The world’s most censored countries
Could you pick out Equatorial Guinea on the world map? Or Turkmenistan, or Eritrea? Probably not at the first attempt. These countries are usually below the radar of the international media, and the autocrats who run them like it that way. It helps them crush press freedoms and keep their population in the dark. That is why the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based press freedom group, has drawn up a league table of the world’s 10 most censored countries. We hope that the list, issued on World Press Freedom Day, will shine a light into the dark corners of the world where governments and their political cronies decide what people will read, see, and hear.
CPJ concerned by reports of mistreatment of jailed journalists
New York, April 6, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by reports that one jailed independent Cuban journalist has been beaten, a second has been denied medical treatment in prison, and a third has been threatened with detention for her writing. On March 28, independent journalist Normando Hernández González was thrown down a flight…
CPJ concerned about health of two journalists on hunger strike
New York, March 16, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern today about the health of two independent journalists on hunger strike in Cuba, one of them in prison. Guillermo Fariñas, director of the independent news agency Cubacán Press, has refused food for 45 days to protest government restrictions on journalists’ access to the Internet,…
CPJ condemns ongoing harassment of independent journalists
New York, February 24, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Cuban authorities for continuing to harass independent journalists and failing to provide adequate medical treatment for those in prison. Independent journalist Jorge Olivera Castillo, who was released from jail in December 2004 on medical parole, was ordered by a Havana municipal court on February 21…
Argentine writer blocked at Havana airport
New York, February 21, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Saturday’s deportation of writer, columnist and historian José Ignacio García Hamilton by Cuban authorities at Havana’s José Martí International Airport. Immigration authorities barred the Argentine writer from entering Cuba, saying that they were following government orders but could not provide further explanation, the Argentine press…
Attacks on the Press 2005: CPJ Releases Attacks on the Press in Four Cities
New York, February 14, 2006–Highlighting the global nature of its press freedom advocacy work, the Committee to Protect Journalists today released its annual press freedom survey Attacks on the Press in four cities: Bangkok, Cairo, London and Washington, D.C.
Attacks on the Press in 2005: Headlines
January 11: A killing in Colombia reinforces self-censorship — Gunmen kill radio news host Julio Hernando Palacios Sánchez as he drives to work in Cúcuta. Attacked from all sides, the Colombian press censors itself to an extraordinary degree, CPJ later reports. Probing journalists are killed, detained, or forced to flee. Verified news is suppressed, and…