As the world marks the one-year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong remembers the scores of journalists killed or injured in the ongoing conflict. The FCC calls on all parties to protect the journalists who are covering the war with great courage and under extremely difficult conditions.

Of the more than 42,000 people killed since the war began, at least 128 of them were journalists and media workers, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (“CPJ”), making this the deadliest conflict for journalists since the group began gathering data in 1992. They include 123 Palestinians and three Lebanese, as well as two Israelis who were killed when the war began with Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.

Though Israel denies targeting media workers, CPJ has concluded that at least five of the Palestinian and Lebanese journalists who were killed were directly targeted by Israeli forces in violation of international law.

The killings, along with censorship, arrests, internet disruptions, the blocking of independent media outlets from entering the Gaza Strip, the destruction of newsrooms and other media infrastructure, and the displacement of Gaza journalists and media workers, have severely hampered coverage of a war that threatens to spread across the region.

The Club expresses its deepest condolences to the colleagues and loved ones of the journalists and other innocent victims who have been killed, as well as the journalists whose families have been killed in the conflict they are covering.

The Club further calls on all parties to ensure the safety of journalists on the ground in Israel and Gaza. Journalists are civilians who should not be targeted, and their ability to freely and safely do their jobs is vital for understanding the conflict and working toward its end.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong is calling for the release of Mech Dara, a Cambodian investigative reporter who was arrested this week in an apparent attempt to silence one of the country’s leading journalists.

Dara was arrested by military police on Sept. 30 at a highway toll booth while driving with a relative to Phnom Penh. Officials initially said little about his arrest other than confirming his detention at an undisclosed location. On Tuesday, he was charged with criminal incitement over social media posts he made in September and sent to pretrial detention by a Phnom Penh court.

The court objected to photos Dara posted on social media showing contrasting images of quarrying activity at a revered mountain in southeastern Cambodia. Local officials denounced the post, said there was no excavation at the site, and accused him of inciting “social disorder,” which can be prosecuted under a criminal incitement statute often abused as a tool of intimidation and suppression.

Dara’s arrest follows last year’s forced closure of Cambodia’s leading independent media outlet, Voice of Democracy. Dara was a reporter for VOD, where he helped uncover the rise of cyber-scam compounds in Cambodia whose bosses often use slave labor to defraud people around the world. The reporting earned him international renown, including an award from the U.S. Department of State.

Cambodia’s use of such heavy-handed tactics to intimidate journalists and shutter news outlets has sharply curtailed independent news coverage and prompted the country to slide precipitously in global press freedom indexes. The FCC supports all reporters’ right to cover stories without fear of harassment or arrest and urges Cambodian authorities to release Dara from prison.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong is extremely concerned by reports that journalists in Hong Kong have been harassed and threatened online and offline because of their work.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association has reported that journalists, along with their family and associates, have been subjects of a targeted campaign of harassment in recent months. These bullying messages are illegal, and should be condemned not only for the violence they seek to inflict, but also for their threats to the freedom of the press as it is guaranteed as a fundamental right in Hong Kong.

We advocate for journalists’ right to continue to carry out their work unhindered, free of harassment and danger, and we stand in solidarity with all journalists in Hong Kong who seek to work and live in a safe environment.

We note that reports have been made to the authorities and ask that they urgently investigate these reported threats to ensure the safety of journalists working in the city.

Today, two Hong Kong journalists have been convicted of a crime for articles they published.

Although sentencing is adjourned until 26 September 2024 and the defendants have been granted court bail until that date, there still remains a risk that Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam might serve prison sentences for their roles in reporting, editing and publishing interviews, features and opinion pieces. Of the 17 articles the court considered, many had been taken down and only five remained active at the time of their arrest, but today the Wan Chai District Court ruled that 11 had “seditious intentions”.

Chung Pui-kuen was the ex-chief editor and Patrick Lam the acting chief editor of non-profit digital news outlet Stand News, which closed down in December 2021 after it was raided by over 200 national security police officers.

