Neil Hartman, a South African photographer is being held without charge in Namibia. Hartman was arrested while attempting to photograph the clubbing of baby seals in Henties Bay reports AFP.

Two journalists were arrested last month in that same place for filming the seal hunt. Each was fined $633 US.

Now, this raises the obvious issue of free press and media. According to Reporters Without Borders, Namibia ranks 23rd in the 2008 Press Freedom Index, making it the highest ranked country in Africa and leaps and bounds above the U.S. which ranks 36. These arrests may have a big affect on this year's rankings.

Though, it looks like there is an absence of a strong media presence in Namibia to base free press judgments on. According to the CIA fact book, in 2007 there were two television stations and out of a population of over 2 million, 101,000 use the internet.

More importantly though, if the government is so concerned with media about the seal hunt getting out, there is obviously something wrong going on there.  So why do environmental groups like PETA and Greepeace continue to lay into Canada, who has an incredibly regulated seal hunt? Canada's proximity may be blinding them to bigger problems elsewhere.

But to put things into perspective, Harvard's 2008 Index of African Governance, which takes a look at government transparency and human rights, among other factors, ranked Namibia sixth. In other words, there are a lot worse things happening on that continent than Namibia holding and fining photographers and journalists. See Genocide. See Government Coruption. See Aids.