John Emerson

Squeezed by the expansion of NATO and the European Union to the west and tepid relations with Russia to the east, Belarus grew ever more isolated. In the face of that isolation, President Aleksandr Lukashenko continued his assault on the media in 2003, tightening his grip on the impoverished country. Local analysts suspect that Lukashenko’s…

The political crisis that has gripped Bolivia since June 2002 elections peaked in October 2003, when President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada resigned amid violent protests. During the unrest, journalists were attacked and threatened by both the Bolivian military and civilian protesters.

Corruption and political chaos in Bosnia and Herzegovina gave journalists many scandals to cover in 2003, from massive fraud at state power companies to illegal weapons sales to Iraq. Journalists endured a wide array of harassment and abuses, including threatening phone calls, politically motivated tax inspections, retaliatory lawsuits, and physical attacks, most of which were…

Although Brazilian media outlets generally operate in a free environment, they have increasingly been targeted with defamation lawsuits that seek to silence them. Judicial interference and censorship, under the guise of protecting privacy and honor, continues unabated.

Burma’s ruling military junta launched a major crackdown on pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party on May 30, when a mob of government-backed thugs ambushed her convoy while she was driving through the remote northern town of Ye-u. Since her release from house arrest in May 2002,…

Burundi made some progress toward peace in 2003, but cease-fires remained fragile and civilians continued to bear the brunt of fighting between Hutu rebels and the Tutsi-dominated army. At the end of April, under intense international pressure, Tutsi President Pierre Buyoya stepped down in favor of his Hutu vice president, Domitien Ndayizeye, in accordance with the…

Nominally democratic, Cambodia continues to struggle with its official commitment to press freedom while the government frequently uses its power to influence, control, and bully the press. The Cambodian print media are famously free and infamously full of gossip. Some 200 newspapers are licensed for publication, but virtually all Khmer-language publications are subsidized, directly or…

In April, two days after Cameroon’s only private daily, the French-language Mutations, was suspended and three of its journalists were detained, Communications Minister Jacques Fame Ndongo assured journalists that, “Cameroon’s press freedom is real.” The Central African country’s beleaguered press corps might disagree. Amid widespread domestic and international criticism of Cameroon’s dismal human rights record–and…

On March 15, rebels under the command of ousted former army commander François Bozizé captured the capital, Bangui, ending President Ange-Félix Patassé’s 10-year rule over this mineral-rich but chronically unstable country. Two weeks later, Bozizé announced the formation of a transitional government with representatives from all political parties, including Patassé’s Movement for the Liberation of…

In 2003, the Chilean press reported extensively on human rights abuses during Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship and played a positive role in uncovering local corruption. Still, legal restrictions continued to hamper the press. As 2003 came to a close, President Ricardo Lagos’ bill to amend several articles of the Penal Code and the Code of…