At Attacks launch: What if governments are perpetrators?
When we launched the new edition of Attacks on the Press at the United Nations today, I was hit with questions about Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Both dealt with what amounts to the same problem: What do you do when you’re asking a government to investigate a crime in which it might have been the…
Attacks on the Press in 2010
A Worldwide Survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists Table of Contents Preface by Riz Khan International Institutions Fail to Defend Press Freedom by Joel Simon Exposing the Internet’s Shadowy Assailants by Danny O’Brien Journalists Killed Journalists in Prison Regional Analyses AFRICA: Governments Criminalize Investigative Reporting by Mohamed Keita AMERICAS: In Latin America, a Return…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Asia Analysis
Partisan Journalism and the Cycle of Repression by Bob Dietz and Shawn W. Crispin Lal Wickramatunga’s family and publishing house, Leader Publications, have paid dearly in Sri Lanka’s highly charged political climate. While Leader’s newspapers, including the weekly Sunday Leader, are widely known for tough, independent reporting, they have been caught up in a partisan…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Afghanistan
Top Developments • Two killed, but press fatalities don’t rise in proportion to overall dangers. • Kidnappings an ongoing hazard; two French journalists held captive. Key Statistic 13: Foreign journalists killed in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S. invasion. Journalists faced numerous challenges from a multifaceted war, instances of government censorship, a culture of official corruption,…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Burma
Top Developments • Junta bars foreign reporters, censors speech prior to national election. • Aung San Suu Kyi freed, but government still jails journalists, critics. Key Statistic 13: Journalists imprisoned as of December 1, the fourth‐highest figure in the world. After nearly five decades of uninterrupted military rule, Burma moved toward an uncertain new era…
Attacks on the Press 2010: China
Top Developments • Cracking down on ethnic press, authorities jail Uighur, Tibetan journalists. • Talk of media reform and press rights generates no official changes. Key Statistic 34: Journalists imprisoned on December 1, tied with Iran for the highest figure in the world. Operating under the strictures of the central propaganda department, official Chinese media…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Indonesia
Top Developments • Nation slides backward on press freedom; censorship threats emerge. • Three reporters murdered and magazine attacked, all with impunity. Key Statistic 2: Years’ imprisonment given to Playboy Indonesia editor in a politicized prosecution. Indonesia slipped backward on press freedom as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s government sought to balance progressive desires for an…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Top Developments • In West Bank, Gaza, journalists face obstruction from all sides. • Israeli fire kills Lebanese reporter during border clash. Key Statistic 18: Journalists detained when Israeli forces raided a Gaza-bound aid convoy. The press operated in a highly polarized environment as Israeli, Hamas, and Fatah officials, all intent on controlling international news…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Nepal
Top Developments • Three media owners slain. Kantipur group faces threats, obstruction. • Maoist cadres burn copies of two Kathmandu newspapers. Key Statistic 7th: Ranking on CPJ’s Impunity Index, reflecting one of the world’s worst records in solving press murders. The repeated failure to elect a leader cast doubt on the success of Nepal’s transition…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Philippines
Top Developments • Flawed procedures, witness intimidation, bribes mar Maguindanao prosecution. • Aquino pledges reform, but two more journalists are murdered for their work. Key Statistic 3rd: Ranking on CPJ’s Impunity Index, reflecting one of the world’s worst records in solving press murders. Trial proceedings began in September for the first 19 defendants in the…