Although Lebanon’s private media are known for their intense debates over local politics and criticism of government officials, Lebanese authorities do not hesitate to use censorship, legal harassment, and intimidation against journalists or media outlets that the government believes go too far.
During 2002, President Charles Taylor repeatedly invoked the war against the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) to clamp down on critical reporting. On February 8, he declared a state of emergency that broadened authorities’ power to limit press freedom.
Lingering political instability, pervasive official corruption, and interethnic tension kept Macedonia on edge in 2002. Sporadic clashes between the Macedonian government and ethnic Albanian rebels continued despite a peace accord signed in August 2001 to end the country’s short-lived civil war, which began in January 2001. As a result, independent journalism remains a tenuous and…
On January 25, the High Constitutional Court of Madagascar ruled that a runoff vote “within 30 days” would resolve the disputed December 2001 presidential election between longtime leader Didier Ratsiraka and Marc Ravalomanana, mayor of the capital, Antananarivo. Despite the ruling, however, both men declared themselves president and introduced their Cabinets to an impoverished populace,…
During 2002, the beleaguered Malawian press endured threats and verbal attacks from President Bakili Muluzi and his ruling United Democratic Front (UDF), as well as physical abuse from party supporters, while local media outlets struggled to maintain editorial independence in the face of mounting financial difficulties.
Strict licensing laws, self-censorship, and pervasive political influence dominate the press in Malaysia. Under the country’s severe Internal Security Act, journalists are also subject to indefinite detention without charge, as well as harsh libel penalties. The ruling National Front coalition and corporations allied with the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad control all major newspapers…
Mauritanian authorities continue to use the country’s harsh 1991 press law to punish journalists who run afoul of the regime. Article 11 of the law allows the interior minister to ban the sale of publications that commit such vague offenses as “insulting Islamic principles or the credibility of the state,” harming “the public interest,” or…
Two years after the historic election of Vicente Fox, which ended 75 years of one-party rule in Mexico, the country is being governed somewhat more democratically. But in 2002, the president still faced urgent demands to break with the government’s corrupt and secretive past in favor of transparency and public accountability.
Political instability and social unrest plagued Moldova in 2002, with disenfranchised groups struggling against the country’s authoritarian president, Vladimir Voronin, and his ruling Communist Party. The country’s small and beleaguered nonstate media suffered from the feeble economy and official harassment, while state print and broadcast media endured heavy-handed censorship.
After Morocco’s King Muhammad assumed the throne in 1999, the press continued a trend toward aggressive reporting that had begun during the final two years of the rule of his father, the late King Hassan II. However, a number of official restrictions imposed on the press during the last three years have tempered optimism about…