CPJ Welcomes Release of Burmese Journalist San San Nwe
New York, July 18, 2001–CPJ welcomes the release today of San San Nwe, a journalist, novelist, and political activist who was jailed by the Burmese military government in August 1994 on charges of spreading information damaging to the state. She was released along with 10 other members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD),…
Attacks on the Press 2000: Asia Analysis
DESPITE PRESS FREEDOM ADVANCES ACROSS ASIA IN RECENT YEARS, totalitarian regimes in Burma, China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Laos maintained their stranglehold on the media. Even democratic Asian governments sometimes used authoritarian tactics to control the press, particularly when faced with internal conflict. Sri Lanka, for instance, imposed harsh censorship regulations during the year in…
Attacks on the Press 2000: Facts
In North Korea, listening to a foreign broadcast is a crime punishable by death. In Colombia, right-wing paramilitary forces are suspected in the murders of three journalists in 2000. Meanwhile, paramilitary leader Carlos Castaño was formally charged with the 1999 murder of political satirist Jaime Garzón.
Attacks on the Press 2000: Burma
CONDITIONS FOR JOURNALISTS IN BURMA ARE AMONG THE WORST in the world and showed no sign of improvement in 2000. All media outlets are either owned or controlled by the ruling State Peace and Development Council, the military junta that has governed the country since 1988. The handful of private journals allowed to publish face…
Attacks on the Press in 2000: Journalists in Prison
EIGHTY-ONE JOURNALISTS WERE IN PRISON AROUND THE WORLD at the end of 2000, jailed for practicing their profession. The number is down slightly from the previous year, when 87 were in jail, and represents a significant decline from 1998, when 118 journalists were imprisoned. While jailing journalists can be an effective means of stifling bad…
Burmese Lawyer Jailed for Distributing Foreign News Latest Sign of Burma’s Disregard for Press Freedom
Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in BURMA New York, September 14, 2000 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called yesterday’s sentencing of lawyer Cheng Poh “an outrageous violation of press freedom” and expressed concerns for his safety. Cheng Poh, 77, was sentenced to 14 years in prison yesterday for allegedly…
Attacks on the Press 1999: Asia Analysis
By Kavita Menon and A. Lin NeumannMuch of Asia remained hostile to a free, independent media, despite the growing consensus that Asian political and economic stability depends in great measure on governments’ willingness to improve transparency and lift restrictions on the press. In China, Burma, Vietnam, and even Malaysia, government suppression of the media is…
Enemies of the Press: The 10 Worst Offenders of 1998
On May 3, in conjunction with World Press Freedom Day, CPJ announced its annual identification of the top 10 Enemies of the Press worldwide. Those who made the list this year, as in the past, earned the dubious distinction by exhibiting particular zeal for the ruthless suppression of journalists. Gen. Sani Abacha of Nigeria was…