John Emerson

With the government of strongman Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party firmly entrenched in power, the press was largely spared from the harsh political battles that once divided the country into armed camps. The major political event looming for Cambodia in 2002 will be the long-delayed trial of remaining leaders of the Khmer Rouge,…

Compared to previous years, the government of President Paul Biya seemed less keen to abuse the local press in 2001. In February, officials scrapped the value-added tax on imported media equipment and multimedia goods and services. Two months later, in June, the state television and radio network RTC allowed the BBC World Service to broadcast…

Press freedom is generally respected in Canada, and CPJ does not routinely monitor conditions in the country. However, police harassment of journalists covering demonstrations; investigations into past violent attacks against journalists; and proposed anti-terrorism legislation were all issues of concern last year.

President Ange-Félix Patassé spent much of the year cracking down on coup plotters as the media, clustered in the capital, Bangui, struggled to cope with harsh economic realities and a breakdown in the rule of law. In December 2000, President Patassé warned local journalists their “leisure time” was over. On February 4, 2001, police arrested…

President Idriss Deby began the year with bad news. On January 2, the rebel Movement for Democracy and Justice (MDJT) announced that it had killed the head of Deby’s security team, General Kerim Nassour, and his aide, Colonel Fadoul Allamine. The next day, Deby was heard on state radio pleading with the MDJT to end…

After years of wrangling, Chile’s Congress finally passed a press law repealing some of the country’s most draconian defamation and libel statutes. There has been intense international pressure to rid Chile’s legal system of its severe restrictions on the press. But local media also credit President Ricardo Lagos with reviving the reforms, which were stalled…

In 2001, the Chinese government finally achieved two long-standing goals that brought the country closer to full integration in the international community. In July, Beijing won a bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, and in November, the World Trade Organization officially accepted China as a member. These developments helped secure the legacy of President…

The Colombian press remained in the cross fire of an escalating, decades-old civil conflict pitting two major leftist guerrilla groups against the Colombian army and right-wing paramilitary forces. While peace negotiations slowly moved forward at the beginning of 2002, the conflict continued to take a deadly toll on journalists and sent many into hiding. At…

Mediators from the Organization of African Unity (OAU) tried to broker a peace plan for the three-island Islamic republic starting in January, after members of the self-styled parliament of the breakaway island of Anjouan asked Colonel Said Abeid, the island’s military leader, to relinquish power. Anxious to prevent bloodletting, OAU mediators brokered a unity agreement…

Costa Rica, a country long regarded as one of the freest and most democratic in Latin America, was profoundly shocked by the July 7 murder of veteran journalist Parmenio Medina Pérez–the first assassination of a journalist in the country’s recent history. Unknown assailants shot Medina, producer and host of the weekly radio program “La Patada”…