ATR

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s lively media reported on numerous corruption and political scandals in 2002, from bomb threats against the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Sarajevo, to the government’s involvement in weapons sales to Iraq. The astonishing number of scandals reflected fragile government institutions and the existence of two ministates within the country: Republika Srpska and…

2002 was a particularly tough year for President Blaise Compaoré, as accusations mounted that he is one of West Africa’s most corrupt leaders and supports insurrection in neighboring Ivory Coast. Members of the media covering the corruption have been harassed, while the December 1998 murder of journalist Norbert Zongo remains unsolved.

President Pierre Buyoya’s government remained wary of political opposition and critical press reports during 2002. Meanwhile, government attempts to identify war criminals following Burundi’s eight-year civil war between the Tutsi-led regime and the Hutu-backed opposition stalled when peace talks collapsed again on November 7, and the conflict continued intermittently.

After three years, Chad’s bloody civil war ended in January, when the government of President Idriss Déby signed a peace accord with the rebel Movement for Democracy and Justice (MDJT). A month later, Parliament adopted a law granting MDJT members amnesty.

Colombia’s civil conflict once again took a brutal toll on the country’s press, with journalists threatened, attacked, kidnapped, and murdered. At least three journalists were killed for their work in 2002, and CPJ continues to investigate the slayings of five others whose deaths may have been related to their reporting. At year’s end, Colombia’s overburdened…

In late December, warring parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sealed a power-sharing deal, while the last foreign troops backing government or rebel groups prepared to withdraw from the vast, mineral-rich Central African nation. The latest agreement calls for a unity government, ending a four-year civil war that has ruined the country and…

A decades-long struggle for independence ended on May 20, when the U.N. Transitional Authority for East Timor (UNTAET) formally handed power to East Timor’s first elected government, making the tiny half-island state the first new nation of the millennium. A fledgling press has emerged from the destruction that followed the territory’s vote for independence from…

A decade after El Salvador’s long and bitter civil war, the country’s media remain polarized between conservative, pro-government groups and a small number of independent outlets.

The Gambia’s ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) won a landslide victory in mid-January parliamentary elections, capturing 52 of 55 seats in the National Assembly and cementing President Yahya Jammeh’s rule. The main opposition parties boycotted the poll, alleging electoral fraud. Jammeh and the APRC used their renewed power to silence opposition voices…

Separatist rebellions, a deteriorating economy, and political intrigue combined to keep Indonesia on edge for much of 2002. But despite the many challenges and tensions facing the country, the press remained substantially free and hung on to most gains made since 1998, when decades of dictatorship ended with the ouster of then president Suharto.