Attacks on the Press in 2012

Journalists reporting on renewed conflict in the east were repeatedly censored and intimidated by local officials, the national government, and rebel forces. Fighting resumed in the east after President Joseph Kabila said his government would try to arrest Bosco Ntaganda, a former warlord wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crime charges. In response, Ntaganda joined with army mutineers to form a rebel group that took control of key towns in North Kivu province. The state-run media regulatory agency barred all broadcasters from airing programs discussing the conflict; several radio stations were suspended indefinitely after interviewing the mutineers. At least three journalists fled into hiding after being threatened in reprisal for their reporting on the conflict. Tensions between DRC and neighboring Rwanda also grew after the publication in June of a leaked U.N. report that blamed Kigali for providing military assistance to the rebels. The same month, Communications Minister Lambert Mende accused a Kinshasa newspaper of tribalism and indefinitely suspended the publication in connection with an editorial critical of Congolese of Rwandan ancestry. Although danger was severe in the east, CPJ also documented numerous instances in which officials in Bas Congo detained and intimidated critical journalists.

Analyses and data chart press freedom conditions throughout the region. Mohamed Keita examines the growing risk from media-savvy insurgents, while Tom Rhodes probes oil, money, and secrecy in East Africa.

Worldwide tally reaches highest point since CPJ began surveys in 1990. Governments use charges of terrorism, other anti-state offenses to silence critical voices. Turkey is the world's worst jailer. A CPJ special report

Who is allowed to talk? What are they allowed to say? Award winners seek the answers. By Kristin Jones

Editors think twice, reporters do not dig deeply, columnists choose words carefully. By Jean-Paul Marthoz

No amount of security training can make up for a lack of professional solidarity. By Frank Smyth

Police never bothered to look for cartoonist Prageeth Eknelygoda. It's not unusual. By María Salazar-Ferro

From conflict-ridden Syria to aspiring world leader Brazil, 10 nations on a downslope. By Karen Phillips