Attacks on the Press 1999: Table of Contents
PREFACE by Philip Gourevitch INTRODUCTION by Ann Cooper REGIONAL ANALYSES: Africa | Americas | Asia | Europe and Central Asia | Middle East and North Africa AFRICA: Country summaries Angola | Benin | Botswana | |Burkina Faso | Burundi | Cameroon | Chad | Comoros | Republic of Congo | Democratic Republic of Congo |…
Attacks on the Press 1999: Asia Analysis
By Kavita Menon and A. Lin NeumannMuch of Asia remained hostile to a free, independent media, despite the growing consensus that Asian political and economic stability depends in great measure on governments’ willingness to improve transparency and lift restrictions on the press. In China, Burma, Vietnam, and even Malaysia, government suppression of the media is…
Attacks on the Press 1999: Burma
Forcing their citizenry to live behind a wall of repressive ignorance, Burma’s military leaders have shown no signs of liberalizing one of the world’s harshest regimes. With all media controlled by the state, and access to the Internet, modems, fax machines and other communication devices strictly licensed and controlled, local journalists are reduced to reproducing…
Attacks on the Press 1999: China
Conditions for the heavily-controlled Chinese press worsened dramatically in 1999 as a broad clampdown on dissent and free expression led to fresh arrests of journalists, massive propaganda campaigns and systematic efforts by the secret police to monitor and control the Internet. Eleven journalists were arrested in 1999, bringing the total number of journalists in prison…
Attacks on the Press 1999: Macau
The handover of the former Portuguese colony of Macau to China on December 20 effectively ended the last vestige of European rule in Asia. Macau, a tiny island territory whose principal industry is casino gambling, is now a Special Administrative Region of China, to be governed in the same general manner as its larger neighbor,…
Attacks on the Press 1999: Malaysia
At the heart of Malaysia’s authoritarian reputation is its Printing Presses and Publications Act of 1984, which requires all publications to obtain licenses that can be revoked at will by the Minister for Home Affairs. The minister’s decisions are final, and there is no judicial review. A holdover from British rule, when a communist insurgency…
Attacks on the Press 1999: Taiwan
Taiwan, with its lively and diverse media, reveled in its reputation as a bastion of free speech and democracy. Government leaders made numerous public pronouncements on the importance of promoting press freedom, and advertised their efforts to strengthen civil liberties. In January, the legislature abolished a draconian publishing law that had been used to control…
Attacks on the Press 1999: Journalists Imprisoned
Algeria (2) Please send appeals to: His Excellency Abdel Aziz Bouteflika President of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria c/o His Excellency Ambassador Driss Djazairi Embassy of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria 2118 Kalorama Road N.W. Washington, DC 20008 Fax: 202-667-2174
Reporter jailed for exposing corruption
Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in CHINA New York, August 3, 2000 — Xinhua state news agency reporter Gao Qinrong has been in jail on trumped-up charges since December 4, 1998, for doing exactly what China’s leaders asked the country’s journalists to do: help fight corruption.