- External-List - mail.rfanews.org

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : Oct. 25, 2021 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | [ mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org | mahajanr(a)rfa.org ] [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/rfa-welcomes-brad-kiley-as-coo | RFA Welcomes Brad Kiley as COO ] WASHINGTON -- [ https://www.rfa.org/english/ | Radio Free Asia ] (RFA) today announced the newest addition to its leadership team, Brad Kiley, as RFA’s Chief Operating Officer. As COO, Brad brings substantial experience to provide joint oversight of RFA’s Human Resources, Finance and Technical Operations departments. “Brad is a truly exceptional individual who will help drive RFA forward as a modern, high-performance media enterprise,” said RFA President Bay Fang. “He possesses extensive experience in operations and financial management across the nonprofit and government sectors, making him an exciting addition to RFA’s leadership team. We welcome his expertise and knowledge in helping RFA carry out our ever-important mission and work.” “It’s an honor to join RFA as its Chief Operating Officer,” said Brad Kiley. “For 25 years, RFA has empowered audiences living under authoritarian regimes by delivering independent, fact-based journalism. I’m grateful for this exciting opportunity to advance RFA's mission by supporting its courageous journalists and staff.” Most recently, Brad Kiley served as the COO of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, where he managed the end-to-end finances, human resources, and field operations for a $200 million, U.S.-headquartered NGO. From 2009-2013, Brad worked in the White House as the Assistant to the President for Management and Administration, a role in which he served as the President’s senior lead in directing operations for the White House Office and the Executive Office of the President (EOP) and managed the delivery of enterprise services throughout the EOP while leading and mentoring a team of 400. Brad also served as Vice President for Finance and Operations at the Center for American Progress, where he led and directed the think tank’s operations during a time of dramatic growth. Brad received his BS in Political Science from Texas Christian University. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media.

3 years, 6 months

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歪脑 | WHYNOT -- an RFA affiliate -- wins Online News Association Award

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : Oct. 18, 2021 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/6b6a8111-whynot-an-rfa-affiliate-wins-on… | 歪脑 | WHYNOT ] [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/6b6a8111-whynot-an-rfa-affiliate-wins-on… | -- an RFA affiliate -- wins Online News Association Award ] WASHINGTON - Radio Free Asia (RFA) online affiliate [ https://www.wainao.me/ | 歪脑 | WHYNOT ] was named a winner by the [ https://journalists.org/ | Online News Association ] (ONA) for its impactful feature on the “lost” decade of the modern Chinese feminist movement, starting with the 2015 arrest of the group of five women who protested sexual harassment on public transportation. 歪脑 | WHYNOT’s [ https://www.wainao.me/wainao-reads/preserving-erased-decade-chinese-feminis… | Preserving the Erased Decade of the Chinese Feminist Movement ] , showcasing the unheard voices and telling their stories, won a 2021 Online Journalism Award in the feature category for a small newsroom. “I am so proud of the 歪脑 | WHYNOT team for winning yet another award this year for its groundbreaking coverage that offers young Mandarin-speakers a new perspective on the world around them,” RFA President Bay Fang said. “This recognition also reflects the central mission driving RFA for 25 years, which is to document and to empower through uncensored, independent journalism.” “Since launching last year, the 歪脑 | WHYNOT team continues to develop projects that fight misinformation and misperception in the Chinese-language world,” said Alex Zhang, Director of 歪脑 | WHYNOT. “For this feature, the overwhelming audience response included people saying how they felt like memories lost a decade ago were suddenly returned to them. For us, that kind of impact is its own reward. But this award, for which we thank the ONA, also encourages us.” 歪脑 | WHYNOT's feature, which premiered in March 2021, unites the forgotten stories of Chinese activists from around the world, constructing a vital historical narrative to empower future agents of change as China’s authoritarian regime has tightened its grip on every aspect of society and silenced the most active and outspoken voices. For the first time, 歪脑 | WHYNOT connected Chinese feminists, women, and others around the world, weaving the broken threads of the movement together despite censorship and years of separation. This involved hosting online interactive events with several members of the Feminist Five, including a Clubhouse chatroom in which almost 300 people -- including mainland Chinese citizens -- asked questions and discussed the movement in a rare opportunity for open dialogue about the movement and its legacy. This is 歪脑 | WHYNOT's second major award this year, having earned a Hong Kong Human Rights Award in May for its essay [ https://stories.wainao.me/---the-truth-isn-t-dead---you-just-don-t-believe-… | The Truth Isn’t Dead, You Just Don’t Believe It Anymore ] - a testament to 歪脑 | WHYNOT continuing to fill a vital role providing incisive journalism to audiences living under authoritarian regimes. Other [ https://awards.journalists.org/winners/2021/?utm_source=Online+News+Associa… | winners ] at this year’s competition include ProPublica, Grist, The New York Times , VICE Media, and The Wall Street Journal . # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media.

