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WORLDWIDE PRESS FREEDOM INDEX 2007
Reporters Without Borders
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article =24021
Oct 16 2007
France
Eritrea ranked last for first time while G8 members, except Russia
recover lost ground
Bloggers now threatened as much as journalists in traditional media
Eritrea has replaced North Korea in last place in an index measuring
the level of press freedom in 169 countries throughout the world
that is published today by Reporters Without Borders for the sixth
year running.
"There is nothing surprising about this," Reporters Without Borders
said. "Even if we are not aware of all the press freedom violations in
North Korea and Turkmenistan, which are second and third from last,
Eritrea deserves to be at the bottom. The privately-owned press has
been banished by the authoritarian President Issaias Afeworki and
the few journalists who dare to criticise the regime are thrown in
prison. We know that four of them have died in detention and we have
every reason to fear that others will suffer the same fate."
Outside Europe - in which the top 14 countries are located - no
region of the world has been spared censorship or violence towards
journalists.
Of the 20 countries at the bottom of the index, seven are Asian
(Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Laos, Vietnam, China, Burma, and North Korea),
five are African (Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Somalia and
Eritrea), four are in the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, Palestinian
Territories and Iran), three are former Soviet republics (Belarus,
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan) and one is in the Americas (Cuba).
"We are particularly disturbed by the situation in Burma (164th),"
Reporters Without Borders said. "The military junta's crackdown
on demonstrations bodes ill for the future of basic freedoms in
this country. Journalists continue to work under the yoke of harsh
censorship from which nothing escapes, not even small ads. We also
regret that China (164th) stagnates near the bottom of the index.
With less than a year to go to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the reforms
and the releases of imprisoned journalists so often promised by the
authorities seem to be a vain hope."
G8 members, except Russia, show slight improvement
After falling steadily in the index for the past three years, the
G8 members have recovered a few places. France (31st), for example,
has climbed six places in the past year. French journalists were
spared the violence that affected them at the end of 2005 in a
labour conflict in Corsica and during the demonstrations in the
city suburbs. But many concerns remain about repeated censorship,
searches of news organisations, and a lack of guarantees for the
confidentiality of journalists' sources.
There were slightly fewer press freedom violations in the United States
(48th) and blogger Josh Wolf was freed after 224 days in prison. But
the detention of Al-Jazeera's Sudanese cameraman, Sami Al-Haj, since
13 June 2002 at the military base of Guantanamo and the murder of
Chauncey Bailey in Oakland in August mean the United States is still
unable to join the lead group.
Italy (35th) has also stopped its fall, even if journalists continue
to be under threat from mafia groups that prevent them from working in
complete safety. Japan (37th) has seen a letup in attacks on the press
by militant nationalists, and this has allowed it to recover 14 places.
"These developments are good news," Reporters Without Borders said.
"Perhaps the repeated calls to these democracies to behave in an
exemplary manner has finally borne fruit. But we must remain careful
and vigilant. Nothing can be taken for granted and we hope this trend
will continue or even accentuate near year. We regret all the same
that only two G8 members, Canada (18th) and Germany (20th), managed
to be among the top 20."
Russia (144th) is not progressing. Anna Politkovskaya's murder in
October 2006, the failure to punish those responsible for murdering
journalists, and the still glaring lack of diversity in the media,
especially the broadcast media, weighed heavily in the evaluation of
press freedom in Russia.
Bulgaria and Poland - Europe's bad boys
All of the European Union member countries made it into the top 50
except Bulgaria (51st) and Poland (56th). In Sofia, journalists can be
physically attacked because of their work. The climate got even worse
after charges were withdrawn against police officers who beat up a
journalist in May. In Poland, the authorities refuse to decriminalize
press offences and the courts often pass suspended prison sentences
on journalists. Ever since Lech Kaczynski became president in October
2005 and his brother, Jaroslaw, became prime minister a few months
later, there has been an increase in prosecutions of news media.
The countries of northern Europe are always the ones who behave best.
The exception is Netherlands (12th), which has fallen 12 places
because it kept two Telegraaf journalists in custody for two days for
refusing to reveal their sources to the judicial authorities. On the
other hand, Denmark (8th) recovered its position near the top of the
ranking after the end of the crisis over the Mohammed cartoons and
the acquittal of Berlingske Tidende's journalists.
In Spain (33rd), the Basque armed separatist group ETA broke off
its ceasefire, dashing the hopes the media of finally being able to
work without the threat of targeted violence hanging over them. Many
journalists continue to rely on close police protection.
Turkey (101st) is the region's only country where a journalist was
murdered. The victim was Hrant Dink, the editor of Armenian minority
newspaper Agos, who was gunned down in January by radical nationalists.
The status quo has held in central Asia. No improvement has been seen
in Uzbekistan (160th) or Turkmenistan (167th).
Fickleness of young democracies
Some non-European countries have made their first appearance in the
top 50. They are Mauritania (50th), which has climbed 88 places since
2004, Uruguay (37th) and Nicaragua (47th). "We hope these improvements
will be lasting ones," Reporters Without Borders said.
