Reporters without borders (RSF) called on the Sri Lankan government to lift the ban on media outlets from entering the war zone in the north east of the country.

"It is a disgrace that this war is being waged without independent journalists present," Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said. "With a major humanitarian crisis and war crimes clearly taking place, the government must heed the international community?s calls for a ceasefire and for better access for humanitarian workers and journalists."

"By limiting media coverage to guided tours with the purpose of confirming military victories, the armed forces are preventing the press from doing its job," RSF said in a statement. "They are disregarding the public?s right to be informed in an independent manner," link

Journalists have been killed, intimidated arrested and forced to flee the island nation in recent months.The video above is from the IFJ.

"I think [Reporters without borders] mean somebody in France can be more reliable than somebody who could hear the sounds of the bullets fired at the two journalists at that particular day. If we reported about what we witnessed, will it mean that we are connected to the kidnappers, or a person who is in a luxury hotel in Paris is more reliable than us?" [said Daud Abdi Daud] link

Meanwhile, Leonard Vincent, the Africa desk chief at Reporters Without Borders, said the "middlemen" involved in the negotiations for the release of the two journalists are getting "angry" at the Canadian authorities refusal to pay ransom,

“Obviously, there’s some kind of obstruction on the fact that Canadians are sitting on the principle that they don’t pay for terrorism, which is something that is crazy because somebody will have to pay… There has to be a clan agreement. There has to be a money agreement. There has to be money delivery and then there has to be a scenario of getting out, who does it, who gets the credit, who films it,” he said. link

Daud Abdi Daud, Executive Director of Somali Journalists Rights Agency says the pair, in his words, "came close to being killed" on January 26th. Daud says Lindhout and Nigel Brennan escaped in Mohgadishu and ran to the shelter of a mosque. He says, "they appealed to the holy men in the mosque for protection and were told to hide behind the chair of the senior Mulla who was reading the Holy book". Daud claims two gunmen fired shots inside the mosque and when the militia arrived Amanda Lindhout and Brennan were forcibly removed and were pushed into a car. Daud also says Lindhout reportedly tried to throw herself out of the car without success. link

We continue to update the kidnap story on this post.

UPDATE: Reporters without Borders refute the claim and denounce the source,

Leonard Vincent, [who heads the Africa desk of Reporters Without Borders…] is sceptical. "The source that it comes from is absolutely not reliable. In fact, we think that might be, in one way or the other, related to the kidnappers," he said from Paris. link

“The figures may be lower than last year’s but this should not mask the fact that intimidation and censorship have become more widespread, including in the west, and the most authoritarian governments have been taking an even tougher line. The quantitative improvement in certain indicators is often due to journalists becoming disheartened and turning to a less dangerous trade or going into exile. We cannot say that 60 deaths, hundreds of arrests and systematic censorship offer grounds for optimism.” link

For comparison, in 2007; 86 journalists were killed, 20 media assistants were killed, 887 journalists were arrested, 1,511 were physically attacked or threatened, 528 media outlets were censored, 67 journalists were kidnapped.

Reporters Without Borders is appalled by the death of a Japanese news photographer on the streets of Rangoon this morning. Another foreign journalist was reportedly injured. The press casualties came after the security forces opened fire on demonstrators near the Tarder Hotel in the centre of Rangoon. link

Meanwhile… One photographer imprisoned and five journalists in jail. Photo-journalist Win Saing was arrested on 28 August while taking photos of activists in the National League for Democracy (NLD) making offerings to monks in Rangoon. After being taken to the Kyaik-ka-san detention centre, he is currently being held at the police station in Thanlyin near Rangoon. He is in danger, as are hundreds of other people arrested in recent weeks, of being mal-treated. link

“It is impossible to believe that the government would brutalize the holy monks,” said one resident of the area who witnessed the melee. “The government is not doing this for stability. This is sacrilege to the religion we believe in…”
“…There are people willing to shoot and people willing to die,” said one Western diplomat of the ongoing showdown in Rangoon…
…The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper claimed that the clash was sparked by protesters throwing stones at the security officers. “On account of the unavoidable circumstances, the members of the security forces fired some shots employing the least force to disperse the mob,” link

The Guardian Newsblog continues it’s excellent rolling coverage.