3 years, 6 months

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RFA Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 2021 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | [ mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org | mahajanr(a)rfa.org ] RFA Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary To commemorate the milestone, RFA is holding a virtual event on Burma and media freedom, starting at 9:30 am U.S. ET. (Register [ https://www.eventbrite.com/e/burma-journalisms-power-and-peril-an-rfa-25th-… | HERE ] ) WASHINGTON - Today marks the 25th anniversary of [ https://www.rfa.org/english/ | Radio Free Asia ] (RFA), when its first Mandarin-language program aired on this day in 1996. RFA’s incisive brand of journalism since its inception has led to some of the most consequential stories from U.S-funded media. It was the first news outlet to inform the world about the creation of a prison state for Uyghurs in China’s Far West, the first to confirm the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi during Burma’s military’s coup, and exposed the Chinese government’s cover-up of COVID-19 fatalities last year in Wuhan, among other pivotal developments. RFA President Bay Fang said: “Today we celebrate Radio Free Asia’s 25th anniversary. On this day in 1996, our inaugural Mandarin broadcast broke through the airwaves to listeners in China. In the years since, we’ve witnessed sweeping changes in history and technology, recasting how we connect, how we see each other, and how we share information. “But we’ve also witnessed fragmentation, the sophisticated spread of disinformation, and a decline in media freedom around the world -- as authoritarian regimes and other malign actors have changed and adapted with the times. “This makes RFA’s incisive brand of journalism ever more important for the millions who count on us. We bring accountability. We bring answers. We empower our audiences.” Today, RFA helps an estimated weekly audience of 59.8 million people access uncensored, independent news, information, and cultural programming otherwise ignored or blocked by governments hostile to a free press. Adding eight language services over the years -- Tibetan, Korean, Burmese, Vietnamese, Khmer, Lao, Cantonese and Uyghur -- RFA today serves audiences in China, North Korea, and Southeast Asia -- regions ranked among the [ https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-and-media/2019/media-freedom-downwa… | world’s worst media environments ] . Launched in recent years, RFA online affiliates [ https://www.benarnews.org/english | BenarNews ] and [ https://www.wainao.me/ | WHYNOT/WAINAO ] expand its reach to populations in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as the younger Chinese-speaking global diaspora. On social media, RFA and its brands have more than 30 million followers/fans and its video content has been viewed 2.8 billion times this fiscal year (FY ’21) alone. RFA’s work has earned widespread acclaim and recognition. Its exclusive reporting is frequently cited by BBC, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Atlantic, VICE News , FOX News, The South China Morning Post , Bangkok Post , and CNN, among many other global, local, and regional outlets. RFA has earned many honors, including National Murrow Awards, Gracies, and Hong Kong Human Rights Awards, and others from the Society of Professional Journalists, Alliance for Women in Media, Amnesty International, Hong Kong Journalists Association, and the New York Festivals for its reporting on the Rohingya, COVID-19, the Uyghur internment camps, and China’s media censorship, among other key topics. Due to the difficult media environments in which RFA operates and the sensitive nature of RFA’s work, its journalists often face [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/rfa-president-calls-for-justice-for-jour… | serious risks ] . At present, current and former contributors and journalists are imprisoned in Vietnam and Cambodia, while dozens of RFA Uyghur journalists’ China-based family members are missing, detained, and jailed. Bipartisan legislation commemorating RFA’s 25th anniversary and its accomplishments is being introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in the coming days. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media. Rohit Mahajan Vice President of Communications and External Relations Radio Free Asia

