ATR

New York, March 24, 2004—Rakhim Esenov and Ashyrguly Bayryev, freelancers for the Turkmen Service of the Prague-based, U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), who were detained in late February and early March by agents from the National Security Service (MNB) in the capital, Ashgabat, have been released. However, the charges against them are still pending.…

New York, March 19, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the early release of freelance photojournalist Jae Hyun Seok but remains concerned that the charges against him have not been dropped. Seok, a South Korean national, was released today from prison in Shandong Province. He arrived at Inchon International Airport in Seoul late this…

There were 138 journalists in prison around the world at the end of 2003 who were jailed for practicing their profession. The number is the same as last year. An analysis of the reasons behind this is contained in the introduction on page 10. At the beginning of 2004, CPJ sent letters of inquiry to…

By Ann CooperIn real-time images, the war in Iraq splashed across television screens worldwide in March, with thousands of journalists covering the U.S.-led war against Saddam Hussein and his regime. The conflict and its aftermath had a far-reaching impact on the press and its ability to report the news, with the reverberations felt in some…

Across Asia, press freedom conditions varied radically in 2003, from authoritarian regimes with strictly regulated state-controlled media in North Korea and Laos, to democratic nations with outspoken and diverse journalism in India and Taiwan. Members of the media throughout the region struggled against excessive government interference, outdated press laws, violent attacks, and imprisonment for their…

While integration into NATO and the European Union has had a positive effect on press freedom conditions in most of Central Europe and the Baltic states, the situation for journalists in Russia and the former Soviet republics has worsened steadily, with governments relying on authoritarian tactics to silence the media. Even reformist governments in the…

A new press law implemented by the government in October 2002 imposes harsh restrictions on the press, undermining the limited democracy that was introduced in this tiny Persian Gulf archipelago after elections that year. The law includes an assortment of restrictions and stipulates fines, prison terms, or closure of publications for those that violate them.…

In 2003, Bangladesh was one of the most violent countries in the world for journalists, with almost daily cases of physical assaults and intimidation–particularly in rural areas. Local journalists say they are increasingly under threat for reporting on political violence, graft, and organized crime, but that the main cause of brutality against the press in…

Nominally democratic, Cambodia continues to struggle with its official commitment to press freedom while the government frequently uses its power to influence, control, and bully the press. The Cambodian print media are famously free and infamously full of gossip. Some 200 newspapers are licensed for publication, but virtually all Khmer-language publications are subsidized, directly or…

On March 15, rebels under the command of ousted former army commander François Bozizé captured the capital, Bangui, ending President Ange-Félix Patassé’s 10-year rule over this mineral-rich but chronically unstable country. Two weeks later, Bozizé announced the formation of a transitional government with representatives from all political parties, including Patassé’s Movement for the Liberation of…