"Bolivia (68th) rose dramatically last year, but that improvement
unfortunately seems to have been purely circumstantial as it has fallen
many places this year because of serious press freedom violations."
Some countries that traditionally held a good position have also
fallen noticeably. This is the case with Benin (53rd) and Mali
(52nd). Journalists have been imprisoned in these two African countries
for the first time in several years for defamation or insulting the
president. In the Americas, El Salvador (64th) also dropped from the
top 50, falling 36 places in two years.
Government repression no longer ignores bloggers
The Internet is occupying more and more space in the breakdown of press
freedom violations. Several countries fell in the ranking this year
because of serious, repeated violations of the free flow of online
news and information.
In Malaysia (124th), Thailand (135th), Vietnam (162nd) and Egypt
(146th), for example, bloggers were arrested and news websites were
closed or made inaccessible. "We are concerned about the increase in
cases of online censorship," Reporters Without Borders said. "More
and more governments have realised that the Internet can play a
key role in the fight for democracy and they are establishing new
methods of censoring it. The governments of repressive countries
are now targeting bloggers and online journalists as forcefully as
journalists in the traditional media."
At least 64 persons are currently imprisoned worldwide because of
what they posted on the Internet. China maintains its leadership
in this form of repression, with a total of 50 cyber-dissidents in
prison. Eight are being held in Vietnam. A young man known as Kareem
Amer was sentenced to four years in prison in Egypt for blog posts
criticising the president and Islamist control of the country's
universities.
War and peace
War is largely responsible for the low position assigned to some
countries. The increase in fighting in Somalia (159th) and Sri Lanka
(156th) has made it very hard for journalists to work. Several have
been killed and censorship has been stepped up as clashes became
frequent. The belligerents refuse to recognise journalists' rights
and accuse them of supporting the other side.
The battle raging between Hamas and Fatah is the main cause of the
large number of serious press freedom violations in the Palestinian
Territories (158th). Hostage-taking, arrests, physical attacks and
ransacking of news organisations - the Palestinian media and the few
visiting journalist are threatened from all sides.
As predicted last year, Nepal (137th) has jumped more than 20 places
in the ranking. The end of the war and the return to democratic rule
resulted in an immediate recovery of basic freedoms and created new
space for the media.
Reporters Without Borders compiled this index by sending
a questionnaire to the 15 freedom of expression organisations
throughout the world that are its partners, to its network of 130
correspondents, and to journalists, researchers, jurists and human
rights activists. It contained 50 questions about press freedom in
their countries. The index covers 169 nations. Other countries were
not included because of lack of data.
Reporters Without Borders
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article =24021
Oct 16 2007
France
Eritrea ranked last for first time while G8 members, except Russia
recover lost ground
Bloggers now threatened as much as journalists in traditional media
Eritrea has replaced North Korea in last place in an index measuring
the level of press freedom in 169 countries throughout the world
that is published today by Reporters Without Borders for the sixth
year running.
"There is nothing surprising about this," Reporters Without Borders
said. "Even if we are not aware of all the press freedom violations in
North Korea and Turkmenistan, which are second and third from last,
Eritrea deserves to be at the bottom. The privately-owned press has
been banished by the authoritarian President Issaias Afeworki and
the few journalists who dare to criticise the regime are thrown in
prison. We know that four of them have died in detention and we have
every reason to fear that others will suffer the same fate."
Outside Europe - in which the top 14 countries are located - no
region of the world has been spared censorship or violence towards
journalists.
Of the 20 countries at the bottom of the index, seven are Asian
(Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Laos, Vietnam, China, Burma, and North Korea),
five are African (Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Somalia and
Eritrea), four are in the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, Palestinian
Territories and Iran), three are former Soviet republics (Belarus,
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan) and one is in the Americas (Cuba).
"We are particularly disturbed by the situation in Burma (164th),"
Reporters Without Borders said. "The military junta's crackdown
on demonstrations bodes ill for the future of basic freedoms in
this country. Journalists continue to work under the yoke of harsh
censorship from which nothing escapes, not even small ads. We also
regret that China (164th) stagnates near the bottom of the index.
With less than a year to go to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the reforms
and the releases of imprisoned journalists so often promised by the
authorities seem to be a vain hope."
G8 members, except Russia, show slight improvement
After falling steadily in the index for the past three years, the
G8 members have recovered a few places. France (31st), for example,
has climbed six places in the past year. French journalists were
spared the violence that affected them at the end of 2005 in a
labour conflict in Corsica and during the demonstrations in the
city suburbs. But many concerns remain about repeated censorship,
searches of news organisations, and a lack of guarantees for the
confidentiality of journalists' sources.
There were slightly fewer press freedom violations in the United States
(48th) and blogger Josh Wolf was freed after 224 days in prison. But
the detention of Al-Jazeera's Sudanese cameraman, Sami Al-Haj, since
13 June 2002 at the military base of Guantanamo and the murder of
Chauncey Bailey in Oakland in August mean the United States is still
unable to join the lead group.
