Pakistan Project Review: Oct/Nov '09

Young Journalist Inspires Fellow Students

A schoolgirl participating in IWPR's Open Minds project in Pakistan's Swat valley has shown the way for young journalists from the region, publishing a series of diary articles on the BBC news website during her family's displacement from the volatile area in summer 2009.

Malala. © IWPR

Twelve-year-old Malala wrote the pieces after she and her family fled the Taleban insurgency which has engulfed the region for most of 2009. She has since been the subject of several media interviews and a documentary by an American filmmaker.

Now, says her IWPR Open Minds journalism trainer Niaz Khan, Malala's success is inspiring other young people to try to get their articles published.

"They got information from students of our project and have taken an interest; then they contacted me for assistance in sending their articles [to the media]," Niaz said. After helping them correct and edit their pieces, Niaz has been putting the youngsters in touch with local newspapers.

IWPR's Open Minds project brings journalism training and current affairs discussion sessions to 42 schools in Pakistan. Under the project, Niaz is employed to train a group of about 25 students in five schools to produce stories. But those who have contacted him, he says, are not project participants. Some are even from other schools.

They got information from students of our project and have taken an interest; then they contacted me for assistance in sending their articles [to the media]. Meanwhile, students and teachers in Pakistan's troubled North West Frontier Province have said that IWPR's school-based journalism training programme has helped raise awareness of civil rights and the rule of law.

The comments came in an October feedback survey by one of the programme's partner NGOs, the Islamabad-based Peace Education and Development Foundation, PEAD, which canvassed opinion in 11 participating schools in the region.

Five of the schools were madrassas in the regional capital Peshawar; the others state schools in rural Charsadda district, to the north of Peshawar.

PEAD asked all participating students - around 100-150 in each school - and the two coordinating teachers appointed to facilitate the project to fill in a simple feedback form about their experiences so far.

Most of the students took part in Open Minds discussion sessions on civil rights and the rule of law, which PEAD helps to facilitate. Some also attended Open Minds journalism training classes organised by professional journalists.

Central Asia Project Review: Oct/Nov '09

IWPR Trainee Wins Parliamentary Coverage Award

Long-term IWPR contributor Asyl Osmonalieva has been awarded a prize of 1,500 US dollars for seven articles on issues debated in the Kyrgyz parliament.

The competition was organised by the parliament with the support of the European Commission-United Nations Development Programme Parliamentary Reform Project. According to Asyl, her prize came as something of a surprise, "I have to admit that there was a lot of criticism in the reports so it was a bit unexpected to find that in the end my publications were named as the best."

Asyl Osmonalieva, IWPR contributor in Kyrgyzstan.

The prize comes after Asyl's nomination as a finalist in the Developing Asia Journalism Awards - run by the Asian Development Bank Institute - for an article she wrote for IWPR entitled Kyrgyzstan's Controversial "Winter Sale", published in January 2009. In October, Asyl travelled to Tokyo for a training programme on economic, financial and environmental reporting as part of the award.

Talking about her analytical reports on the inner working of parliament, Asyl said, "The decision to take part in the competition came at the last minute; I submitted seven reports just before the deadline."

Two of these items were written for IWPR. One of them, Disappointment at Kyrgyz Media Law Changes, looked into amendments to the media legislation approved by parliament. These required television stations to ensure that not less than 50 per cent of their overall output was in the Kyrgyz language. They also had to produce 50 per cent of their content themselves and reduce the amount of programming bought in, mostly from Russian TV. The bill promptly came in for public criticism.

"We did everything possible to give even-handed and balanced information and provide an opportunity those involved to state their position," Asyl said.

Another IWPR article, Kyrgyzstan: Yet Another Tax Amnesty, was about an effort to get people to declare assets on which taxes had not been paid. The controversial bill brought a strong reaction from the public and some deputies. Asyl said that by focusing on the heart of the controversy, the report depicted the difficult political dispute that lay behind this law.

