fiji poorer with loss of academic, says NFP
Among historians and scholars, Professor Lal stood tall around the world, said the National Federation Party.

From a poor farming family in Tabia, Vanua Levu, NFP leader Professor Biman Prasad said Professor Lal rose to be an emeritus professor of Pacific and Asian history at the Australian National University, one of the world’s highest-ranked places of learning.

“He was an acknowledged expert on the Indian diaspora around the world.

He was recognised as the pre-eminent historian on the history of indenture and Girmitiya.”

In his obituary to Professor Lal, Dr Prasad said Fiji was poorer with the passing of the academic.

“Professor Brij Lal banished from the land of his birth by the Bainimarama government in November 2009 for championing democracy and barred from entering Fiji upon the orders of the prime minister, has died, 12 years after the draconian act of a heartless government,” Dr Prasad said.

“The sudden and shocking death of Professor Brij Lal at the age of 69 should create a moment for all Fiji citizens to pause and reflect, even while we are distracted by our many personal challenges brought on by the pandemic and our other deep national problems.”

Dr Prasad said Lal was “a giant on the international academic stage” who was banned by the Bainimarama and FijiFirst government from returning to the place of his birth.

“But the pettiness of our leaders will not take away Prof Lal’s towering achievements and scholarship, for which he will one day be fully recognised in the place he was born.

“All of us in Fiji are the poorer for his irreplaceable loss.”

Dr Prasad said the NFP had organised a condolence gathering to remember Professor Lal.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Yesterday, officers with the Federal Security Service (FSB) raided Dobrokhotov’s apartment, where his wife lives, and his parents’ apartment in Moscow, according to news reports. Authorities detained the journalist’s father and wife and interrogated them at a local police station, those reports said. The reports did not specify the nature of the questioning.

Russia’s Justice Ministry added the investigative website The Insider, which Dobrokhotov founded and edits, to its registry of so-called “foreign agents” on July 23, and on July 28 raided Dobrokhotov’s home and confiscated his equipment and passport, as CPJ documented at the time.

Dobrokhotov fled the country after the raid, and he is now living in an undisclosed location, according to news reports. 

He tweeted that authorities were targeting his family over his alleged illegal crossing of the Russian border, and said that his family’s phones and computers had been confiscated.

“Russian authorities must stop persecuting journalist Roman Dobrokhotov and harassing his family members,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Dobrokhotov has already faced significant official retaliation over his work, and authorities should not expand their targets to include his family.”

Authorities accuse Dobrokhotov of illegally crossing from Russia into Ukraine by “bypassing the established checkpoints,” when leaving the country in August, according to news reports and his lawyer, Yulia Kuznetsova, who spoke to The Insider.

If charged and convicted, he could face up to two years in prison, according to the Russian criminal code.

The Insider has collaborated with the Netherlands-based investigative outlet Bellingcat on several high-profile investigations, including the August 2020 poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

When CPJ called the Ministry of Justice, an official on duty said the ministry had no comment on the case.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

New York, June 17, 2021– The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on governments to provide safe refuge to journalists at risk through special emergency visas, in a feature and recommendations released ahead of World Refugee Day. Drawing on CPJ’s work over the last two decades helping journalists forced into exile by the threat of arbitrary arrests, physical violence, or other risks in reprisal for their work, the feature highlights case studies from across the globe.   

“As complex and protracted conflicts, instability, and authoritarian regimes proliferate around the world, finding safe refuge abroad can often make the difference between life and death for some journalists,” said Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, CPJ’s advocacy and communications director. “It is imperative that governments prioritize emergency visas for swift relocation and safety. Refusing to do so is not only a loss to an individual, but a blow to free expression and access to information globally.”   

The report’s recommendations call on national governments, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and media outlets, academic institutions, and foundations, to support journalists who are forced to flee, and push for policies that allow for swift relocation in light of the unique circumstances and urgency of these cases.

CPJ has worked on hundreds of cases since the creation of its Journalist Assistance program 20 years ago, and the most common request for support has been for emergency relocation. Whether escaping harsh government crackdowns or waves of anti-press violence, the ability to leave quickly is crucial to survival, leaving little time for a protracted visa process. Journalists told CPJ they are vulnerable to attack, deportation, or forced return while waiting for resettlement processes. However, when they can travel quickly to safe, supportive environments, journalists are far more likely to continue in the profession and eventually return home.   

Even far from their homes, CPJ found that the threats to journalists often remain, as observed in Belarus, when authorities diverted a commercial passenger flight in order to arrest exiled journalist Raman Pratasevich. CPJ has documented a myriad of attacks on journalists in exile, including death threats, abductions, assaults, and even murders. Meanwhile, journalists who resettle in countries where they are part of a larger diaspora are often more vulnerable, and research by CPJ and other organizations has also found that authoritarian governments use surveillance technology to spy on journalists living overseas.

Note to Editors:

Read the full feature, “At-risk journalists who must flee home countries often find few quick and safe options,” at cpj.org. CPJ experts are available for interviews in a variety of languages. Email press@cpj.org for more information.

###

CPJ is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.

Media contacts:

Bebe Santa-Wood

Communications Associate

press@cpj.org

212-300-9032

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.