Attacks on the Press 2010: Rwanda
Top Developments • Government drives Kinyarwanda- language papers out of print before presidential vote. • Critical newspaper editor assassinated. Skepticism greets police investigation. Key Statistic 93: Percentage of vote taken by incumbent Paul Kagame in presidential election. He faced no credible opposition. Before a crowd of thousands in Kigali, just days before he was re-elected…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Thailand
Top Developments • Using emergency decree, government blocks access to thousands of websites. • CPJ faults government, protesters for lethal violence against media. Key Statistic 2: Journalists killed during violent clashes between security forces and protesters in Bangkok. Armed clashes between anti-government protesters and state security forces resulted in 91 deaths and more than 1,800…
Attacks on the Press 2010: United States
Top Developments • U.S. military ignores call for probe into killings of 16 journalists in Iraq. • Under Pearl Act, State Department will track press freedom worldwide. Key Statistic 14: Journalists imprisoned by U.S. military forces for prolonged periods without charge between 2004 and 2010. In two important advances, Congress passed legislation to track press…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Vietnam
Top Developments • In run-up to Communist Party Congress, authorities clamp down on Internet. • Critical blogs targeted in hacking attacks; government complicity seen. Key Statistic 5: Online journalists imprisoned on December 1, reflecting crackdown on Internet commentary. Vietnam targeted online journalists in a clampdown on dissent ahead of a 2011 Communist Party Congress at…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Zimbabwe
Top Developments • Press makes incremental gains as five private publication licenses are granted. • Police, ZANU-PF loyalists harass, assault independent journalists. Key Statistic 0: Broadcast licenses issued to private outlets since 2001. Regulators granted five private publishing licenses, the first in seven years, opening a window for press freedom in this long-oppressed nation. But…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Africa Developments
ATTACKS ON THE PRESS: 2010 • Main Index AFRICA Regional Analysis: • Across Continent, Governments Criminalize Investigative Reporting Country Summaries • Angola • Cameroon • Democratic Republic of Congo • Ethiopia • Nigeria • Rwanda • Somalia • South Africa • Uganda • Zimbabwe • Other nations BOTSWANA In August, a group of 32 media…
Is Chávez promoting free expression? Check the facts
Venezuelan Information Minister Andrés Izarra declared on the state television channel VTV last week that “never has so much been done to guarantee, promote, and drive freedom of expression than in the government of President Hugo Chávez.” Izarra needs to hire a fact-checker.
Nepal’s leadership vacuum threatens press freedom
Nepal’s new Prime Minister Jhalnath Khanal should be setting a new tone. Law and order–and with it, journalists’ security–have suffered in the seven months since Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned and has been filling in as interim leader. Khanal could be making public commitments to reversing the atmosphere of impunity that is promoting media attacks. Instead,…
Press Cuba to keep promise to free journalists
Dear President Rodríguez Zapatero: The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that the Cuban government has yet to fulfill its promise to free all journalists imprisoned during the 2003 crackdown on dissent. We urge your government, which was a key party to the agreement to release the prisoners by November 2010, to hold President Raúl Castro to his word.