Italy (35th) has also stopped its fall, even if journalists continue
to be under threat from mafia groups that prevent them from working in
complete safety. Japan (37th) has seen a letup in attacks on the press
by militant nationalists, and this has allowed it to recover 14 places.
"These developments are good news," Reporters Without Borders said.
"Perhaps the repeated calls to these democracies to behave in an
exemplary manner has finally borne fruit. But we must remain careful
and vigilant. Nothing can be taken for granted and we hope this trend
will continue or even accentuate near year. We regret all the same
that only two G8 members, Canada (18th) and Germany (20th), managed
to be among the top 20."
Russia (144th) is not progressing. Anna Politkovskaya's murder in
October 2006, the failure to punish those responsible for murdering
journalists, and the still glaring lack of diversity in the media,
especially the broadcast media, weighed heavily in the evaluation of
press freedom in Russia.
Bulgaria and Poland - Europe's bad boys
All of the European Union member countries made it into the top 50
except Bulgaria (51st) and Poland (56th). In Sofia, journalists can be
physically attacked because of their work. The climate got even worse
after charges were withdrawn against police officers who beat up a
journalist in May. In Poland, the authorities refuse to decriminalize
press offences and the courts often pass suspended prison sentences
on journalists. Ever since Lech Kaczynski became president in October
2005 and his brother, Jaroslaw, became prime minister a few months
later, there has been an increase in prosecutions of news media.
The countries of northern Europe are always the ones who behave best.
The exception is Netherlands (12th), which has fallen 12 places
because it kept two Telegraaf journalists in custody for two days for
refusing to reveal their sources to the judicial authorities. On the
other hand, Denmark (8th) recovered its position near the top of the
ranking after the end of the crisis over the Mohammed cartoons and
the acquittal of Berlingske Tidende's journalists.
In Spain (33rd), the Basque armed separatist group ETA broke off
its ceasefire, dashing the hopes the media of finally being able to
work without the threat of targeted violence hanging over them. Many
journalists continue to rely on close police protection.
Turkey (101st) is the region's only country where a journalist was
murdered. The victim was Hrant Dink, the editor of Armenian minority
newspaper Agos, who was gunned down in January by radical nationalists.
The status quo has held in central Asia. No improvement has been seen
in Uzbekistan (160th) or Turkmenistan (167th).
Fickleness of young democracies
Some non-European countries have made their first appearance in the
top 50. They are Mauritania (50th), which has climbed 88 places since
2004, Uruguay (37th) and Nicaragua (47th). "We hope these improvements
will be lasting ones," Reporters Without Borders said.
"Bolivia (68th) rose dramatically last year, but that improvement
unfortunately seems to have been purely circumstantial as it has fallen
many places this year because of serious press freedom violations."
Some countries that traditionally held a good position have also
fallen noticeably. This is the case with Benin (53rd) and Mali
(52nd). Journalists have been imprisoned in these two African countries
for the first time in several years for defamation or insulting the
president. In the Americas, El Salvador (64th) also dropped from the
top 50, falling 36 places in two years.
Government repression no longer ignores bloggers
The Internet is occupying more and more space in the breakdown of press
freedom violations. Several countries fell in the ranking this year
because of serious, repeated violations of the free flow of online
news and information.
In Malaysia (124th), Thailand (135th), Vietnam (162nd) and Egypt
(146th), for example, bloggers were arrested and news websites were
closed or made inaccessible. "We are concerned about the increase in
cases of online censorship," Reporters Without Borders said. "More
and more governments have realised that the Internet can play a
key role in the fight for democracy and they are establishing new
methods of censoring it. The governments of repressive countries
are now targeting bloggers and online journalists as forcefully as
journalists in the traditional media."
At least 64 persons are currently imprisoned worldwide because of
what they posted on the Internet. China maintains its leadership
in this form of repression, with a total of 50 cyber-dissidents in
prison. Eight are being held in Vietnam. A young man known as Kareem
Amer was sentenced to four years in prison in Egypt for blog posts
criticising the president and Islamist control of the country's
universities.
War and peace
War is largely responsible for the low position assigned to some
countries. The increase in fighting in Somalia (159th) and Sri Lanka
(156th) has made it very hard for journalists to work. Several have
been killed and censorship has been stepped up as clashes became
frequent. The belligerents refuse to recognise journalists' rights
and accuse them of supporting the other side.
The battle raging between Hamas and Fatah is the main cause of the
large number of serious press freedom violations in the Palestinian
Territories (158th). Hostage-taking, arrests, physical attacks and
ransacking of news organisations - the Palestinian media and the few
visiting journalist are threatened from all sides.
As predicted last year, Nepal (137th) has jumped more than 20 places
in the ranking. The end of the war and the return to democratic rule
resulted in an immediate recovery of basic freedoms and created new
space for the media.
Reporters Without Borders compiled this index by sending
a questionnaire to the 15 freedom of expression organisations
throughout the world that are its partners, to its network of 130
correspondents, and to journalists, researchers, jurists and human
rights activists. It contained 50 questions about press freedom in
their countries. The index covers 169 nations. Other countries were
not included because of lack of data.