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-----Original Message-----
From: halltoons@aol.com
To: AAEC-L@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 08:45:45 EST
Subject: [AAEC] Those darned Danes

http://www.jp.dk/english_news/artikel:aid=3306572/
(http://www.jp.dk/english_news/artikel:aid=3306572/)

Danish Cartoons of Prophet Irk Muslims
By JAN M. OLSEN The Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - It was a provocative exercise: asking cartoonists to draw pictures of the Prophet Muhammad that were published in one of Denmark's largest papers.

But apparently no one at the Jyllands-Posten daily imagined the scale of the fallout: Death threats against the artists, protest strikes in Kashmir, condemnation from Muslim leaders worldwide and even criticism from the U.N.

``I'm very surprised that the reactions have been so sharp, very shocked, and I find the death threats against the cartoonists to be horrible and out of proportion,'' Carsten Juste, chief editor of Jyllands-Posten, told The Associated Press. He said the pictures were not meant to offend.

The paper refuses to apologize for publishing the drawings Sept. 30, citing freedom of speech - a right cherished in this northern European country of 5.4 million that also refused to prosecute an artist who depicted a crucified Jesus Christ with an erection.

One cartoon shows Muhammad wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse. Another portrays him with a bushy gray beard and holding a sword, his eyes covered by a black rectangle. A third pictures a middle-aged prophet standing in the desert with a walking stick in front of a donkey and a sunset. A fourth depicts a schoolboy near a blackboard.

``If we apologize, we go against the freedom of speech that generations before us have struggled to win,'' Juste said.

The paper had asked 40 cartoonists to draw images of the prophet. That idea alone would be enough to offend many Muslims, since Sunni Islam bars depiction of any prophet from the Quran out of concern that such images could lead to idolatry.

``The Quran clearly forbids anyone from belittling a prophet, whether Jesus Christ, Abraham or Muhammad - peace and blessings be upon them - and it stresses they must be accorded utmost respect,'' said Ragab Zaki, a Muslim Sunni senior cleric at Egypt's Ministry of Endowments.

``Ridiculing any prophet is a crime, according to the Quran,'' he said.

Critics say the drawings in Jyllands-Posten were particularly insulting because some appeared to ridicule Muhammad.

``Those cartoons are very offensive to every Muslim feeling, and to Islam as a religion,'' said Abdel Moeti Bayoumi, a theology professor at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. ``Do you expect Muslims to remain silent or rise to defend their religion?''

The turmoil comes a year after Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was murdered in Amsterdam by a Muslim radical because he made a film critical of Islam. It also revives memories of the 1989 death threat against writer Salman Rushdie over his portrayal of Muhammad in ``The Satanic Verses.''

The paper's culture editor, Flemming Rose, came up with the idea after the author of a children's book on religion said its illustrator demanded anonymity because he feared retaliation for a picture of the prophet.

Juste said the newspaper's intention ``was to examine whether people would succumb to self-censorship, as we have seen in other cases when it comes to Muslim issues.'' Twelve artists participated.

After the drawings were published, 11 ambassadors from Muslim countries signed a letter of protest to Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. But his government has refused to intervene.

``As prime minister I have no tool whatsoever to take actions against the media and I don't want that kind of tool,'' Fogh Rasmussen said Oct. 24.

Still, Danes were caught off guard by the furor.

Lise Poulsen Galal, an anthropologist at the University of Copenhagen, noted that 85 percent of Danes belong to the state Lutheran church and tend to think of others as guests. Three percent of the population is Muslim.

The drawings have been a topic in Muslim chat rooms on the Internet, and two cartoons were posted on the newspaper's Web site.

The Danish Foreign Ministry said the youth auxiliary of Pakistan's largest Islamic group, Jamaat-e-Islami, offered a reward of about $8,000 for killing the cartoonists. But spokesmen for the group say they have not made such threats, which Denmark's intelligence service has also downplayed.

In Indian-controlled Kashmir, many shops and businesses shut down Thursday after Islamic separatists and religious groups called a strike to ``protest the outrage felt by Muslims over the insulting cartoons,'' separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani said in a statement.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the drawings during a visit to Denmark last month.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour was investigating the matter.

``I understand your attitude to the images that appeared in the newspaper,'' Arbour wrote the Organization of the Islamic Conference. ``I find alarming any behaviors that disregard the beliefs of others. This kind of thing is unacceptable.''

