ATR

RWANDA The arrival of private radio stations did little to improve the climate for media in Rwanda, where repression by the government of President Paul Kagame and self-censorship by journalists all but stifled critical coverage. Local media and human rights groups often failed to speak out against intimidation and attacks on the press. Previous acts…

TAJIKISTAN Popular uprisings elsewhere in Central Asia spurred Tajikistan to further crack down on already-limited dissent. Repressive actions flowed from four domestic and regional events: a February 27 parliamentary vote; the Tulip Revolution in neighboring Kyrgyzstan in March; violent unrest in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan in May; and the prospect of presidential elections…

THAILAND Press conditions worsened markedly, reflecting the fourth year of deterioration since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra took office in 2001. Most worrisome was the frequent use of litigation that sought criminal penalties and disproportionate monetary damages. The cases echo the repressive practices of neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, where authoritarian governments have long used overwhelming legal…

TOGO The death of President Gnassingbé Eyadema on February 5 gave local journalists hope that a new era of press freedom would follow years of repression. Instead, Eyadéma’s Rassemblement du Peuple Togolais (RPT) held on to power, resorting to censorship, harassment, and intimidation of the media as the army suspended the constitution and named the…

UNITED STATES An investigation into the leak of a CIA officer’s identity erupted, with one reporter compelled to testify about his confidential source, another jailed for 85 days before she testified, and a high-level White House aide indicted on federal charges of perjury, false statements, and obstruction of justice. Confidentiality of sources was under attack…

ZIMBABWE In the run-up to parliamentary elections in March, the government of President Robert Mugabe further tightened repressive legislation that has been used to drastically reduce the independent media and its freedom to operate. Independent journalists continued to face police harassment, official intimidation, and the constant threat of arrest under the draconian laws. Several more…

New York, February 1, 2006—French authorities have jailed an Ivoirian army officer in connection with the 2004 disappearance in Ivory Coast of journalist Guy-André Kieffer, according to Kieffer’s wife and Agence France-Presse. Osange Silou-Kieffer told CPJ today that Capt. Jean-Tony Oulaï was arrested on January 11 in Paris and is being questioned by a French…

New York, January 30, 2006—Belarusian police stopped a Ukrainian television crew at a border checkpoint on Friday and seized video footage they described as “antistate,” according to local and international press reports. A crew with the independent Inter network was returning to Kyiv from assignment in the Gomel region of Belarus when a border patrol…

Bangkok, Thailand, January 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Thai government’s recent moves to disrupt the signal of the satellite-based television news station Asian Satellite TV (ASTV) and to block access to a popular news Web site. Both actions appeared to be aimed in part at veteran journalist and media owner Sondhi Limthongkul,…