New York, March 2, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the detention of Abshir Ali Gabre, news editor at the independent Radio Jawhar, who was recently held overnight on the orders of Somali faction leader Mohamed Omar Habeeb, also known as Mohamed Dere. Dere is chairman of the self-appointed Jawhar administration. Gabre was arrested…
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.
Since the 1991 overthrow of Maj. Gen. Mohammed Siad Barre by forces loyal to warlord Mohammed Farah Aideed, historic clan rivals have threatened the unity of this country, once known for practicing multiparty democracy while military juntas and civilian despots controlled most other African countries. In the face of such chaos, the media, which had…
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…
The so-called failed state syndrome hampered efforts to reunite Somalia, wracked by inter-clan warfare since 1991. Although the year began with news that the economy was slowly recovering, it ended with a bleak United Nations assessment that Somalia was on the brink of an economic collapse unmatched in its modern history.
PRESS COVERAGE OF ARMED CONFLICTS CONTINUED TO STIR THE HOSTILITY of governments and rebel factions alike and claim reporters’ lives, but the prominent role of the press in the often-volatile process of democratization also brought unprecedented challenges to journalists working in Africa. CPJ confirmed that in 2000, five journalists were killed specifically because of their…
WITH NO FUNCTIONING CENTRAL GOVERNMENT IN RECENT YEARS, Somalia remains fractured into rival fiefdoms controlled by warlords. Threats to local journalists have been correspondingly decentralized. In the last months of 2000, however, newly-elected president Abdiqasim Salad Hassan and a new transitional legislature tried with some success to assert central authority. (Both Hassan and the legislature…
Ever since political rivals ousted President Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991, clan warfare has left Somalia without a central government. The country’s media consists largely of small newsletters and faction-run radio stations, and independent journal-ism is virtually nonexistent in most parts of the country. Somalia is largely fractured into warring fiefdoms controlled by warlords. This…
Washington, D.C., March 25 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported today in its annual worldwide study of press freedom that at least 118 journalists were in prison in 25 countries at the end of 1998, and 24 journalists in 17 countries were murdered during the year in reprisal for their reporting.