Associated Press writers Christian Wienberg in Copenhagen, Salah Nasrawi in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and Maggie Michael and Paki Amer in Cairo, Egypt, contributed to this report.

Government official threatens legal action against newspapers over controversial cartoon

Country/Topic: Nepal
Date: 26 August 2005
Source: Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES)
Person(s): Narayan Wagle, Prateek Pradhan, Binod Gyawali
Target(s): editor(s) , newspaper(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): ban lifted , questioned , threatened
Urgency: Threat

(CEHURDES/IFEX) - A top government official has threatened action against two leading Kathmandu-based, privately-owned newspapers.

Addressing a press conference in the capital, Kathmandu, on 25 August 2005, Information and Communications Minister Tanka Dhakal - who is also the government's spokesman - said the government was engaged in "serious homework" to take legal action against the newspapers that tried to "defame" the country's monarchy by publishing a cartoon earlier in the week. The minister did not elaborate.

On 21 August, "Kantipur" and "The Kathmandu Post" newspapers carried a cartoon by noted cartoonist Batsyayan that depicted Nepali Congress president and former premier G. P. Koirala carrying a dead animal billed as 'constitutional monarchy.' A dust bin was featured in the background.

Two days later, both dailies published front page editor's notes clarifying their position. The editors confirmed that they adhered to the principles of multi-party democracy and constitutional monarchy and that the cartoon published in the Sunday edition of their papers was not intended to violate these principles.

Despite clarification, Kathmandu Chief District Officer Sushil Ghimire summoned "Kantipur" editor Narayan Wagle and "Kathmandu Post" editor Prateek Pradhan, along with the dailies' publisher, Binod Gyawali, for questioning. The three refused to record their statements, saying they should be given any order by the authorities in writing first.

CEHURDES views this latest action as yet another attempt by the royal government of Nepal to intimidate and harass independent media. As leading private sector newspapers, "Kantipur" and "The Kathmandu Post" have been disseminating news and opinions to the general public without fear or favour, and should not be punished for it.

CEHURDES believes punitive action against "Kantipur" and "The Kathmandu Post" would be unacceptable and would be seen as a government attempt to silence critical voices among the country's media. The organisation calls on the government to withdraw its proposed action against the two papers and allow Nepali media to function freely and without fear, according to its rights under the Nepali Constitution and international treaties to which Nepal is party.

For further information, contact the Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES), GPO Box 21179, New Baneswar, Kathmandu, Nepal, tel: +977 1 4 475 283, fax: +977 1 4 466 599, e-mail: cehurdes@enet.com.np, cehurdes@yahoo.com, Internet: http://www.cehurdes.org.np

KGB censors satirical Internet cartoons

Français: Le KGB censure des dessins animés satiriques distribués sur Internet

This report just in from Reporters sans Frontieres:

Country/Topic: Belarus
Date: 18 August 2005
Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Person(s): Pavel Morozov
Target(s): other , web dissident(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): raided , questioned , other
Urgency: Threat

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has condemned the raids carried out by the Belarusian secret police (KGB) in Minsk and the western city of Grodno on 16 August 2005. The KGB raided the apartments of three young members of the Third Way opposition movement who reportedly create satirical, animated cartoons for Internet distribution. The KGB confiscated at least 12 computers and other equipment used to produce the cartoons and interrogated three Third Way members.

"This harassment is yet another example of the authoritarianism prevailing in Belarus," RSF said. "Any sarcasm and criticism of the authorities is severely punished. Three journalists have been given prison terms for 'insulting the president' in recent years and it would be intolerable if these young Internet users were now to suffer the same fate."

Pavel Morozov, 26, one of those allegedly in charge of the website on which the cartoons were being posted (http://mult.3dway.org), said he and two of his colleagues were questioned for five hours and accused of tarnishing the honour of President Alexander Lukashenko. He was ordered to stay in Minsk.

Created a year ago, the website published two-minute-long animated cartoons satirising Belarusian politicians, opposition leaders and ordinary people. Some of the cartoons were about Lukashenko and electoral fraud, Belarus' isolation and Lukashenko's well-known fondness for sports. The Third Way members drew the cartoons at home and circulated them among themselves by e-mail.

The three Third Way members who were questioned are for the time being treated by the authorities as witnesses in the investigation, but it is likely that they will be charged soon, in which case they could face up to five years in prison under Article 367 of the Criminal Code.

