Attacks on the Press 2003: Russia
Russian president Vladimir Putin and his coterie of former intelligence officials pressed ahead in 2003 with his vision of a “dictatorship of the law” in Russia to create a “managed democracy.” Putin’s goal of an obedient and patriotic press meant that the Kremlin continued using various branches of the politicized state bureaucracy to rein in…
Attacks on the Press 2003: Sudan
With more than a dozen private dailies and one government daily, Sudan’s print press is surprisingly diverse. Though some private papers are pro-government, many report aggressively on government policies. The state controls all television and radio stations. Rebel leaders and the Sudanese government moved closer in 2003 to an agreement to end their bloody 20-year…
Attacks on the Press 2003: Thailand
For the last two years, Thailand’s powerful and freewheeling media have been reeling from the effects of a popular and savvy prime minister who seems intent on using his absolute majority in Parliament to control the press. The process has been as subtle as it has been painful, with journalists saying that most pressure is…
Attacks on the Press 2003: Turkmenistan
In 2003, Turkmenistan’s megalomaniacal dictator, President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov, continued to tighten his grip on the country’s politics, natural resources, and the press. A wave of political repression against Niyazov’s real and imagined opponents followed an alleged assassination attempt against the president on November 25, 2002. The president escaped unharmed, and some Turkmen journalists and opposition…
Attacks on the Press 2003: United States
The U.S. media went to war in 2003, with both embedded and independent reporters pouring into Iraq to cover the U.S.-led invasion and its aftermath. U.S. officials called the invasion the best-covered conflict in history, but it was also one of the most deadly for journalists. All told, 19 reporters died while working in Iraq,…
Attacks on the Press 2003: Zimbabwe
Despite widespread international criticism of Zimbabwe’s appalling human rights record, President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) continued to silence voices of dissent in 2003. During the last four years, the government has pursued a relentless crackdown on the private press through harassment, censorship, and restrictive legislation. 2003 saw the…
Attacks on the Press in 2003: Journalists in Prison
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…
CPJ concerned about RFE/RL journalists
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent, nonprofit organization committed to defending press freedom worldwide, is extremely concerned about escalating government persecution of Turkmen journalists working for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
JOURNALISTS ATTACKED
Dhaka, March 3, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns yesterday’s violent attacks on at least two journalists covering a student demonstration at Dhaka University. The March 2 demonstration turned violent after police broke up a group of students, who had gathered to protest the February 27 knife attack on Dhaka University professor and writer…
11 journalists threatened
New York, February 11, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the safety of 11 journalists based in the northwestern city of Rajshahi who have received death threats from an underground communist group. On February 7, a letter from Janajuddha, (People’s War), a faction of the Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP), arrived…