ATR

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Attacks on the Press 2000: Eritrea

REVERSALS IN THE BORDER WAR WITH ETHIOPIA and the signing of a peace agreement in December gave rise to a few skeptical stirrings in the Eritrean press. But the generally patriotic, pro-state orientation of local journalists impeded independent verification of reported press freedom abuses. In October, eight independent journalists were arrested for avoiding military service,…

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Attacks on the Press 2000: Ethiopia

AFTER PRIME MINISTER MELES ZENAWI AND ERITREAN PRESIDENT Isaias Afeworki signed a peace treaty on December 12, 2000, Zenawi announced that the end of the two-year-long border war would allow his government to strengthen Ethiopian democracy. But with seven journalists in jail at year’s end, it was unclear whether the newly reelected prime minister would…

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Attacks on the Press 2000: The Gambia

PRESS FREEDOM STANDARDS DECLINED SHARPLY LAST YEAR, a problem exacerbated by hostile public statements from Gambian government officials. Independent media, already beset by painful licensing procedures and fees, now faced the real threat of closure, as the government of President Yaya Jammeh moved to shore up its power in the wake of bloody student protests…

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Attacks on the Press 2000: Georgia

ALONG WITH ORGANIZED CRIME, SEPARATIST MOVEMENTS, and the excesses of regional strongmen, spillover from Russia’s war in neighboring Chechnya added to Georgia’s woes in 2000, making the lives of local journalists even more difficult. On October 16, the body of an Italian journalist who had covered the Chechen conflict was found on a mountain pass…

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Attacks on the Press 2000: Ghana

ON SEPTEMBER 27, GHANA’S VIBRANT INDEPENDENT MEDIA hosted Africa’s first-ever live presidential debate in advance of the December 7 national elections. The debates included six out of seven candidates for the presidency, reached an audience of several million Ghanaian voters, and helped boost the international popularity of outgoing president Jerry Rawlings, who stepped aside peacefully…

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Attacks on the Press 2000: Guatemala

DESPITE THREATS AND INTIMIDATION, Guatemalan journalists continued to pursue dangerous stories, including investigations into military activities and a government intelligence agency. Perhaps the biggest story of the year was the August revelation that Guatemalan legislators had secretly conspired to reduce a new tax on alcoholic beverages. Among those implicated in the scandal was the president…

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Attacks on the Press 2000: Guinea

AS GUINEA’S INTERNAL POLITICS HEATED UP AND RELATIONS WORSENED with neighboring Liberia and war-torn Sierra Leone, the government grew even more hostile toward the independent media. Nevertheless, Guinea boasts a lively private press that emerged, along with multiparty democracy, in the early 1990s. Guinean journalists faced harassment, abusive detention, and even exile in reprisal for…

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Attacks on the Press 2000: Indonesia

A YEAR AND A HALF AFTER THE END OF PRESIDENT SUHARTO’S authoritarian rule, the most significant reform in Indonesia remains the emergence of a largely unshackled press. With hundreds of islands and a large, fragmented population, the press plays a crucial role in allowing Indonesians to debate their future and in calming tensions that arise…

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Attacks on the Press 2000: Israel and the Occupied Territories

THE EXPLOSION OF VIOLENCE THAT BEGAN IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES on September 29 has been unsparing of journalists, reinforcing the West Bank and Gaza Strip’s reputation as among the world’s most hazardous beats. Reasons why included the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Israeli security forces, and militant Jewish settlers. While no conclusive evidence exists that the…

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Attacks on the Press 2000: Ivory Coast (Côte D’ivoire)

SOLDIERS UNDER THE COMMAND OF ROBERT GUEI, the retired general who seized power from an elected government on Christmas Eve, 1999, terrorized Côte d’Ivoire during their 10 months in power. As part of a general pattern of human rights abuses, they raided newsrooms at will, seized reporters’ equipment, banned news organizations, and forced journalists to…

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