Sri Lanka’s increasingly violent political climate has heightened the danger for the country’s journalists. The 16-year-old civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a guerrilla movement fighting for a separate homeland for the country’s ethnic Tamil minority, continued, and has so far claimed more than 61,000 lives.…
The press continued to suffer under the regime of Lt. Gen. Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who marked his 10th year in power by allowing restricted multiparty politics. Some private newspapers were noticeably more aggressive in their coverage of issues such as official corruption and the country’s 16-year-old civil war. In response, authorities punished outspoken newspapers with…
In May, Suriname’s dire economic situation sparked mass protests against the government of president Jules Wijdenbosch. Under siege, the government stepped up its harassment of local media. Self-censorship runs deep in Surinam journalism. The five private television stations mainly broadcast entertainment. The two state-owned television stations largely toe the official line. Little public information is…
The kingdom of Swaziland does not have a written constitution and is presently governed through a decree passed in 1973 by King Mswati III’s predecessor, King Sobhuza II. The decree limits freedom of speech and the press by banning all political activity and organizations. The Swazi government discourages critical reporting about the royal family; many…
With the passing of Morocco’s King Hassan II and King Hussein of Jordan, Syrian president Hafez al-Assad became the Arab world’s second-longest-surviving leader. Only Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi has ruled longer. During three decades of one-man rule, Assad has ruthlessly eradicated all internal dissent. His February “reelection” by referendum with nearly 100 percent of the…
Taiwan, with its lively and diverse media, reveled in its reputation as a bastion of free speech and democracy. Government leaders made numerous public pronouncements on the importance of promoting press freedom, and advertised their efforts to strengthen civil liberties. In January, the legislature abolished a draconian publishing law that had been used to control…
Attacks on the press, while still rife, have slowed down since the end in 1997 of Tajikistan’s five-year civil war, during which 29 journalists were murdered in the line of duty. But the government has found other means to keep a tight lid on the press. Throughout the year, the government of President Imomali Rakhmonov…
President Benjamin Mkapa and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party continued to enforce laws that infringe on free expression. According to the Media Institute of Southern Africa, the government of Tanzania cautioned at least 19 newspapers this year alone, threatening them with legal action over the content of articles. The government itself admitted that…
Thailand’s journalists enjoy one of the freest presses in the developing world, and a new constitution implemented in 1997 provides some of the broadest press protections in Asia. The 1997 Official Information Act, which is modeled on the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, gives the public the right to access information that was once routinely…
On July 23, President Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who seized power in 1967, announced that he would not run for reelection. Meanwhile, widely publicized charges that the ruling party rigged the most recent election have heightened official sensitivity to media criticism. In late April, the government warned independent journalists to refrain from printing false or slanderous articles…