KuwaitKuwait’s press is widely recognized as the freest among the Gulf states. Newspapers frequently give voice to the country’s political opposition, and columnists do not spare government officials guilty of corruption or mismanagement. But criminal press statutes remain on the books, and several journalists faced prosecution in 2004.
Lebanon Lebanon’s press corps is among the Arab world’s most spirited, with opinionated political debates and fiery TV talk shows. Yet while a wide array of newspapers and radio and TV stations often criticizes government policy in general, journalists avoid direct criticism of President Emile Lahoud and government and business corruption. The government monitors the…
Morocco The government eased a crackdown against independent journalists launched after multiple suicide bombings in Casablanca in 2003. But Moroccan journalists—among the most outspoken in the region—were still saddled with onerous press laws and a meddling government. In January, the day before Prime Minister Driss Jettou visited Washington, D.C., King Mohammed VI issued a general…
Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia’s press is among the most heavily censored in the Arab world, but it has shown occasional signs of life since September 11, 2001. Some Saudi newspapers have demonstrated unusual boldness, publishing tough critiques of religious militancy and low-level government mismanagement and calling for reform.
Sudan Sudan garnered international headlines in 2004 due to widespread atrocities and ethnic cleansing in Darfur, an impoverished region in the west of the country. Since February 2003, government-backed militias, known as janjaweed, have killed tens of thousands of people and displaced close to 2 million in a counterinsurgency campaign against rebel groups.
Syria An ongoing state crackdown on political dissent further dulled hopes that President Bashar al-Assad would loosen the shackles on the country’s news media. Bashar promised greater media openness four years ago when he assumed power following the death of his father, the ironfisted Hafez al-Assad. In his first months in office, he injected new…
TunisiaFor nearly two decades, Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has quietly run one of the region’s most efficient police states, stifling the media with an array of Soviet-style tactics. Even allies of Ben Ali, such as U.S. President George W. Bush, expressed concern in 2004 about the troubling lack of press freedom. On World…
TurkeyThe European Union’s long-awaited decision in December to begin formal talks to admit Turkey would have been impossible without legislative reforms made in recent years, including several aimed at expanding freedom of expression. A new Penal Code set to take effect in 2005 codifies a number of recent press reforms. Notably, it limits the definition…
United States In 2004, U.S. prosecutors and judges showed a new and alarming willingness to compel reporters to reveal confidential sources. Prosecutors in several high-profile cases insisted that journalists name their sources, and judges backed up the demands by ordering reporters to testify or face fines and imprisonment.
YemenYemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said in May that he would work to decriminalize press offenses. Yet three months later, a prominent editor who published opinion pieces opposing the president’s handling of a bloody armed rebellion was sentenced to a year in prison, and his newspaper was suspended for six months.