WASHINGTON, D.C.—It's a dangerous time to be a journalist, even sometimes in Europe and the United States. Last year, more journalists were killed in the line of duty than previous years going back to 1994, according to Reporters Without Borders.
"In 2007, journalists were more than ever targets of violence (86 killed) and repression (at least two are arrested each day)," says Robert Ménard, Secretary-General of Reporters Without Borders. Many journalists were imprisoned and several journalists were given death sentences last year.
On Feb. 13 at the National Press Club, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released its 2008 annual report on the state of press freedom across the world. At the news conference, a few journalists described the situation in their respective home countries of Eritrea, Pakistan, Iraq, China, and the United States.
Reporters Without Borders is an international human rights group that defends journalists.
Independent Media Unwelcome at Election Time
Journalists are often the target of regimes run by undemocratic leaders for whom it would be unseemly to openly rig their elections. Nowadays, they prepare for an election by, for example, pressuring election supervisors, controlling the judiciary, and arresting the journalists that they don't like.
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin is disdainful of criticism from the West because he knows of their dependence on Russian oil and natural gas. Internally, critics are silenced one way or another, and so he has dominating control of the up-coming March election. "Journalists are murdered in Russia every year and physical attacks on them are frequent," says the report.
Except for the Baltic states and the Ukraine, Russia's intolerance towards the free media extends to the countries of the former Soviet Union. For example, President Ilham Aliev in Azerbajan will ensure his re-election in part by brutal force against the journalists.
In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is working to control the media before parliamentary elections in mid-March. "Journalists not already in prison are summoned by judges who remind them they are only free conditionally," says the report. The government is closing down "the most outspoken and critical Internet websites."
The report's introduction listed problems expected in the coming year, anticipating attacks on journalists during key elections in Pakistan (Feb.18), Russia (March 2), Iran (March 14) and Zimbabwe (March 29).
Pakistan—Six Reporters Killed, 250 Arrested in 2007
Pakistan is a prime example of a government at war with journalists. "Journalists are likely to be physically attacked and arrested" in regard to the Feb 18, 2008 national elections, says RSF. Last year began ominously when Pervez Musharraf removed the President of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Chaudhry, illegally in March.
Repression and censorship of the media swept the country, and "journalists were frequently attacked and beaten up" by Musharraf's security forces, says the report. The government at the end of May banned live broadcasts of news events, according to RSF report. Cable companies pulled two privately owned TV stations from the cable package, and RSF confirmed with the cable companies that the Pakistani government told them to do it.
The crisis worsened when on Nov. 3, Musharraf declared a state of emergency and ordered the blackout of all independent television and radio stations. After Nov. 3, only state-run television continued to broadcast. "Mobile telephone communications in the capital were also subject to constant interruption," says the report.
The news ban of TV and radio naturally prompted a strong desire for news among Pakistanis. "Newspapers sales soared," says RSF, and the 15 percent of Pakistanis with access to the Internet went online in massive numbers—more than a million visits daily on one of the popular TV websites.
The above doesn't begin to describe the serious police brutality towards journalists. Police wielding clubs in Islamabad injured at least 30 journalists on Sept. 29 in order to prevent them from covering a demonstration by lawyers opposed to Pervez Musharraf. "Police arrested at least five photographers and cameramen in front of the Karachi Press Club on Nov. 5 as they covered a demonstration by human rights activists," says the report.
China: Olympics' Prisoners
Despite guarantees of total press freedom in 2001 when China was lobbying for the 2008 Olympic Games, and the new rules giving the foreign journalists greater freedom of movement in Jan. 2007, the promises are not being kept. In fact, there is even more repression as the authorities try to control the media's reports regarding the staging of the Olympics and last October's 17th Communist Party Congress.
The most well-known of the "Olympics' prisoners" is AIDS and other human rights issues activist, Hu Jia, who with his wife Zeng Jinyan and their new born daughter spent seven months under house arrest last year. At the end of Dec. 2007, Hu Jia was arrested and formally charged with "inciting subversion of state power." He and his wife post sensitive news on their blogs.
China jails the largest number of journalists, cyber-dissidents, Internet-users and others expressing their views. The prison conditions are often very harsh for committing these "crimes." They may share overcrowded cells with real criminals, made to work in the slave labor camps, and their guards or their fellow prisoners are encouraged to beat them. "At least 33 journalists were in prison in China at Jan. 1 2008," says the report.
Censorship is a way of life for journalists in China. RSF reported that "…in November, the Propaganda Department ordered the managers of China's leading media to avoid negative reports on air pollution, relations with Taiwan on the question of the Olympic torch, and public health problems linked to the preparation of the Olympic Games," says the report.
Media also risk losing their licenses for covering stories without permission. In practice they have to publish only the official news reports on incidents like accidents, epidemics, and natural disasters. And they cannot make their own investigations.
Western Leaders Easily Intimidated Except German Chancellor
The RSF report speaks of the "spinelessness of some Western Countries." They may not hesitate to condemn developing countries that hold little strategic value, but when it comes to confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin or Chinese leader Hu Jintao, they are afraid. "Trade with China and Russia is so important that human rights are rarely on the agenda," says Robert Ménard, Secretary-General of RSF, or else it is spoken in general terms.
"Who still dares to talk about the Dalai Lama or praise Taiwanese democracy to President Hu's face?" Only German chancellor Angela Merkel, says Ménard. "Who can withstand the icy look of President Putin in a discussion of rights in Chechnya or about the score of journalists murdered since he came to power?"
Ménard praised the German leader who was strongly criticized by German business for greeting the Dalai Lama last September. Chancellor Merkel courageously deplored what she called the "business diplomacy."
The full report can be found at: www.rsf.org.
Feeds