3 years, 7 months

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BenarNews -- an RFA Affiliate -- Wins Murrow Award for COVID Report

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : Aug. 17, 2021 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | [ mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org | mahajanr(a)rfa.org ] [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/benarnews-an-rfa-affiliate-wins-murrow-a… | BenarNews -- an RFA Affiliate -- Wins Murrow Award for COVID Report ] WASHINGTON – Radio Free Asia (RFA) online affiliate [ https://www.benarnews.org/english | BenarNews ] today was named a National Murrow Award winner by the [ https://www.rtdna.org/ | Radio Television Digital News Association ] (RTDNA) for its incisive journalism on the impact of COVID-19 in Bangladesh -- one of the pandemic’s hardest-hit countries. BenarNews’ “ [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1NMyHZHVpc | Bangladeshi volunteers help bury 'abandoned' COVID dead ] ” won in the international juried competition’s category for Small Digital News Organization. “ For millions with little or no access to uncensored local news, RFA-affiliate BenarNews is a crucial conduit for reliable, timely information ,” said Bay Fang, RFA President. “ This award is a testament to the vital role of responsible journalism, especially for those around the globe struggling through the nightmare scenario of a deadly pandemic .” " BenarNews Bengali has done outstanding work highlighting the heroism of regular people during a crisis. Their compassion and their courage amid the pandemic’s uncertainty are front and center in this report, for which our journalists deserve full credit, " said BenarNews Managing Editor Kate Beddall. BenarNews’ video was filmed in June 2020, shortly after the Bengali government reopened the economy and mosques after a two-month nationwide lock-down. While putting their own lives at risk, volunteers transported hundreds of bodies to burial sites, sometimes travelling hundreds of miles to ancestral homes to honor the deceased. BenarNews used Skype interviews and amateur footage to provide intimate coverage of people on the frontlines of the pandemic. It provided a platform for them to tell their own stories, too, inviting them to submit their own video while coaching them on respecting the privacy of people around them. At the time, Bangladesh had nearly 100,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 1,200 confirmed deaths. Today those numbers exceed 1.4 million and 24,000 respectively. Despite its critical coverage, BenarNews’s website remains blocked by Bengali authorities since April 2020, when the government [ https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/bengali/bangladesh-media-04022020173… | clamped down ] on the free-flow of information amid the pandemic. BenarNews provides audiences in Southeast and South Asia with credible news, in context and clearly explained, about security, politics, geopolitics and human rights. With home pages in Bengali, Thai, Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia and English, BenarNews focuses on the big picture, cross-border issues, and topics that are censored or overlooked. This year, RFA joins NPR, ABC News, and CBS News Radio among others, as winners of the 2021 National Murrow Awards. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media. Rohit Mahajan Vice President of Communications and External Relations Radio Free Asia

3 years, 8 months

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RFA Names New Executive Editor Following Retirement of Veteran Journalist

