Attacks on the Press 2009: Introduction
By Joel Simon Does “name and shame” still work in the Internet age? After all, the massacre of 31 journalists and media workers in the Philippines pushed the 2009 media death toll to the highest level ever recorded by CPJ. The number of journalists in prison also rose, fueled by the fierce crackdown in Iran.
Human rights coverage spreads, despite government pushback
By Mohamed Abdel Dayem and Robert Mahoney The media in the Middle East loved the Intifada. Every detail of Israel’s violations of human rights in the late 1980s in the West Bank and Gaza appeared in the Arabic and Farsi press. The governments that owned or controlled these media outlets loved it, too. When pan-Arab…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Azerbaijan
Top Developments• Critical reporters jailed for defamation, “hooliganism.”• CPJ honors imprisoned editor Eynulla Fatullayev. Key Statistic 68: Novruzali Mamedov’s age when he died in prison after being denied medical care. Using imprisonment as a crude form of censorship, the authoritarian government of President Ilham Aliyev remained one of the region’s worst jailers of journalists. Authorities allowed one…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Bahrain
Top Developments• Authorities block Web sites critical of the government, the king, and Islam.• Officials pursue politicized court complaints against critical reporters. Key Statistic 1,040: Web sites that the Ministry of Information ordered censored in September. Bahrain has made significant strides in improving its human rights record since political reforms enacted in 2001, particularly concerning universal suffrage…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Egypt
Top Developments• Government is among the region’s worst oppressors of online expression.• Several editors fined for reporting on the president and other sensitive topics. Key Statistic 3: Online journalists imprisoned as of December 1, 2009. Authorities followed familiar tactics to control news media, pursuing politicized court cases, imposing fines, using regulatory tools, and harassing journalists. With Egypt…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Iraq
Top Developments• Fatalities and abductions plummet as security situation improves.• Prime minister, others file lawsuits to harass media. Kurdish courts jail six journalists. Key Statistic 4: Journalists killed in connection to their work, the lowest tally since the war began in 2003. Four Iraqi journalists were killed because of their work as the press continued to face…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Top Developments• Israel bars international press access to Gaza fighting.• Fatah, Hamas detain, harass media perceived as biased. Key Statistic 4: News media buildings in Gaza hit by Israeli airstrikes. As the year began, the Israeli military waged a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip in response to a series of Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Libya
Top Developments• Regime pursues defamation cases in Morocco and other countries.• Qaddafi nationalizes the nation’s sole private television station. Key Statistic 3: Moroccan newspaper ordered to pay damages for “injuring the dignity” of Col. Muammar Qaddafi. Col. Muammar Qaddafi marked in September the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought him to power and led to the…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Mexico
Top Developments• Amid threats and attacks, self-censorship becomes more pervasive.• Congress stalls on reforms to combat violence against the press. Key Statistic 9: Journalists missing since 2005. Most had covered crime and corruption. The deepening influence of organized crime and the government’s inability to curb worsening violence left the news media wide open to attack.…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Morocco
Top Developments• Authorities censor, jail journalists to silence coverage of the royal family. • Politicized courts issue heavy defamation awards. Key Statistic 100,000: Copies of two weeklies destroyed by authorities because they carried a poll about the king. As King Mohammed VI marked his first decade on the Alawite throne, his government moved aggressively to censor coverage…