CAIRO: The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) said on Sunday that the claims of reform proposed by the new Prime Minister are false and a sham because they did not include any reform or provide protection for the freedom of the press and the media. The pan-Arabic rights group has documented attacks on reporters and media workers since demonstrations began on January 25. “Despite the statements and dialogues of [Prime Minister] Ahmad Shafik about the protection of the media and the right to peaceful gathering, the attacks on reporters continue,” the organization said in a press statement. “The latest attack was on the office of the electronic Al-Badil newspaper yesterday evening the 5th of February and the arrest of the reporters at the office, in addition to the attack on Carol Kirbaj from A-Safeer, the Lebanese newspaper,” it continued. The network continued to say that “after the last speech by President Mubarak, criminal gangs attacked the protesters with weapons. “During the speech of Prime Minister Ahmad Shafik about reforms and his pledge to protect the protesters and media outlets, the militias of the NDP and the police force were attacking and killing journalists on the streets of Egypt. Faces changed, but the anti freedom of expression and the press policies are still intact, and that is what we will not accept again.” In addition to the arrests of dozens of reporters, there numerous reports surfacing of physical attacks on dozens of other reporters that “reached to the point of murder.” Reporters and media employees from American newspapers and media outlets have been attacked and arrested such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Fox News, CNN, and Zuma News Agency. Other journalists have been attacked, including BBC Radio and The Guardian, two journalists from France24 Agency, the Canadian Globe and Mail, arrest of a report for the Russian TV, “Zvezda.” In addition, reporters from Turkey, Poland, Belgium, Germany, Brazil, Greece and France were subjected to similar violent arrests at the hands of the NDP gangs with the help of the Egyptian police. The ANHRI called on the army to take a more vigilant approach to ensuring safety of everyone on the streets. “Since these attacks were premeditated and systematic that clearly target the journalists and media outlets, Egyptian and Arab journalists were not excluded from these blatant attacks that were incited by Information Minister Anas Al-Faqi,” the statement continued. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information stated that any reform regarding media outlets “will not be achieved as long as Information Minister Al-Faqi stays in office.” BM