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : July 14, 2021 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org RFA Names New Executive Editor, Managing Editor Following Retirement of Veteran Journalist WASHINGTON -- [ http://rfa.org/ | Radio Free Asia ] (RFA)’s President Bay Fang has named Min Mitchell to the post of Executive Editor following the retirement of head of editorial and programming Parameswaran Ponnudurai. Mitchell will oversee RFA’s company-wide editorial operations, including its nine language services and online affiliate [ https://www.benarnews.org/ | BenarNews ] , which together serve the populations of 11 countries in Asia. Nadia Tsao, formerly RFA Mandarin Director, will replace Mitchell as the Managing Editor for East Asia. “Radio Free Asia’s incisive brand of journalism is powered by the incredible work and bravery of its reporters. Min Mitchell and Nadia Tsao are two longtime journalists who understand that implicitly,” said Fang. “Min’s proven editorial leadership and strategic vision will be key to RFA’s success, as we look to the future on our 25th anniversary year. Nadia has been pivotal in RFA Mandarin’s coverage on Hong Kong and reshaping the service’s programming to meet audience needs. I commend Param for his tireless service and dedication that have helped raise RFA to new levels of journalistic excellence during his tenure. We at RFA wish Param the best for his well-deserved retirement.” “For 25 years, Radio Free Asia’s independent and trusted reporting has been essential to bring to light so many critical but underreported stories in China, Burma, North Korea, and throughout Asia,” Mitchell said. “It is a great honor to lead the newsrooms of RFA and BenarNews, whose journalists continually set a high standard of courage, dedication, and excellence in search of the truth.” “As a journalist working in Taiwan and the United States for 35 years, I deeply appreciate the power of credible, independent journalism to empower audiences,” Tsao said. “I am honored by this opportunity. For people in China and North Korea, and Asian countries under authoritarian rule, RFA is needed more than ever.” Mitchell was hired by RFA in February 2017 as Managing Director for East Asia. Under her leadership, RFA's East Asia services have led coverage on the mass detention of Uyghurs, the dismantling of freedoms in Hong Kong, and abuses of the Kim Jong Un regime. They have also won numerous awards, including two [ https://www.rfa.org/about/awards/murrow_award-06182019124513.html | National ] [ https://www.rfa.org/about/awards/rfa-national-murrow-award-10132020172739.h… | Murrow Awards ] . Mitchell recently shepherded the creation of RFA’s innovative new digital news magazine, [ https://www.wainao.me/ | Wainao | WhyNot ] , which aims to engage younger Mandarin speakers around the world in an open, informed dialogue on banned and censored topics in the Chinese information space. Prior to joining RFA, Mitchell covered U.S. politics and global affairs in Washington and New York for several major Chinese-language news organizations, including Taiwan Television, where she served as the organization’s D.C. bureau chief and one of the network's leading news anchors. Nadia Tsao, who has served as the head of RFA’s Mandarin Service since 2018, will replace Mitchell as the Managing Editor for East Asia, with editorial responsibility for the Mandarin, Cantonese, Uyghur, Tibetan and Korean Services. Before joining RFA, Tsao was the Washington Bureau Chief for The Liberty Times of Taiwan and a contributor to the Voice of America. Ponnudurai, whose career in journalism began in 1974, first joined RFA as its English News Director in 2010, before being promoted to its head of editorial and programming operations. Param also served as Acting President of the organization for periods in 2019 and 2020. He was previously a journalist with Agence-France Presse (AFP) for 20 years, serving in various senior roles in Asia and Washington, DC, where he covered the State Department and White House. He was honored with France’s Chevalier of the National Order of Merit for journalism in 2002. This year RFA celebrates its 25th anniversary, as its first news broadcast to people in China aired at the end of September 1996. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media. Rohit Mahajan Vice President of Communications and External Relations Radio Free Asia

3 years, 9 months

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‘Burma, Belarus testify to the power and perils of free media’: RFA and RFE/RL Presidents

by RFA Communications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : June 14, 2021 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org ‘Burma, Belarus testify to the power and perils of free media’: RFA and RFE/RL Presidents WASHINGTON -- A [ https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/558170-burma-belarus-testify-to-the-… | joint op-ed ] by Radio Free Asia ( [ https://www.rfa.org/english/ | RFA ] ) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty ( [ https://www.rferl.org/ | RFE/RL ] ) Presidents Bay Fang and Jamie Fly on the role of a free press in Burma and Belarus amid disruption was published in The Hill . The piece, titled, “ Burma, Belarus Testify to the Power and Perils of Free Media ,” identifies ways to strengthen local media, including internet freedom, and support journalists under threat in both countries. It also illustrates how the Burmese and Belarusian people have turned to RFA and RFE/RL for timely, unbiased journalism during media blackouts enforced by the authoritarian regimes of Burma’s General Min Aung Hlaing and Belarus’s President Alexander Lukashenka. Read the full piece by clicking [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/2018burma-belarus-testify-to-the-power-a… | here ] . # # #