Press cartoonist Chit Swe arrested

July 20, Agence France Presse
Cartoonist among 12 democracy activists arrested in Myanmar: media groups

Bangkok: Authorities in military-ruled Myanmar have arrested a respected magazine cartoonist in a round up of at least 12 democracy activists in the past two weeks, two media rights groups said Wednesday.

Cartoonist and opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) member Chit Swe was arrested on unspecified charges on July 12 shortly after the NLD met at his home, Reporters without Borders and the Burma Media Association said.

The 65-year-old cartoonist is the deputy chairman of a branch of the NLD, whose leader is detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

"At least 12 democracy activists have been arrested over the past two weeks," the groups said in a statement. "The detention of Chit Swe is a serious violation of freedom of expression."

Although the NLD meeting at his home was legal, Chit Swe was arrested under a law meant to curb "criminal activity," the media groups said.

The latest arrests showed that the military junta was continuing a crackdown on the opposition despite its release announced in early July of about 400 prisoners, most of whom the NLD said were political prisoners, the statement said.

Amnesty International said more than 200 political prisoners were freed, and about 1,100 remained jailed.

"The latest wave of releases of political prisoners -- more than 300 in total -- should not blind us to the reality of the crackdown on opposition figures," the statement said.

Chit Swe was being detained in Thanlyin police station near the capital, the media groups said. He had to sleep on a concrete floor and could not eat properly as he had tonsillitis and acute bronchitis, they said.

A respected and talented artist, Chit Swe's cartoons are published in two Yangon financial magazines, Dana and Myanmar Dana, to show the country's socio-economic problems, the media groups said.

He was due to face a court on July 25.

IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT - BURMA
19 July 2005
Press cartoonist Chit Swe arrested

SOURCE:
- Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris
- (RSF/IFEX) - RSF and the Burma Media Association (BMA) have protested the 12 July 2005 arrest of press cartoonist Chit Swe, who is also deputy chairman of the National League for Democracy's (NLD) Thanlyin branch.

His arrest came shortly after a meeting of members of the NLD, the party headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, held on the morning of 12 July at Chit Swe's home in Thanlyin, near the capital, Rangoon. Even though the meeting was legal, the authorities arrested the cartoonist under a law designed to curb criminal activity.

"The latest wave of releases of political prisoners - more than 300 in total - should not blind us to the reality of the crackdown on opposition figures," RSF and the BMA said. "At least 12 democracy activists have been arrested over the past two weeks. The detention of Chit Swe is a serious
violation of freedom of expression."

The cartoonist is being held at Thanlyin's police station. On 25 July, he will learn what charges are being laid against him. If convicted, he could face a heavy prison sentence. If he is released, he faces a possible ban on publishing his cartoons, or at the very least surveillance by the Censorship Bureau.

Chit Swe, aged 65, is forced to sleep on the concrete floor of his cell. He suffers from tonsillitis and acute bronchitis that prevent him from eating normally.

Chit Swe's cartoons, carried by the Rangoon financial magazines "Dana Magazine" and "Myanmar Dana Magazine", are used to illustrate the country's socio-economic problems. He has also published cartoons in several other publications, such as "Shou Hwet Thae Pho", "Moe Gyow" and "Ngwe Taryee". He is respected within press circles as a talented artist.

For further information, contact Vincent Brossel at RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 70, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: asie@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org

The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of RSF.
In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit RSF.
_________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
489 College Street, Suite 403, Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622    fax: +1 416 515 7879
alerts e-mail: alerts@ifex.org    general e-mail: ifex@ifex.org
Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/
_________________________________________________________________
IFEX - Nouvelles de la communauté internationale de défense de la liberté
d'expression
_________________________________________________________________

ALERTE - BIRMANIE

Le 19 juillet 2005

Arrestation du caricaturiste Chit Swe

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF et la Burma Media Association (BMA) réprouvent l'arrestation, le 12 juillet 2005, du dessinateur de presse Chit Swe, également vice-président de la branche de Thanlyin de la Ligue nationale pour la démocratie (LND).

"La dernière vague de libération de prisonniers politiques - plus de trois cents au total - ne doit pas faire oublier la réalité de la répression contre les opposants. Au moins douze militants démocrates ont été arrêtés au cours des quinze derniers jours. La détention de Chit Swe est une violation grave de la liberté d'expression", ont déclaré RSF et la BMA.

L'arrestation est intervenue lors d'une réunion de membres du parti dirigé
par Aung San Suu Kyi qui s'était tenue dans la matinée du 12 juillet au
domicile de Chit Swe à Thanlyin, près de Rangoon. En dépit du fait que le
rassemblement se soit déroulé dans un cadre légal, les autorités ont arrêté
Chit Swe en vertu d'une loi restrictive destinée aux activités criminelles.

