Africa/Global: Eritrea features in global press outlaws club

IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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CAPSULE REPORT - INTERNATIONAL

4 February 2005

CPJ analysis names main offending countries in jailing journalists

SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 3 February 2005 CPJ press release:

In imprisoning journalists, four nations stand out

New York, February 3, 2005 - Four countries with long records of press
repression - China, Cuba, Eritrea, and Burma - account for more than
three-quarters of the journalists imprisoned around the world, a new
analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found.

"These four countries operate outside the international mainstream," CPJ
Executive Director Ann Cooper said. "The widespread jailing of journalists
is pursued only by those few nations that distrust their own citizens and
care little about the opinion of the rest of the world."

CPJ's annual census found 122 journalists in 20 countries in prison on Dec.
31, 2004, for practicing their profession. The tally is 16 fewer than the
year before, a result in part of international advocacy campaigns waged by
CPJ and other press freedom groups.

At least 74 imprisoned journalists worldwide were charged under various
"antistate" laws, such as subversion, sedition, divulging state secrets, or
acting against the interests of the state, CPJ's analysis found. Allegations
of "antistate" activity were made in 14 additional cases in which formal
charges were not made public, CPJ research found.

"The prevalence of these broad 'antistate' allegations is striking," Cooper
said. "It illustrates the propensity of repressive governments to simply
lock up journalists who write critically about public affairs."

In at least nine cases, CPJ found, journalists were imprisoned under
defamation, libel or "insult" laws. Authorities also used a variety of other
charges - inciting public unrest, spreading "false" news, and violating
restrictive media regulations - to jail journalists.

For the sixth consecutive year, China was the leading jailer of journalists,
with 42 imprisoned at year's end. Cuba ranked second with 23 reporters,
writers and editors behind bars, the grim legacy of the country's massive
March 2003 crackdown on dissidents and the independent press. Eritrea was
the leading jailer of journalists in Africa with 17 in prison, many of whom
were being held incommunicado in secret jails, according to CPJ research.

In Burma, 11 journalists were behind bars in reprisal for their work at
year's end. (Three were released after the beginning of the year.) Two of
those still in jail, documentary filmmakers Aung Pwint and Nyein Thit, were
honored with CPJ's 2004 International Press Freedom Award last November.
Imprisoned since October 1999, they are serving eight-year terms for making
independent documentaries that portrayed the harsh realities of life in
Burma, including poverty and forced labor.

CPJ has begun a campaign seeking the release of the two Burmese filmmakers,
with 400 prominent journalists and press freedom advocates joining the
effort. This week, CPJ sent to the Burmese embassy signed appeals from these
media executives, journalists, and free press activists that call for the
release of the men. CPJ launched a similar campaign last year that helped
lead to the release of Cuban writer Manuel Vázquez Portal, a 2003
International Press Freedom Award winner, and five of his colleagues.
Details of that effort are available at:
http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2003/cubacrackdown/index.html

CPJ believes that journalists should not be imprisoned for doing their jobs,
and that the use of such penalties is debilitating to the fundamental human
right to free expression. The organization has sent letters expressing its
serious concerns to each country that has imprisoned a journalist.

This year's list includes one U.S. journalist: Jim Taricani, a reporter for
WJAR-TV in Providence, R.I., who is serving six months of home confinement.
Taricani was convicted on a federal charge of criminal contempt for refusing
to reveal who leaked a government surveillance tape to him during a
municipal corruption probe. With at least two other U.S. journalists now
facing possible federal prison terms - Matthew Cooper of Time and Judith
Miller of The New York Times - CPJ has condemned the U.S. government's
stance and noted that it has sent a terrible message worldwide.

CPJ's full list of imprisoned journalists is available at:
http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2005/imprisoned_04/imprisoned_04.html.

The list is a snapshot of journalists incarcerated at midnight on December
31, 2004. It does not include the many journalists imprisoned and released
throughout the year; accounts of those cases can be found at
http://www.cpj.org. CPJ considers any journalist deprived of his or her
liberty by a government to be imprisoned. Journalists remain on CPJ's list
until the organization receives positive confirmation that they have been
released. Journalists who either disappear or are abducted by nonstate
entities, including criminal gangs, rebels, or militant groups, are not
included on the imprisoned list. Details of these cases are also available
on CPJ's Web site.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to
safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit
http://www.cpj.org

For further information, contact Wacuka Mungai at CPJ, 330 Seventh Ave., New
York, NY 10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465 1004, fax: +1 212 465 9568, e-mail:
[email protected], [email protected], Internet: http://www.cpj.org/

The information contained in this capsule report is the sole responsibility
of CPJ. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
CPJ.
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