3 years, 10 months

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Radio Free Asia, WHYNOT Win Hong Kong Human Rights Award

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : May 6, 2021 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org Radio Free Asia, WHYNOT Win Hong Kong Human Rights Award WASHINGTON – [ https://www.rfa.org/ | Radio Free Asia ] (RFA) and its online affiliate [ https://www.wainao.me/ | WHYNOT ] were announced as winners of the 25th annual Hong Kong-based [ https://humanrightspressawards.org/ | Human Rights Free Press Awards ] . RFA’s Mandarin Service reporter Amelia Hei Loi earned the top prize in the audio category for her [ https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shehui/AL-10032020033853.html | series ] on the tensions between the Vatican and Beijing over regulation of the appointment of Chinese bishops. WHYNOT contributor Jieping Zhang won in the commentary writing category for her essay [ https://stories.wainao.me/---the-truth-isn-t-dead---you-just-don-t-believe-… | The truth isn’t dead: You just don’t believe it anymore ] . “We are extremely proud of our journalists for their timely coverage and commentary on the struggle for human rights in Hong Kong and China,” said RFA President Bay Fang. “This recognition is a testament to our incisive brand of journalism, which is more crucial than ever in providing real, unbiased information to authoritarian countries that censor their own citizens and the news they receive. “ With these awards, we are reminded of the important responsibility we bear over 25 years of bringing free press to closed societies.” RFA Mandarin’s series on the push and pull between the Vatican and Beijing over bishop appointments followed developments in the lead-up to the renewal of an agreement between the two sides in October 2020. Explaining the complex dynamics of relations between the two parties, the series touched on the surprise resignation of the Bishop of Fujian province, implications of the developments for the Catholic church in Hong Kong, and the impact that the Vatican’s cooperation with Beijing has on Chinese Christians. In her commentary for WHYNOT The truth isn’t dead: You just don’t believe it anymore , contributing writer Jieping Zhang traces the history of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) recent efforts to discredit independent thinkers like popular Weibo users and bloggers, the upgrade of CCP censorship efforts for a new information age, and the implications of disinformation for a Hong Kong increasingly under Beijing’s thumb. Her argument urges readers against the temptation to give into despair as forces of misinformation aim to discredit fact-based reporting and journalism-- one of the pillars of democracy and a source of oversight seen as threatening by authoritarian regimes the world over. Other [ https://humanrightspressawards.org/25th-human-rights-press-awards-2021-winn… | winners ] in this year’s competition included pieces submitted from Reuters, Rappler, and Apple Daily, among others. The Hong Kong Human Rights Awards are organized each year by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong, Amnesty International and the Hong Kong Journalists Association. The stated [ https://humanrightspressawards.org/ | goal ] of the awards is to increase respect for people’s basic rights and to focus attention on threats to those freedoms. # # # Rohit Mahajan Vice President of Communications and External Relations Radio Free Asia

4 years

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Radio Free Asia President: Crucial to fill a gap for local news

