RSF names Tongan king as 'press predator'
Title -- 4395 REGION: RSF names Tongan king as 'press predator'
Date -- 3 May 2004
Byline -- None
Origin -- Pacific Media Watch
Source -- Reporters Sans Frontières/PMW 3/5/2004
Copyright -- RSF/PMW
Status -- Unabridged
Post a comment on PMW's Right of Reply: www.voy.com/166636/
RSF NAMES TONGAN KING AS 'PRESS PREDATOR'
www.rsf.org
PARIS (RSF/Pacific Media Watch): King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV has been named as one of six hereditary rulers proclaimed global 'predators of press freedom' in a new book published today by Paris-based media monitoring group Reporters Sans Frontières.
The Fiji government also faces scathing criticism over harassment of the media.
The Pacific monarch is included on the RSF media notoriety list along with Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Nepal's King Gyanendra Shah Devi, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah ibn al-Saud, Swaziland's King Mswati III and Syrian President Bahar el-Assad.
The hereditary rulers are listed as a category of media freedom predators along with five militant groups, six 'sham democrats', six 'authoritarian rulers', four military dictators, four civilian dictators and five 'dinosaurs', including Cuban President Fidel Castro and Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.
According to RSF in the 48-page 2003 Global Press Freedom World Tour book, King Tupou IV rules like an absolute monarch.
"In 2003, he heeded the advice of his son, the chief of government, and amended the constitution in order to be able to ban the few independent papers, above all Taimi 'o Tonga," the book reported.
"Queen Halaevalu Mata'aho described journalists as 'insulting and disrespectful' for refusing to kneel before her or lower their heads in the presence of other royal family members."
RSF reported that 13 journalists had been killed in the world since 1 January 2004, noting: "The most deadly country for the press is Iraq, where 10 journalists and media assistants have died so far this year.
"Since the fighting began in March 2003, at least 23 journalists have been killed there while doing their job - at least six by US army gunfire."
On 3 May 2004 - World Media Freedom Day, 133 journalists were being held in prison in 22 countries. The largest prisons were Cuba (29 journalists in jail), China (27), Eritrea (14), Iran (12) and Burma (11).
Seventy three 'cyber-dissidents' were in prison - 61 of them in China - for posting information on the internet.
A total of 42 journalists were killed worldwide during 2003, 766 were arrested, 1460 physically attacked or threatened and 501 media workers were censored.
Included in its report on Fiji, RSF noted a government plan to set up a statutory press council, which drew many objections during 2003.
"The [Fiji] news media continued to be free despite the threats of some politicians and leading figures who cannot stand criticism," RSF said.
RSF included the following examples of obstruction of a free press in Fiji:
A journalist detained:
* "Michael Field, a journalist with Agence France-Presse (AFP), was detained 3 March 2003 when he arrived at Nausori Airport with the aim of covering the trial of two Fijians accused in the May 2000 coup attempt.
"His computer made security agents suspicious. The authorities recognised their mistake and released him later the same day."
Harassment and obstruction:
* "During a parliamentary debate on 7 May 2003, Health Minister Solomoni Naivalu accused Riaz Sayed Khaiyum of Fiji One TV, a journalist of Indian origin, of 'lying' and of 'racism' in a recent report about a shortage of staff at the Valelevu health centre.
"The minister contested figures in the report, which he called 'not objective, incorrect, hostile to the health ministry and anti-government'. Khaiyum rejected the charges, particularly that his reports were racist."
* "Parliamentarian Jonetani Kaukimoce accused Fiji Television news director Netani Rika of a 'propaganda campaign' against the government and Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase in August."
* "Another parliamentarian, Josateki Bua, meanwhile, called publicly for heavier penalties for journalists and legislation to deal specifically with cases of 'lying'."
* "Information Minister Simione Kaitani accused the staff of The Fiji Times of being in the grip of the 'forces of evil' on 26 August after it ran an editorial questioning the sincerity of South African evangelist Reinhard Bonnke, then on tour in Fiji.
"He called the editorial totally irresponsible and uncalled for and urged Fiji’s Christians to rise up against it."
PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH is an independent, non-profit, non-government organisation comprising journalists, lawyers, editors and other media workers, dedicated to examining issues of ethics, accountability, censorship, media freedom and media ownership in the Pacific region. Launched in October 1996, it has links with the Journalism Program at the University of the South Pacific, Bushfire Media based in Sydney, Journalism Studies at the University of PNG (UPNG), the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ), Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, and Community Communications Online (c2o).
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