Asyl continues to write about parliament and her aim is to show not only discussions themselves but also events behind the scenes.

Separately, some local authorities in Tajikistan have been spurred into making fresh efforts to tackle a rising tide of suicides by an IWPR round table on the subject.

Religious leaders and teachers also followed suit, offering talks on how to cope with difficulties of life without resorting to a tragic solution.

We did everything possible to give even-handed and balanced information and provide an opportunity those involved to state their position. Students and teaching staff from Khorog University in Badakhshan, a mountainous region of eastern Tajikistan, who attended the meeting showed a particular determination to put into action some of the ideas voiced during the IWPR event.
They introduced weekly discussions and plan to start a campaign for their university to open a psychology department.

The IWPR round table on the issue of suicide and ways of dealing with it was held on October 22. A similar debate was held in Badakhshan in June.

The latest session resulted in setting up a working group that intends to petition the regional administration for help in preventing suicide and raising awareness about the issue.

Organised within the European Union-funded IWPR Human Rights project, the meeting in Khorog aimed to bring together the human rights community and media to raise awareness about the rising trend in suicide attempts.

The meeting received extensive coverage on regional TV and radio stations. In the words of radio journalist Safarmon Butabekova, it was the first time that the debate on suicide had involved such a wide range of people, "There was a huge response and as a result the problem was raised at the highest level."

Caucasus Project Review: Oct/Nov '09

Events Prompt Official Cooperation With NGOs

A group of NGOs are to set up a regional network which will work with officials to address refugee concerns, following a series of IWPR-organised meetings on the problems facing Georgia's refugee population.

"This is a very interesting initiative," said Eka Gabodze of the Georgian ministry for refugees and settlement. "If it works, many of our problems, as well as those of NGOs dealing with refugee issues and of the refugees themselves, will be solved."

"The creation of a network of non-governmental organisations is a serious initiative, and we are ready to actively cooperate with it," said Koba Chopliani from the Georgian ombudsman's office.

"NGOs operating in the regions possess abundant information and experience, their coming together, I think, will yield important results."

The creation of a network of non-governmental organisations is a serious initiative, and we are ready to actively cooperate with it. The idea to create a network of NGOs gelled at an IWPR-organised meeting on refugee issues in Tbilisi on November 10-11. The discussion involved 20 leaders of 15 NGOs from the regions of Imereti, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti and Shida Kartli, as well as eight high-ranking officials from four Georgian ministries. It lasted ten hours, instead of the planned three.

The majority of the NGOs complained that officials tended to avoid communicating with "the third sector".

"Knowing this, IWPR helped us begin a dialogue, which, if continued, will contribute to the effort to solve refugees' problems that have remained intractable for years now," said Khatuna Bechvaia from the organisation Tanaziari.

In Nagorny Karabakh, journalists and refugee representatives who attended an IWPR workshop on multi-media and citizen journalism have spoken enthusiastically about the new skills they have acquired.

IWPR Seminar held in Stepanakert, Nagorny Karabakh. 23-25 Oct 2009. © IWPR

As a result of the training in Stepanakert, from October 23-25, each of the ten participants now has their own blog and Facebook account, which they use to communicate new developments within their respective organisations and communities to social networks.

During the workshop, participants made videos on the problems facing Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan and some posted them on their blogs and a YouTube channel created as part of the workshop.

"The seminars on citizen journalism helped both professional reporters and non-journalists get acquainted with computer and web tools which they had never used before," said Gegham Vardanyan, who led the training session.
"Citizen journalism is important in Nagorny Karabakh. There are no powerful media in Karabakh, so the internet remains the main tool for information dissemination.

"With the help of such workshops, ordinary people realise that they can become journalists for several hours or for a day and disseminate information in order to defend their civil [and other] rights and launch media campaigns."

