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Journalists examine what freedoms have been lost ten years after the World Trade Centre collapsed in the face of terror.

‘The Colonel’ is banned in its native Iran, where the office of censorship has prohibited publication.

There are two news from Azerbaijan this week. The first one is negative as the authorities in Baku demolished the building, which was used by several local NGOs as offices, as part of an urban renewal project. The second one is more positive because long years jailed journalist Eynulla Fatullayev has finally received compensation from the government and has established a new human rights movement.

London based human rights and freedom of expression organisation Article 19 congratulates the UN Human Rights Committee for the adoption of General Comment No 34, which strengthens the protection of international law on freedom of expression and provides authoritative guidance to state actors, including courts, on the development of policies and adjudication of matters affecting this right.

Women in many Arab states face discriminatory laws, experience violence and sexual harassment. Sometimes women are even punished for bringing these crimes to publicity. In Sudan the female journalist Amal Habani was sent to prison for reporting on the case of a Sudanese artist who had been raped following her arrest. Human rights defenders complain about inaction of Iran officials as they do not stop brutal sexual assaults in country and do not even condemn them.

The Anti-Boycott Law, the Law for Prevention of Damage to the State of Israel through Boycott, was adopted by the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) and came into force on 11 July 2011. Article 19 and Index on Censorship expresses its serious concerns regarding the new Israeli law. The new law seriously hampers the fundamental human rights of freedom of expression and freedom of association in Israel.

Article 19 commends the current version of the Decree regarding access to the administrative documents held or produced by Tunisian public authorities and urges the Interim Government to accomplish it in a period of six month. Adoption of the Decree is an important milestone in process of democratic transition in Tunisia through building a culture of transparency, protecting the right to know and strengthening accountability.

Iran continues to crack down on brave people struggling with propaganda and fighting for human rights in the country. On 15 July international nongovernmental organisations Index on Censorship, Article 19, Committee to Protect Journalists and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression expressed their concern to Iranian authorities about the recent wave of arrests of journalists and film makers in Iran and ask them to immediately release all unjustly detained.

English PEN protests the incommunicado detention of “Awramba Times” deputy editor Woubshet Taye and “Feteh” columnist Reeyot Alemu, who were arrested on 19 and 21 June 2011 respectively. Neither has been charged to date but it is thought that both were arrested under Ethiopia’s 2009 antiterrorism law, which allows for prison sentences of up to 20 years. On 30 June two Swedish journalists have been also detained without charge in eastern Ethiopia.