New York, April 4, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the trials of 28 independent Cuban journalists who have been detained since a crackdown began on March 18. The hearings began yesterday and continue today. “We are appalled and outraged by the arrests of our colleagues,” said CPJ acting director Joel Simon. ” Given…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly condemns the Cuban government’s latest crackdown on the independent press, during which 27 journalists have been detained and await prosecution. The timing of these actions suggests that the Cuban government has taken advantage of the fact that the world’s attention is focused on the U.S.-led war…
Economic and political turmoil throughout Latin America in 2002 had profound implications for the region’s press. Sharp decreases in advertising revenue bankrupted many media outlets, while the failure to consolidate democratic reforms left the media vulnerable to legal and physical assault. Five journalists were killed in Latin America in 2002 for their work.
Millionaire mining executive Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was sworn in as president on August 6 and immediately announced emergency actions aimed at lifting South America’s poorest nation out of an economic slump. But despite a four-year recession and widespread protests during 2002, the Bolivian press was able to cover the news with no major obstacles.
Workers Party (PT) candidate and former labor leader Luiz Inácio da Silva, known as Lula, won presidential elections in October, defeating the ruling coalition’s candidate by a wide margin and becoming Brazil’s first president not to come from the country’s political and economic elite. In previous elections, the country’s leading newspapers and television networks opposed…
The administration of President Ricardo Lagos continued its efforts, begun in 2001, to repeal Chile’s harsh criminal statutes for press offenses. In September, the government introduced a bill to amend several articles of the Penal Code and the Code of Military Justice that impose criminal penalties for “insulting the honor or dignity” of government authorities,…
Colombia’s civil conflict once again took a brutal toll on the country’s press, with journalists threatened, attacked, kidnapped, and murdered. At least three journalists were killed for their work in 2002, and CPJ continues to investigate the slayings of five others whose deaths may have been related to their reporting. At year’s end, Colombia’s overburdened…
Information about the 2001 murder of journalist Parmenio Medina Pérez remains scarce. Although his killing heightened efforts to reform Costa Rica’s outdated media laws, the legislative commission that was created to study such laws made no advances during 2002, while Costa Rican journalists continued to suffer from court interference.
Throughout 2002, scores of journalists in Cuba were harassed, detained, threatened with prosecution or jail, or had their freedom of movement restricted. Some had their reporting materials confiscated or their phone communications disrupted. Often, the government prevented journalists from covering opposition activities, turning reporters back or even forcing them to stay at their homes under…