Iraq Project Review: Oct/Nov '09

IWPR Comes to Aid of Ex-Kurdish Fighter

An elderly former guerrilla in Iraqi Kurdistan has received financial assistance from a top official in the region's government as a result of an IWPR story that described his struggle to earn a living.

Abdulla Mohammed. © IWPR

The story, Kurdish Fighter's Bittersweet "Retirement", followed Abdulla Mohammed on his daily rounds selling sweets on the streets of the regional capital, Erbil.

Mohammed said he was forced to work for money, despite being nearly 70 years old and stricken with painful illnesses. The veteran of the Kurds' armed struggle against Baghdad also said he was disqualified from the pension enjoyed by former comrades because he had already chosen a less valuable government pension.

Following the publication of the story, the office of Masrour Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Region Security Protection Agency, contacted IWPR asking for a meeting with Mohammed.

"We owe what we have today to the sacrifice made by people like him," a representative from the office told IWPR, referring to the extensive autonomy secured by the Kurds of northern Iraq after decades of resistance against Arab-dominated governments in Baghdad.

I will spend some of the money on my family and use the rest to get medical treatment. During a meeting with Mohammed arranged by IWPR, the official, who asked not to be named, took note of his pension arrangements, health problems and his record as a guerrilla, or peshmerga, who had fought Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime.

The representative later said Masrour Barzani's office had given Mohammed enough financial help to "cover his needs for the next five years". He added that the office expected Mohammed to seek medical attention for his ailments and would consider assisting with further treatment, should it be required.

Mohammed said he was delighted with the assistance.

"I'm very thankful, I feel very happy that they remembered me at last," he said. "I will spend some of the money on my family and use the rest to get medical treatment."

Also in Iraq, IWPR has trained nearly 240 reporters, editors and media lawyers in Iraq's press laws, enabling members of the country's press corps to better protect themselves against libel and defamation lawsuits.

Media law specialists working for IWPR Iraq held training sessions on the subject in Baghdad and Sulaimaniyah from June to November 2009. The legal protection courses helped students understand Iraq's media laws - a first for many who said they had little awareness of crucial issues such as libel and journalists' rights under the law prior to the IWPR events.

"This was my first training, and it was quite different than the journalism courses I studied [at university] because we received more concrete information," said Bassam Shibil Khatter, a reporter with Sada newspaper in Wasit, central Iraq.

"I used to face legal trouble, especially when I interviewed officials and asked them critical questions. Now, I'm aware of my rights and I'm more confident about what I should say and do while conducting interviews.

"The course made us aware of our rights and limitations as journalists," agreed Sherooq al-Jibouri, a producer and presenter with Salahadeen News Channel. "It also gave us the opportunity to network and discuss issues with other journalists."

IWPR Iraq's courses in Baghdad focused on training students in Iraqi media laws, which have been carried over from the Baathist regime. Many of the more repression sanctions are no longer applied, but journalists continue to face a plethora of libel and defamation lawsuits.

Journalists tried under Iraqi libel and defamation laws can face jail time if convicted.

"Most of the journalists were completely ignorant of media laws," prior to the training sessions, said Ali Marzook, project manager for IWPR Iraq's Journalism Safety, Security, Law and Protection division, which is based in Baghdad. "They've learned how to avoid libel and defamation, how to work within the boundaries of the law and how to protect themselves."

Journalists "are really hungry for these courses", Marzook added.

International Justice/ICC Project Review: Oct/Nov '09

North Kivu Reporters Learn to Look After Themselves

Project staff travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, in November to give a three-day training course on operating in a conflict zone for women journalists in North Kivu province.

The course combined seminars on international standards of journalism with security and medical training. War has raged in eastern DRC since the late Nineties, meaning few local reporters have had the opportunity for formal training and often find themselves in danger when going out on assignment.

Participants said they gained a great deal from the course given by IWPR's international justice project manager Lisa Clifford and security expert Caroline Neil, a former officer in the British army.