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : May 3, 2021 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org RFA President Calls for Justice for Journalists on World Press Freedom Day WASHINGTON -- Marking World Press Freedom Day amid alarming global trends toward the spread of disinformation and a growing distrust in fact-based journalism, [ https://www.rfa.org/english/ | Radio Free Asia ] (RFA) President Bay Fang renewed a call for an end to the persecution of reporters. Highlighting the darkening media environments in Hong Kong and Myanmar, Fang urged for the protection of the independence of news outlets and safety of journalists. “The brutal decline of press freedom during the pandemic underscores an urgent need for responsible journalism, which should never be on trial. Increasingly sophisticated tactics employed by censors in Hong Kong, Myanmar, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and Vietnam, mean that RFA’s reporting has become ever more crucial in filling the gap for local news,” Fang said. “In Myanmar, the military junta has shuttered all domestic independent media outfits, depriving Burmese citizens of trustworthy information when it’s needed most. “Authorities in Vietnam and Cambodia have unjustly charged and jailed former RFA contributors for their work amid wide-ranging crackdowns on critics and citizen journalists. The Chinese government has gone so far as to make an RFA Uyghur journalist the target of a smear campaign while pursuing an endless persecution of her and her colleagues’ families. The recent arrests and prosecutions of Hong Kong journalists have all but blighted hopes of a local free press surviving in the territory for much longer. “As RFA marks its 25th consecutive year of bringing free press to closed societies in Asia, we reiterate the essential role of journalism in lifting up the voices of the unheard and holding the powerful accountable to those they purport to serve.” In Vietnam, RFA contributors [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/conviction-of-nguyen-tuong-thuy-a-2018bl… | Nguyen Tuong Thuy ] , [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/condemns-conviction-03092020120832.html | Truong Duy Nhat ] and [ https://www.usagm.gov/news-and-information/threats-to-press/nguyen-van-hoa/ | Nguyen Van Hoa ] are serving sentences of 11, 10 and seven years respectively. In Cambodia, former RFA journalists Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin have remained in a [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/chhin-and-sothearin-appeal-decision-0127… | legal limbo ] two years after a judge ordered their re-investigation, despite a prior investigation finding no conclusive evidence of wrongdoing. And in China’s Uyghur region, relatives of at least eight RFA journalists have been [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/special/uyghurfamilies/ | detained in retaliation ] for RFA’s Uyghur Service’s explosive coverage of the internment of over a million Uyghurs and other minorities in the province. Chinese authorities made unfounded accusations against RFA Uyghur journalist Gulchehra Hoja as part of [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/smear-04132021191322.html | a smear campaign ] against expatriate Uyghurs who have publicly spoken out about the prison state in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In commemoration of World Press Freedom Day, RFA also launched a [ https://twitter.com/RadioFreeAsia/status/1387542142277586944 | social media campaign ] emphasizing a free press’s role in ensuring transparency. Across [ https://twitter.com/RadioFreeAsia | Twitter ] , [ https://www.facebook.com/RFAEnglish | Facebook ] and [ https://www.facebook.com/RFAEnglish | Instagram ] , the campaign highlights recent RFA exclusives -- from the exposure of police brutality against Burmese protesters and volunteer medics, to the disappearance of Chinese whistleblowers who aimed to tell the world about COVID-19, and many more -- that shed light on events that otherwise would be blotted out by censors. In its recently released [ https://rsf.org/en/2021-world-press-freedom-index-journalism-vaccine-agains… | 2021 Press Freedom Index, ] media freedom watchdog [ https://rsf.org/en | Reporters Without Borders ] (RSF) noted a general “dramatic deterioration in people's access to information and an increase in obstacles to news coverage” around the world, and highlighted the seriousness of the situation in Asia. The report cited the rising threats to free press in Hong Kong (which dropped seven places in the global rankings to 80th place) in its assessment of China (ranked 177th out of 180 countries). The report also pointed out China’s increased efforts to promote its own repression as a model for other nations’ governments to squash independent journalism and dissent. # # # Rohit Mahajan Vice President of Communications and External Relations Radio Free Asia

4 years

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RFA President: ‘Don’t Just Celebrate Women Journalists, Support Them’

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : March 8, 2021 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.681.6720 | [ mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org | mahajanr(a)rfa.org ] RFA President: ‘Don’t Just Celebrate Women Journalists, Support Them’ WASHINGTON -- On International Women’s Day, Radio Free Asia (RFA) President Bay Fang celebrates the impactful contributions of RFA’s women journalists, while underscoring ways to support those currently working and future generations in the field. In a piece [ https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6774761145325756416 | published on LinkedIn ] , “Don’t Just Celebrate Women Journalists, Support Them,” Fang writes, “ As RFA celebrates the 25th anniversary of its first broadcast this year, I look back with pride on the work we've done to amplify women's voices, in front of the camera and behind it, and think ahead to what more we can do … to achieve greater equity in our field for years to come. ” The full text of the article can also be accessed here ... [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/rfa-president-2018don2019t-just-celebrat… | https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/rfa-president-2018don2019t-just-celebrat… ] # # # Rohit Mahajan Vice President of Communications and External Relations Radio Free Asia