This verdict will send shockwaves through Hong Kong newsrooms, as well as international news organisations with bureaus in the city, as they seek to understand whether their day-to-day operations could be in violation of Hong Kong law.    This case has long been regarded by many as a litmus test for press freedom in the city. The FCC will further assess the details of this verdict and its implications for our operations. Doubtlessly, news organisations throughout Hong Kong will be doing exactly the same.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong is concerned by reports that Bloomberg journalist Haze Fan has been refused a visa to work at the organisation’s Hong Kong bureau.

Fan, a Chinese national, is a qualified and experienced journalist who has also worked for Reuters, CBS News and CNBC in her 15-year career. According to multiple reports, Fan was detained by Chinese authorities in late 2020 and arrested in July 2021 on suspicion of committing crimes endangering national security. She was released in early 2022 without charge.

The FCC has reached out to the Immigration Department to ask that they improve transparency in respect of any denial of work visas in this and in other similar cases. Whilst we request an urgent review of this decision, a proper explanation for any future denial of work visas or entry into Hong Kong by journalists is a necessary improvement to the system, and would positively impact the public and international perception of Hong Kong as a business centre.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong is deeply concerned by the news of Hong Kong Journalists Association chairperson Selina Cheng’s dismissal as an employee of The Wall Street Journal.

Ms Cheng said that senior editors at the paper asked her to withdraw from the HKJA’s recent election once they learned she was running to be the chairperson of the journalists’ union. When she refused, she said she was told that being HKJA’s chairperson would be incompatible with her job. Less than a month later, she was fired.

The FCC has reached out to The Wall Street Journal for comment and to ask why Ms Cheng’s employment was terminated.

Press freedom is enshrined in Article 27 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law, the same article that guarantees Hongkongers the right to form and join trade unions. Representing the rights of journalists, which includes defending freedom of the press, should not be controversial. The FCC fully supports The Wall Street Journal’s ongoing efforts to secure the freedom of its reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been unjustly imprisoned in Russia for more than a year. If the editors of the Journal advocate for reporters’ rights to do their jobs without fear and intimidation in Russia, they should do the same in Hong Kong.

We urge The Wall Street Journal and all news organisations to respect reporters’ rights to join press clubs and to advocate for press freedom without the fear of punitive action from their own newsrooms.

This World Press Freedom Day, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Hong Kong reinforces its commitment to pushing to maintain freedom of the press in Hong Kong and around the globe.

As journalists and media organisations in Hong Kong face rising pressure and uncertainty due to the recent passing of the Safeguarding National Security Act, May 3 acts as a reminder for government officials to respect their stated commitment to press freedom. It is also a day for media professionals to reflect on issues of press freedom and professional ethics.

Today we celebrate the media’s role in providing a platform to tell stories which keep our society informed and engaged about issues which affect us all. We advocate for journalists’ right to continue to carry out their work unhindered, free of harassment and danger.

We show solidarity with Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who has been detained in Russia for over a year, and the hundreds of journalists imprisoned or killed as a consequence of doing their jobs covering conflicts in Myanmar, Ukraine, the Middle East and elsewhere.

The Israel-Gaza war, in particular, calls attention to the need for governments to do more to safeguard journalists’ ability to inform the public. We mourn the 97 journalists and media workers killed in the course of covering that war, and express our deep concern for the 45 others reported injured, missing or arrested.1

The FCC will continue to monitor the press freedom situation in Hong Kong, make statements and question government policy with an aim to ensure that journalists can carry out their work without fear or favour.

“Freedom of the press is a precious privilege that no country can forgo” – Mahatma Gandhi

1Committee to Protect Journalists, 29 April 2024 https://cpj.org/2024/04/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong is concerned that a representative of global press freedom NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has been denied entry to Hong Kong by the city’s immigration officials.

Aleksandra Bielakowska travelled to Hong Kong twice in 2023 without incident, both times in her professional capacity as an Advocacy Officer at RSF, but was denied entry on this trip. Her colleague Cédric Alviani, who was travelling with Ms Bielakowska on April 10, was granted entry to Hong Kong.

The FCC has reached out to the Immigration Department to ask why Ms Bielakowska was denied entry.

While we appreciate that the Immigration Department does not normally comment on individual cases, we respectfully request an explanation in order to improve the transparency of the system, and so that the public may better understand the reasons behind the decision.

On February 28, The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong sent the following submission to the Security Bureau on the Consultation Document of Article 23 of the Basic Law.