1) Kantei Opening

The Freedom of the Press Committee of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan welcomes the March 26 decision of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to allow foreign correspondents, freelancers and Internet media reporters to attend and ask questions at press conferences at the Kantei. This press conference organized by the Naikaku Kisha-kai was opened to staff reporters at publishers belonging to organizations such as the Japan Magazine Publishers Association, to foreign correspondents with a Foreign Press Registration Card and recognized freelance writers. It is the opinion of the committee that this gesture of goodwill makes considerable progress in the direction of fairness; nevertheless we formally request that all Kantei press conferences and briefings be opened to all members of the press, foreign and national and urgently seek to obtain the government’s understanding and cooperation in regard to this.

2) Killing of Reuters Cameraman Hiroyuki Muramoto and other Journalist Lives in Danger

The Freedom of the Press Committee of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan mourn the killing of Reuters cameraman Hiroyuki Muramoto in Bangkok while covering the clashes between the government troops and protesters, and condemns the barbaric act of targeting a well-known Japanese journalist.

The Committee takes this opportunity also to express grave concern for the safety and welfare of Japanese freelance journalist Kosuke Tsuneoka, 40, who has not been seen since March 31 while traveling to a Taliban-controlled region of northern Afghanistan. According to the Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association, Tsuneoka was traveling from Kabul through the Markazi-Baghlan district of Baghlan province when he was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen. He is an experienced Japanese reporter who has covered armed conflicts in Chechnya and Iraq.

The Freedom of the Press Committee of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan recalls that several international reporters have been abducted in Afghanistan in the last three years, often along with local reporters or assistants. Two French journalists employed by the French TV station France 3 and their three Afghan assistants have been held hostage in Afghanistan since December 30. The FCCJ Freedom of the Press Committee appeals above all to the insurgent and warrior groups not to resort to abduction or to any form of violence against journalists in the areas they control and requests governmental and humanitarian organizations’ action to obtain the quick release of these fellow reporters.

Monzurul Huq
Joel Legendre-Koizumi
FCCJ Freedom of the Press Committee co-chairs