The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Thursday slammed US authorities for reportedly tracking media workers who covered migrant arrivals on the southern border, saying it planned to raise the issue with officials
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2019) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Thursday slammed US authorities for reportedly tracking media workers who covered migrant arrivals on the southern border, saying it planned to raise the issue with officials.Leaked documents seen by NBC have revealed that the US Customs and Border Protection has reportedly compiled a list of 59 journalists, lawyers and activists labeled as "suspected organizers, coordinators, instigators, and media" and plans to question them at US-Mexican border checkpoints as part of a national security investigation.
"The IFJ strongly condemns reports that the US authorities are tracking and spying on journalists who are simply doing their job. It is a sign of the increasingly intolerant attitude by the US government to media freedom and the rights of journalists," an IFJ representative told Sputnik.
The watchdog warned that the secret dossiers "not only threaten the rights of the individual journalists by imposing additional screening on them but send a clear threat to all professional journalists as the authorities try to keep information they do not want the public to know hidden."
The IFJ and its affiliates will be raising the issue with the US authorities, the Brussels-based organization added.
