Since the death of Jonas Savimbi, leader of the rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), brought an end to Angola’s civil war in 2002, the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has become somewhat more tolerant of the independent press. Journalists say the climate has improved, but problems…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the continued imprisonment of Judes Zossé, publication director of the private daily L’Hirondelle (The Swallow). Zossé was arrested on February 25, two days after the newspaper reproduced an article titled “General Bozizé: the State’s Tax-collector.”
New York, February 26, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the imprisonment of Judes Zossé, director of the private daily L’Hirondelle (The Swallow) in the Central African Republic (CAR). Yesterday, police officers arrested Zossé, who had turned himself in after police had detained his brother, Didier Zossé. Didier Zossé, who is…
New York, February 26, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the imprisonment of Judes Zossé, director of the private daily L’Hirondelle (The Swallow) in the Central African Republic (CAR). Yesterday, police officers arrested Zossé, who had turned himself in after police had detained his brother, Didier Zossé. Didier Zossé, who is…
Your Excellency: As the start of your government’s “National Dialogue,” which opens today and runs through September 20 and is aimed at reconciling the Central African Republic after years of war, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) writes to respectfully remind you of the many challenges facing Central African media, in the hopes that they may be addressed at this forum. This is especially important in light of Your Excellency’s plans, according to local and international press, to have a new constitution drafted and approved by 2005.
Although the Kenya-based East African Standard, one of Africa’s oldest continuously published newspapers, marked its 100th anniversary in November, journalism remains a difficult profession on the continent, with adverse government policies and multifaceted economic woes still undermining the full development of African media.
A year after a failed coup, the government of President Ange-Félix Patassé lifted a nationwide curfew in May. Five months later, in October, several hundred soldiers and civilians were killed in another coup attempt, led by disgruntled army general François Bozize, paralyzing the country for weeks. The Patassé regime prevailed with the help of more…
New York, March 20, 2003— Mathurin Momet, publication director of the private daily Le Confident in the Central African Republic (CAR), was released by rebels under the command of General François Bozizé on Saturday, March 15. He had spent more than three weeks in prison. Momet was among a group of prisoners jailed by President…
Silence reigned supreme in Eritrea, where the entire independent press was under a government ban and 11 journalists languished in jail at year’s end. Clamorous, deadly power struggles raged in Zimbabwe over land and access to information, and in Burundi over ethnicity and control of state resources. South Africa, Senegal, and Benin remained relatively liberal…