MISA Regional Secretariat staff member advocating for media freedom. Photo: MISA Regional Secretariat images, 2014. MISA ALERTS S ince its foundation in 1992, MISA has been the primary advocate for media freedom and freedom of expression in southern Africa, issuing alerts on media freedom violations, condemnations of killings, assaults, criminal charges and other forms of unjustified attacks on journalists, including restrictions on access to information gathered in the 11 Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries where MISA operates. We issue alerts in 11 categories: assaulted; bombed; censored; detained; expelled; killed of missing; legislated; sentenced; threatened; victory; and violation of public freedom of expression. 14 Journalists under attack in 2013 In 2013, the disturbing but relevant theme highlighted through our monitoring was ‘media behind bars’, due to the many cases MISA recorded in 2013 of authorities arresting journalists, often without a clear reason and then detaining them, interrogating them, and confiscating their equipment and materials. In September 2013, for example, MISA Angola Chairperson Alexandre Neto Solombe; correspondent for Voice of America Coque Mukuta; and freelance journalist and anti-corruption activist Rafael Marques de Morais were arrested after they interviewed a group of youths who had just been released from detention for participating in an anti-government demonstration the day before. The three journalists were allegedly interrogated, manhandled by the police and kept in detention for five hours without charge.