Kuwait’s press has long been recognized as the most liberal in the Persian Gulf. Kuwaiti newspapers, all of which are privately owned, are known for outspoken and critical coverage of the government and its policies. Nonetheless, the country’s press laws prohibit “subjecting the person of the emir to criticism” and empower authorities to suspend newspapers…
Although Lebanon’s private media are known for their intense debates over local politics and criticism of government officials, Lebanese authorities do not hesitate to use censorship, legal harassment, and intimidation against journalists or media outlets that the government believes go too far.
Mauritanian authorities continue to use the country’s harsh 1991 press law to punish journalists who run afoul of the regime. Article 11 of the law allows the interior minister to ban the sale of publications that commit such vague offenses as “insulting Islamic principles or the credibility of the state,” harming “the public interest,” or…
After Morocco’s King Muhammad assumed the throne in 1999, the press continued a trend toward aggressive reporting that had begun during the final two years of the rule of his father, the late King Hassan II. However, a number of official restrictions imposed on the press during the last three years have tempered optimism about…
Shortly after U.S. president George W. Bush arrived in South Korea’s capital, Seoul, in February 2002 for a state visit, the North Korean state news agency, KCNA, reported a miracle: that a cloud in the shape of a Kimjongilia, the flower named after the country’s leader, Kim Jong Il, had appeared over North Korea. “Even…
Operating from the tiny, gas-rich Persian Gulf monarchy of Qatar, the 24-hour satellite news channel Al-Jazeera continued to break news and spark controversy in 2002. During the last six years, the station has helped transform television news in the Arab world through bold, uncensored programming and raucous political debates that reach millions in the Middle…
The Sudanese public has access to several high-profile independent newspapers that criticize government authorities and policies. But that criticism comes at a price, especially when it relates to the Muslim government’s nearly 20-year-old civil war with Christian and animist rebels in the south of the country.
An ongoing state crackdown against pro-democracy activists continued to stunt what were once promising media reforms introduced in 2000 by Syria’s young president, Bashar al-Assad. For a short time, it appeared that Bashar, who replaced his authoritarian father, the late Hafez al-Assad, in 2000, would inspire a more liberal media and greater government transparency. After…
In May, President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali won 99.52 percent approval for constitutional changes that allow him to run for a fourth term in 2004. The poll–condemned by human rights groups inside and outside the country as rigged–did not surprise those familiar with Ben Ali’s 15-year, strongman rule of Tunisia.