John Emerson

Following widespread allegations of human rights abuses in Togo, President Gnassingbé Eyadema and the ruling Rassemblement du Peuple Togolais (RPT) struggled all year to prove their commitment to democracy, promising parliamentary elections that were ultimately postponed until 2002 for “technical reasons.” Desperate to improve its international image while retaining a tight grip on power, RPT…

This oil- and gas-rich island nation, whose population is equally divided between people of African and Indian descent, moved from crisis to crisis after elections in December 2000. Former prime minister Basdeo Panday’s United National Congress (UNC), supported mainly by Indo-Trinidadians, narrowly defeated the People’s National Movement (PNM), generally supported by Afro-Trinidadians, in elections that…

Throughout his 15 years in power, President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has sought to stifle all dissent while portraying Tunisia as a progressive and democratic nation. Sadly, he has had considerable success. Members of the U.S. Congress, for example, continued to heap praise on Ben Ali while ignoring his dismal human rights and press freedom…

In an effort to improve its chances to join the European Union, the Turkish Parliament in October approved more than 30 amendments to the country’s restrictive constitution, which was passed in 1982 after a military coup two years before. Lawmakers are currently considering a proposal that would bring some of the nation’s repressive laws used…

In a region where freedom of the press and free expression are endangered concepts, the authoritarian regime of President Saparmurat Niyazov still manages to set a horrible example. Niyazov often takes his repression to absurd extremes. In April, for example, he banned opera and ballet from his country on the grounds that they are “alien”…

Despite a stiff challenge from his former protégé Kiiza Besigye, President Yoweri Museveni was reelected in March, fifteen years after he pioneered Uganda’s controversial “no party” political system. During the heated election campaign, there were allegations that the president’s office had tried to “vet” articles and columns in New Vision, a government daily. The paper…

Legal harassment, violence, and death continued to stalk Ukrainian journalists in 2001. Two murders underscored the continuing dangers, as did the stalled investigation into the murder of Internet journalist Georgy Gongadze. More than a year after Gongadze’s headless corpse was discovered in November 2000, and after months of allegations about possible presidential involvement in his…

The United Arab Emirates, in particular the emirate of Dubai, has transformed itself into a center for media and new information technology. In 2001, the emirate launched Dubai Media City to serve as a regional news hub for international media organizations, along with a separate Internet City. Dubai also began providing government services online. Citizens…

Press freedom is generally respected in the United Kingdom, and CPJ does not routinely monitor conditions in the country. However, CPJ was extremely alarmed by the September 28 murder of investigative reporter Martin O’Hagan, the first working journalist to be killed in Northern Ireland since the outbreak of violence more than three decades ago. O’Hagan…

Since its founding in 1981, CPJ has, as a matter of strategy and policy, concentrated on press freedom violations and attacks against journalists outside the United States. Within the country, a vital press freedom community marshals its resources and expertise to defend journalists’ rights. CPJ aims to focus its efforts on those nations where journalists…