4 years, 2 months

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Report Deepens Understanding of Uyghur Detainees’ Treatment in Xinjiang

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : Feb. 2, 2021 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/trapped-in-the-system-experiences-of-uyg… | Report Deepens Understanding of Uyghur Detainees’ Treatment in Xinjiang ] WASHINGTON – A new research [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/trapped-in-the-system-experiences-of-uyg… | report ] from Radio Free Asia (RFA) details the experiences of Uyghur detention camp survivors and other detainees from China’s Far West. The qualitative study, Experiences of Uyghur Detention in Post-2015 Xinjiang , provides first-hand accounts focusing on the extrajudicial process Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are subjected to, including the tenuous grounds authorities cite for detention, quotas and financial incentives for arrests and confessions, the classification of individuals by perceived risk categories, and harsh treatment inside the facilities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). RFA’s report may be accessed as a downloadable PDF by clicking [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/trapped-in-the-system-experiences-of-uyg… | HERE ] . “In conducting this research, we tried to understand how the harrowing details of detainee experiences fit into China’s larger system of political and cultural control in Xinjiang,” said Betsy Henderson, RFA’s Chief Strategy Officer and the head of the organization’s Research Department. “Throughout the process we prioritized the safety and mental and physical health of the interviewees, aiming always to ensure our report reflects their full humanity, not just the dehumanizing experiences that continue to haunt them. ” “RFA’s groundbreaking journalism has shown time and again the extent to which Uyghurs are subjected en masse to China’s indiscriminate extralegal detention, with the clear aim of cultural destruction,” RFA President Bay Fang said. “ This report bears critical witness to the eye-opening details of this human rights crisis, as revealed through the personal accounts of individuals.” The extensive interviews forming the substance of this report -- a project of RFA’s research division -- were conducted securely between November 2019 and May 2020 in Turkey and Europe with seven ethnic Uyghur ex-detainees and one ethnic Uzbek. The accounts offered by the study’s detention survivors supplement other firsthand accounts that have emerged, as well as the leaked documents and cables detailing the Chinese Communist Party’s far reaching high-tech surveillance and directives to crack down on the Uyghur population and other Muslim minorities in the XUAR. Key findings include: * A blurring between pre-trial detention facilities and re-education camps , including repurposed or makeshift conversions of existing facilities into ones for detention. * Accounts of flimsy to nonexistent grounds for arrests and detentions , including innocuous religious signifiers and contact or connection, close or passing, to individuals rated high-risk. * Confessions forced under extreme duress , including violence or deprivation, and threats of violence to family members. * Arrest quotas and financial incentives openly discussed by authorities, witnessed firsthand by two of the eight participants in this study. * No opportunities to share information among detainees , with incriminating conversations likely to lead to maltreatment or torture. * Medical neglect as well as enforced medical interventions , including lack of doctors on site, weekly blood samples in many camps, and mandatory unidentified injections and pills. The report builds on past work from RFA’s research team, including a 2018 quantitative survey that focused on the experiences and media consumption habits of Uyghurs in Turkey who had left the Uyghur region. Journalists in RFA’s Uyghur Service were among the first to sound the alarm as China moved in recent years to detain more than 1 million members of Muslim minorities in the XUAR. First exposing the mass internment of Uyghurs in 2017, the service has meticulously documented related developments such as the transfer of prisoners to other regions of China, the construction of orphanages for the children of detained Uyghurs, and the destruction of cultural and sacred locations including, historic city centers, mosques and grave sites. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media. Rohit Mahajan Vice President of Communications and External Relations Radio Free Asia

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