The brutal murder of a French journalist in the Ivory Coast in October highlighted the lack of security in the country in 2003. The killing came after the collapse of the government of national reconciliation in September, when rebels walked out and accused President Laurent Gbagbo of refusing to fully implement the peace process. Despite…
The trial of six men accused of killing Mozambican journalist Carlos Cardoso in November 2000 ended on January 31. The defendants were sentenced to lengthy prison terms ranging from 23 to 28 years in jail for conspiring to kill Cardoso because of his aggressive coverage of a 1996 corruption scandal involving the state-controlled Commercial Bank…
After U.S. President George W. Bush claimed in his 2003 State of the Union address that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had attempted to buy uranium from the impoverished West African country of Niger, outraged journalists and President Mamadou Tandja, who has led the nation since its return to civilian rule in 1999, rallied to the…
In Nigeria’s first successful transfer between civilian administrations since independence in 1960, President Olusegun Obasanjo was re-elected in a landslide victory that also saw his ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) make significant gains in polls across the country. Despite the relatively peaceful conduct of the election, opposition parties and election observers alleged widespread fraud, irregularities,…
Nine years after the 1994 genocide, which killed about 800,000 people, Rwanda ended its transitional ruling period with a constitutional referendum, followed by the first presidential and multiparty parliamentary elections in the country since its independence in 1962. The transitional government’s control of the broadcast media and its repressive tactics against the independent press helped…
With its relatively free and diverse press, Senegal is seen as an example of democracy in West Africa. There are more than 10 daily newspapers and a plethora of weeklies and fortnightlies, many of which frequently criticize the government. Senegal also has numerous private, community, and foreign radio stations, and the constitution guarantees press freedom.…
Sierra Leone has continued effort to rebuild after a brutal 11-year civil war that officially ended in January 2002. At year’s end, a large international peacekeeping force that has helped stop the fighting, disarm rebels, and retrain the Sierra Leone army remained in place. In 2003, a U.N.-backed Special Court and a Truth and Reconciliation…
Somalia has had no effective central authority since the fall of dictator Siad Barre in 1991. A peace agreement in 2000, which led to the installation of the weak Transitional National Government (TNG) in the capital, Mogadishu, fueled the revival of independent media, including local radio stations, newspapers, and Internet sites. Somalia’s high rate of…
South Africa has the more diverse and sophisticated media on the continent. Although freedom of the press is enshrined in the constitution, a number of old laws that restrict freedom of expression remain on the books. For example, the publication of information on police and security forces is restricted, and the Criminal Procedure Act can…
King Mswati III, ruler of Africa’s only absolute monarchy, retained tight control over the media in this tiny southern African nation in 2003. In April, newly appointed Information Minister Abednego Ntshangase announced a censorship policy for state media, saying that “the national television and radio stations are not going to cover anything that has a…