Burundi made some progress toward peace in 2003, but cease-fires remained fragile and civilians continued to bear the brunt of fighting between Hutu rebels and the Tutsi-dominated army. At the end of April, under intense international pressure, Tutsi President Pierre Buyoya stepped down in favor of his Hutu vice president, Domitien Ndayizeye, in accordance with the…
Nominally democratic, Cambodia continues to struggle with its official commitment to press freedom while the government frequently uses its power to influence, control, and bully the press. The Cambodian print media are famously free and infamously full of gossip. Some 200 newspapers are licensed for publication, but virtually all Khmer-language publications are subsidized, directly or…
In April, two days after Cameroon’s only private daily, the French-language Mutations, was suspended and three of its journalists were detained, Communications Minister Jacques Fame Ndongo assured journalists that, “Cameroon’s press freedom is real.” The Central African country’s beleaguered press corps might disagree. Amid widespread domestic and international criticism of Cameroon’s dismal human rights record–and…
On March 15, rebels under the command of ousted former army commander François Bozizé captured the capital, Bangui, ending President Ange-Félix Patassé’s 10-year rule over this mineral-rich but chronically unstable country. Two weeks later, Bozizé announced the formation of a transitional government with representatives from all political parties, including Patassé’s Movement for the Liberation of…
In 2003, the Chilean press reported extensively on human rights abuses during Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship and played a positive role in uncovering local corruption. Still, legal restrictions continued to hamper the press. As 2003 came to a close, President Ricardo Lagos’ bill to amend several articles of the Penal Code and the Code of…
With the commercialization of the press, the rapid spread of the Internet, and international condemnation of a government cover-up of the SARS virus, the new administration of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao faced a series of tests over government censorship policies in 2003. Although Hu initially called for the press to take on…
Colombian journalists continued paying an extremely heavy price for practicing their profession amid a 40-year-old civil war pitting two major leftist guerrilla groups against the Colombian army and right-wing paramilitary forces. At least four journalists were killed in reprisal for their work in 2003, and CPJ continues to investigate the deaths of three others.
While outdated media laws that encourage self-censorship among journalists remain on the books in Costa Rica, the decision by the Organization of American States’ (OAS) Inter-American Court of Human Rights to hear a criminal defamation case involving a Costa Rican journalist may have a profound impact on the region’s press. A ruling could set a…
Gradual political stabilization in the western Balkans and the implementation of political reforms required for Croatia to join the European Union by 2007 have led to greater press freedom and media pluralism in the country. However, rivalries in the ruling reformist coalition, a powerful far-right opposition, politicized media owners, and a judiciary in need of…
Unlike previous years, when Cuban authorities were mostly content to merely harass and threaten independent journalists and their families, in 2003, authorities launched an all-out assault against the opposition and the independent press. Officials jailed 29 journalists–about one-third of the island’s independent press–and sentenced them to lengthy prison terms. Those who continue to work face…