http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/01/12/392708/Some-world-leaders-in-Paris-rally-rapped
Millions of people took to the streets of Paris and cities across France on Sunday to rally in defense of free speech and against terrorism in the wake of Wednesday's deadly attack on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. The French Interior Ministry told the Associated Press that 3.7 million marched throughout France, making the demonstrations the largest in the country's history.
Adding to the symbolic weight of the demonstrations, more than 40 world leaders joined the start of the Paris march, linking arms in an act of solidarity. But as Reporters Without Borders points out, their policies at home are far from compatible with the solidarity for free speech on display throughout France.
The organization said Sunday that it was "appalled by the presence of leaders from countries where journalists and bloggers are systematically persecuted such as Egypt (which is ranked 159th out of 180 countries in RWB's press freedom index), Russia (148th), Turkey (154th) and United Arab Emirates (118th)."
"We must demonstrate our solidarity with Charlie Hebdo without forgetting all the world’s other Charlies," Reporters Without Borders Secretary-General Christophe Deloire said in a statement. "It would be unacceptable if representatives of countries that silence journalists were to take advantage of the current outpouring of emotion to try to improve their international image and then continue their repressive policies when they return home. We must not let predators of press freedom spit on the graves of Charlie Hebdo."
They're right. In what can only be described as an epic series of 21 pointed tweets, London School for Economics Middle East Society co-president Daniel Wickham points out that many of the world leaders who marched Sunday through the streets of Paris are not the world's biggest advocates for press freedom.
1) King Abdullah of Jordan, which last year sentenced a Palestinian journalist to 15 years in prison with hard labour
2) Prime Minister of Davutoglu of Turkey, which imprisons more journalists than any other country in the world
3) Prime Minister Netenyahu whose forced killed 7 journalists in Gaza last yr (second highest after Syria)
4) Foreign Minister Shoukry of Egypt, which as well as AJ staff has detained journalist Shawkan for around 500 days
5) Foreign Minister Lavrov of Russia, which last year jailed a journalist for "insulting a government servant"
6) Foreign Minister Lamamra of Algeria, which has detained journalist Abdessami Abdelhai for 15 months without charge
7) The Foreign Minister of the UAE, which in 2013 held a journo incommunicado for a month on suspicion of MB links
8) Prime Minister Jomaa of Tunisia, which recently jailed blogger Yassine Ayan for 3 years for "defaming the army"
9) The PMs of Georgia and Bulgaria, both of whom have a record of attacking & beating journos
10) The Attorney General of the US, where police in Ferguson have recently detained and assaulted WashPost reporters
11) Prime Minister Samaras of Greece, where riot police beat & injured two journalists at a protest in June last year
12) Sec-Gen of NATO, who are yet to be held to account for deliberately bombing and killing 16 Serbian journos in '99
13) President Keita of Mali, where journalists are expelled for covering human rights abuses
14) The Foreign Minister of Bahrain, 2nd biggest jailer of journos in the world per capita (they also torture them)
15) Sheikh Mohamed Ben Hamad Ben Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar, which jailed a man for 15 ys for writing the Jasmine poem
16) Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who had several journalists jailed for insulting him in 2013
17) Prime Minister Cerar of Slovenia, which sentenced a blogger to six months in prison for "defamation" in 2013
18) Prime Minister Enda Kenny of Ireland, where "blasphemy" is considered a criminal offense
19) Prime Minister Kopacz of Poland, which raided a magazine to seize recordings embarrassing for the ruling party
20) PM Cameron of the UK, where authorities destroyed documents obtained by The Guardian and threatened prosecution
21) Saudi ambassador to France. The Saudis publicly flogged blogger for "insulting Islam" on Friday
These tweets point out the hypocrisy of government solidarity with Charlie Hebdo.
"Politicians worldwide are enacting a slew of laws to impinge on free speech, but are the first to defend it when there’s a body count," writes the Daily Beast's Luke O'Neil. "It is grandstanding for a right rarely protected unless under immediate attack."
As journalists and human rights activists stand with Charlie Hebdo, they should remember that, across the world, not every journalist is Charlie.
As journalists and human rights activists stand with Charlie Hebdo, they should remember that, across the world, not every journalist is Charlie.