Le caricaturiste est actuellement détenu au commissariat de Thanlyin où il attend le 25 juillet, date à laquelle il sera informé des charges retenues contre lui. S'il est inculpé, il risque une lourde peine de prison. S'il est libéré, il risque de se voir interdire de publier ses caricatures ou tout au moins d'être surveillé par le Bureau de la censure.

Agé de 65 ans, Chit Swe est obligé de dormir à même le sol en béton de sa cellule. Il souffre d'une angine et d'une bronchite aiguës qui l'empêchent de s'alimenter normalement.

Les illustrations de Chit Swe publiées dans deux magazines économiques de Rangoon, "Dhana Magazine" et "Myanma Dhana Magazine", illustrent les articles qui touchent aux problèmes socio-économiques du pays. Il a publié des dessins dans des publications telles que "Shou Hwet Thae Pho", "Moe Gyow" ou "Ngwe Taryee". Chit Swe est connu dans le milieu de la presse pour être un artiste talentueux.

Pour tout renseignement complémentaire, veuillez contacter Vincent Brossel, RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tél: +33 1 44 83 84 70, téléc: +33 1 45 23 11 51, courrier électronique: asie@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org

RSF est responsable de toute information contenue dans cette alerte. En
citant cette information, prière de bien vouloir l'attribuer à RSF.
_______________________________________________________________
DIFFUSÉ(E) PAR LE SECRÉTARIAT DU RÉSEAU IFEX,
L'ÉCHANGE INTERNATIONAL DE LA LIBERTÉ D'EXPRESSION
489, rue College, bureau 403, Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622   téléc: +1 416 515 7879
courrier électronique: alerts@ifex.org boîte générale: ifex@ifex.org
site Internet: http://www.ifex.org/

REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS
UPDATE

25 August 2005

BURMA
Cartoonist Chit Swe freed on completing sentence

Cartoonist Chit Swe, who is also an opposition National League for
Democracy activist, was released on completing a one-month prison
sentence on 23 August.

He was arrested during a meeting at his home on 12 July and was given
the one-month sentence (together with a suspended sentence of six
months in prison) by a Rangoon court on 3 August. He was convicted of
“defying the orders of the authorities” under a state of emergency law
often used against government opponents.

Solidarity and support to our Turkish colleague Musa Kart

Turkey's best-known political cartoonists have gathered in Istanbul to protest at legal action taken by the prime minister against artists who criticized him through their work.
Members of the Turkish Cartoonists Association accuse Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of trying to stifle free expression, even as Turkey is preparing to launch talks to win membership in the European Union.
"We cartoonists have long faced pressure from politicians," Metin Peker, the association's president, said. "Just as we thought those dark days were over, we have been confronted with this."
Mr. Peker was referring to a defamation suit filed recently by Mr. Erdogan against Musa Kart, a cartoonist for the secular daily newspaper Cumhuriyet. Mr. Kart was fined $US3,500 ($A4,450) by an Ankara court last week on charges of assailing Mr. Erdogan's honor in a cartoon that depicted him as a cat enmeshed in a ball of wool.
The work was published by Cumhuriyet in May, when the Turkish leader proposed legislation that would allow graduates of Islamic clerical training schools to enter secular universities. In the cartoon, Mr. Erdogan says in part: "Do not create tensions."
Turkish secularists accused the former Islamist leader of doing just that by trying to increase the role of Islam in public life. The bill was rejected by the country's secularist president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Mr. Kart denies that he insulted Mr. Erdogan. "I was merely trying to show that he had become trapped in his own rhetoric," Mr. Kart said on Wednesday, adding that he would appeal the verdict.
Mr. Erdogan filed a similar suit against cartoonist Sefer Selvi, of the left-leaning daily Evrensel, who drew the prime minister as a horse being led by one of his advisers. Mr. Selvi was also convicted and fined.
Western observers say such moves fly in the face of Mr. Erdogan's efforts to lead Turkey into the EU. Since coming to power two years ago, he has pushed through a blizzard of reforms aimed at winning support in the European community. The moves have included scrapping prison sentences for journalists expressing dissident views and expanding free speech protections.
Since taking office, however, Mr. Erdogan has filed more than 50 cases against journalists and cartoonists accused of defaming him, media lawyers say.

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