You were the first to come to Goma to help women journalists to look after their security. "We have learned how to ensure our security, physical protection and about important medical aspects while working in a hostile environment," said Marie Noellard Muhindo, a journalist with Congolese state radio.

"You are the first organisation to have thought of women journalists in Goma."

The November course followed on from a June training session, also in Goma, offering security and medical tips to ensure journalists reporting in eastern DRC can work more safely.

"We live in a country torn by war and knowing how to take care of yourself is very good," said course participant Esperance Nzigire, a reporter with RAO FM, one of IWPR's Goma-based radio partners.

"You were the first to come to Goma to help women journalists to look after their security," added another participant.

In another local development, DRC journalists say that they have been encouraged by recent IWPR coverage of two detained human rights activists to discuss subjects that they would not usually talk about.

Golden Misabiko, who is president of the African Association for the Defence of Human Rights, ASADHO-Katanga, was arrested on July 24 following the publication by his organisation of a report alleging that the government was exploiting uranium mining in the south-east of the country.

He was subsequently charged with "publishing false information with intent to harm" and sentenced to a year in prison, of which eight months were suspended.

Mulumba Kapepula, a national railway employee, was arrested on June 5 and charged with insulting the head of state, when he accused the government of under-paying public sector workers. He was allegedly tortured while in detention, but was subsequently released without charges being brought.

The controversial subjects of uranium mining and the arrests of rights activists are often avoided by journalists working in the Katanga region of the DRC, where Misabiko works and where much of the country's minerals are mined.

But, after the publication of the IWPR article about Misabiko's case, journalists said they felt less restrained to talk about such problems.

International Justice/ICTY Project Review: Oct/Nov '09

Karadzic Trial Coverage Praised

Commentators in former Yugoslavia have singled out the objectivity and balance of IWPR's reporting of two key recent developments in the region - the start of the trial of the former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and the early release from prison of one his former allies, Biljana Plavsic.

Radovan Karadzic © ICTY

The Karadzic trial officially started on October 27 with the opening brief of the prosecution. The accused - who is representing himself - refused to attend the proceedings because he claimed he hadn't had enough time to prepare his case. He had demanded an extra ten months to work on his defence, but the request was turned down by both the trial and the appeals judges.

Because the proceedings couldn't continue without Karadzic's presence in court, the trial has been adjourned until March 1, 2010. In order to prevent further delays, the judges recently appointed a stand-by counsel who will take over Karadzic's defence if he fails to appear in court in March.

In addition to the coverage of the proceedings against Karadzic, IWPR published analysis of new developments in this case, as well as problems related to it, such as the self-representation of the accused.

"IWPR articles on the start of Karadzic's trial are very interesting, informative and provide a comprehensive overview of this case. I particularly like the fact that in every article IWPR has a few paragraphs about the indictment, and thus reminds the readers of the main charges against Karadzic," said Dragana Erjavec, a Sarajevo-based reporter with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN.

Slobodan Beljanski, a lawyer from Novi Sad, said IWPR has been covering Karadzic's trial "correctly", informing readers of the range of expert opinion on all relevant legal issues.

"Your articles [on the Karadzic case] are full of information and very objective," Beljanski said.

Covering proceedings at the tribunal has made me think a lot about how people deal with the past and what the term justice actually means. Separately, IWPR reporter Rachel Irwin has written at length about her personal impressions as a reporter covering the Karadzic trial.

"In writing about proceedings at the tribunal, I've spent much time listening to harrowing witness testimony, sifting though massive legal documents, and watching theatrical courtroom sessions," she wrote.

"Yet the spectacle outside the building that day was like nothing I've seen before. It was a combination of media frenzy and the frustrations of those who had waited years to see Karadzic stand trial.

"Covering proceedings at the tribunal has made me think a lot about how people deal with the past and what the term justice actually means.

"It is still a question I grapple with on a daily basis, but I've come to believe that justice is not only about seeking and presenting the truth, but about acknowledging how those truths - which are often unthinkably cruel - have affected human beings."