BANGKOK—When machete-wielding thugs set upon journalists in East Timor after the territory’s Aug. 30 vote for independence, it looked like another gruesome case of the press caught between warring sides. Deplorable, yes, but it comes with the territory if you choose to cover the front lines in conflict zones.
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly condemns the murder of Rohana Kumara, chief editor of the Sinhala-language newspaper Satana. At around 10 p.m. on September 7, unidentified assailants shot and killed Kumara on the road leading to his home in the Colombo suburb of Mirihana. The assailants reportedly fled the scene in a silver Toyota 300 car. Kumara had received a phone call earlier that night notifying him that a group of men had entered his home and threatened to harm his wife if she did not reveal her husband’s whereabouts.
RECENT ATTACKS ON JOURNALISTS IN EAST TIMOR Click here to read CPJ’s recent protest letter to the Indonesian government. Click here for CPJ’s June 1 report on press freedom in Indonesia. Wednesday, August 25 Time magazine correspondent John Stanmeyer and his Indonesian assistant, Heriyanto, were attacked by members of the anti-independence Aitarak militia outside the…
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed by widespread instances of violence and intimidation directed against both foreign and local journalists during the period surrounding the August 30 referendum on the future of East Timor. In the course of the last week alone, CPJ has documented numerous cases in which journalists were singled out for attack. The vast majority of the incidents were apparently committed by pro-Jakarta militias backed by the Indonesian military.
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply troubled by the recent deportation of American journalist Amy Goodman, who was stopped at Bali’s Ngurah Rai international airport while en route to East Timor to cover the territory’s August 30 vote on independence. Goodman’s expulsion directly contradicts your administration’s pledges to lift restrictions on foreign journalists, and to ensure that international observers, including media representatives, are allowed free access to East Timor during the historic referendum.
Dear Ms. Cooper, I wish to refer to your letter dated July 15 1999, concerning the unexpected act of intimidation against the Thai Post newspaper by Deputy Prime Minister Trairong Suwankiri’s private secretary during the night of Tuesday 13 July 1999. We have brought your concerns to the attentions of HE Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and I have subsequently been asked to make the following clarification regarding the Government’s position:
August 2, 1999 Secretariat of the Prime Minister Government Spokesman Bureau Government House Bangkok 10300 Dear Ms. Cooper, I wish to refer to your letter dated July 15 1999, concerning the unexpected act of intimidation against the Thai Postnewspaper by Deputy Prime Minister Trairong Suwankiri’s private secretary during the night of Tuesday 13 July 1999.
August 12, 1999 His Excellency Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie President, Republic of Indonesia Office of the President Bina Graha, Jalan Veteran No. 17 Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned over the recent firebomb attack against Sjamsul Kahar, chief editor of the Aceh-based, Indonesian-language daily newspaper Serambi Indonesia and chairman…
August 9, 1999 His Excellency Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie President, Republic of Indonesia Office of the President Bina Graha, Jalan Veteran No. 17 Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned over last week’s brutal murder of Supriadi, a reporter based in Aceh Province who was working for the Indonesian-language…