IFJ Archives - FMETU - Ancestral home (haven)

May 12, 2026

FMETU submitted two ordinary motions at the IFJ Centenary congress in Paris

FMETU submitted two ordinary motions at the IFJ Centenary congress in Paris ,and those motions are follows:

Motion 1.End the impunity for crimes against journalists and and uphold rules of law.

Despite changes in government, Sri Lanka continues to face a lack of accountability for historic crimes against journalists (e.g., murders and enforced disappearances), which fuels a climate of impunity. Furthermore, new laws are introduced that threaten to criminalize speech and online expression, contradicting constitutional and international commitments to press freedom.

Urges the Government of Sri Lanka to immediately reopen and commit to prompt, impartial, and transparent investigations into all past cases of violence against journalists, including murders and abductions (such as those of Lasantha Wickrematunge and Prageeth Eknaligoda).

Calls for the establishment of robust, independent mechanisms to protect witnesses and investigators involved in these sensitive cases.

Urges the repeal or substantial amendment of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and proposed new counterterrorism laws, which have historically been and continue to be used to harass, detain, and intimidate journalists, especially those from ethnic minority communities.

Reminds the government of its obligation to uphold Article 14 of the Sri Lankan Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) regarding the fundamental rights to freedom of speech and expression.

Motion 2. Promoting Professional Standards , Decent work and Gender Equity

RECOGNISING that the severe economic crisis in Sri Lanka has intensified the vulnerability of journalists, leading to precarious employment, extremely low wages, and a chronic lack of social security (EPF/ETF), thereby compromising their ethical independence and driving widespread self-censorship.

Urge media organizations to implement gender-sensitive recruitment and promotion policies with clear targets to increase the representation of women in editorial, decision-making, and leadership positions, actively dismantling the perception of certain roles as ‘men’s jobs’.

February 7, 2026February 7, 2026

Syria- Improving the safety of journalists reporting in the field

Journalists’ safety matters. As part of our ‘Safety of Journalists in the Middle East and the Arab World’ project, we delivered two training sessions on occupational safety in Damascus and Latakia in January. Focusing on building professional capacity and promoting safer working practices in the field, the sessions were organised in partnership with our affiliate, the Syrian Journalists’ Union (SJU).

November 6, 2025

Cape Verde: Suspended director of public broadcaster must be reinstated

The board of directors of the national public broadcaster, Radio and Television of Cape Verde (RTC), imposed a 45-day suspension without remuneration on the director of Television of Cape Verde (TCV), Bernardina Ferreira, on 30 October. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the Associacão Sindical dos Jornalistas de Cabo Verde (AJOC), in condemning this shocking decision. They also call for the lifting of the suspension with immediate effect and an end to political interference in the media.

November 6, 2025

Pakistan: Journalist Imtiaz Mir killed by militant group in Karachi

Four suspects were arrested on October 27 for the killing of journalist and anchor Imtiaz Mir, who died on September 28 after sustaining critical injuries in a gun attack in Karachi the week prior. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), strongly condemn Mir’s killing and call on the authorities to ensure justice is brought to the perpetrators.

October 28, 2025

The FAPaJ Congress held online on October 9,2025

The FAPaJ Congress held on October 9,2025 under the guidance and the administration of the IFJ. The General of IFJ ,Mr. Anthony Bellanger, and the IFJ AP Reginal Director ,Jane Worthington make this event success .In, all 39 delegates from 34 countries took part in the Congress, which run more than six hours, representing West Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Pacific. As a result, the new FAPaJ leadership for 2025-2028 was elected as follows:

President : Nany Afrida (Indonesia)
VICE- President : Salim AL Jahwal(Oman) and together with executive council members.

October 28, 2025

Myanmar: Global, regional and national unions call on ASEAN to reject sham ‘election’

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and more than 300 global union federations, trade unions, civil society, and human rights organisations from South East Asia and around the world on October 24 called on governments to outrightly reject the Myanmar military junta’s upcoming planned ‘sham’ election. The joint statement came ahead of the 47th ASEAN Summit, which started in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on October 25.

The joint statement, issed as a collective show of force by human rights defenders, said the Myanmar military junta’s so-called ‘election’ planned for December 2025 was an illegal, fraudulent attempt to manufacture an illusion of legitimacy. It urges South East Asian governments attending the summit to recall how Myanmar’s military junta ignored the peoples decisive vote in 1990 and again organised illegitimate polls in 2010 to bolster it’s dictatorship.

September 18, 2023September 18, 2023

FMETU Capacity Audit workshop – 2023 Leading activities (PHOTOS)

IFJ‐UTU Global Union Strengthening Program – 2023

February 10, 2023

India: Maharashtra journalist targeted in hit and run

Maharashtra-based journalist Shashikant Warishe has been killed by a local realty broker hours after releasing a report alleging the broker had engaged in illegal land grabbing and was connected to senior Indian politicians. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemns this brutal killing of a journalist for their reporting and urges the authorities to bring all perpetrators to swift justice.

December 1, 2022December 3, 2022

“Plight of Professional Journalism in Sri Lanka”-UTU project Press Conference

Under the guidance and support of the IFJ-International Federation of journalists, FMETU conducted a Union to Union project with the participation of more than 350 journalists around the country. It was held in different methods such as introducing a google form to collect data on the journalists and create a Database, conducting a workshop for young journalists about Mobile journalism and they made 15 videos that reviewed the Professionalism and the rights of journalists through these videos. On the 1st of December 2022, a press conference was held at the Rainbow Institute to release the said report to the media.

November 29, 2022November 29, 2022

“Orange the world: Unite to end violence against women!”

Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent, and devastating human rights violations in our world today and remains largely unreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma, and shame surrounding it.

In general terms, it manifests itself in physical, sexual, and psychological forms, encompassing: intimate partner violence (battering, psychological abuse, marital rape, femicide); sexual violence and harassment (rape, forced sexual acts, unwanted sexual advances, child sexual abuse, forced marriage, street harassment, stalking, cyber- harassment); human trafficking (slavery, sexual exploitation); female genital mutilation; and child marriage.

To further clarify, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women issued by the UN General Assembly in 1993, defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”

While gender-based violence can happen to anyone, anywhere, some women and girls are particularly vulnerable – for instance, young girls and older women, women who identify as lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex, migrants and refugees, indigenous women and ethnic minorities, or women and girls living with HIV and disabilities, and those living through humanitarian crises.

In support of a global campaign and to contribute locally to end Gender Based Violence in Sri Lanka, the embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands has decided to host a roundtable discussion to discuss Gender and Media issues in Sri Lanka. The meeting will be held on 1st December 2022, at Gallery Cafe with participation by female editors, members of the parliamentary women’s caucus, and representatives of the media organizations in Sri Lanka.

IFJ