Attention News Editors:
Worldwide press freedom index 2006 - North Korea, Turkmenistan, Eritrea,
the worst violators of press freedom
France and the United States slip further
Aggressive regimes in Africa and slow progress
MONTREAL, Oct. 23 /CNW Telbec/ - New countries have moved ahead of some
Western democracies in the fifth annual Reporters Without Borders Worldwide
Press Freedom Index, issued today, while the most repressive countries are
still the same ones.
"Unfortunately nothing has changed in the countries that are the worst
predators of press freedom," the organisation said, "and journalists in North
Korea, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Burma and China are still risking their
life or imprisonment for trying to keep us informed. These situations are
extremely serious and it is urgent that leaders of these countries accept
criticism and stop routinely cracking down on the media so harshly.
"Each year new countries in less-developed parts of the world move up the
Index to positions above some European countries or the United States.
This is
good news and shows once again that, even though very poor, countries can be
very observant of freedom of expression. Meanwhile the steady erosion of
press
freedom in the United States, France and Japan is extremely alarming,"
Reporters Without Borders said.
The three worst violators of free expression - North Korea, bottom of the
Index at 168th place, Turkmenistan (167th) and Eritrea (166th) - have clamped
down further. The torture death of Turkmenistan journalist Ogulsapar Muradova
shows that the country's leader, "President-for-Life" Separmurad Nyazov, is
willing to use extreme violence against those who dare to criticise him.
Reporters Without Borders is also extremely concerned about a number of
Eritrean journalists who have been imprisoned in secret for more than five
years. The all-powerful North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, also continues to
totally control the media.
Press freedom is genuine is Benin (23rd), Namibia (26th), Mauritius
(32nd), Ghana (34th), Mali (35th), South Africa (44th) and Cape Verde (45th)
and comparable to that in Western democracies. It does not exist or is
constantly under attack in Eritrea (166th), Gambia (149th), Somalia (144th),
Democratic Republic of Congo (142nd), Zimbabwe (140th) and Equatorial Guinea
(137th). The same African countries have featured at the top and bottom of
the
Index for several years.
Northern European countries once again come top of the Index, with no
recorded censorship, threats, intimidation or physical reprisals recorded in
Finland, Ireland, Iceland and the Netherlands, which all share first place.
Deterioration in the United States and Japan, with France also slipping
The United States (53rd) has fallen nine places since last year, after
being in 17th position in the first year of the Index, in 2002. Relations
between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the
president used the pretext of "national security" to regard as suspicious any
journalist who questioned his "war on terrorism." The zeal of federal courts
which, unlike those in 33 US states, refuse to recognise the media's right
not
to reveal its sources, even threatens journalists whose investigations
have no
connection at all with terrorism.
Freelance journalist and blogger Josh Wolf was imprisoned when he refused
to hand over his video archives. Sudanese cameraman Sami al-Haj, who works
for
the pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera, has been held without trial since June
2002 at the US military base at Guantanamo, and Associated Press photographer
Bilal Hussein has been held by US authorities in Iraq since April this year.
France (35th) slipped five places during the past year, to make a loss of
24 places in five years. The increase in searches of media offices and
journalists' homes is very worrying for media organisations and trade unions.
Autumn 2005 was an especially bad time for French journalists, several of
whom
were physically attacked or threatened during a trade union dispute involving
privatisation of the Corsican firm SNCM and during violent demonstrations in
French city suburbs in November.
Rising nationalism and the system of exclusive press clubs (kishas)
threatened democratic gains in Japan, which fell 14 places to 51st. The
newspaper Nihon Keizai was firebombed and several journalists physically
attacked by far-right activists (uyoku).
Fallout from the row over the "Mohammed cartoons"
Denmark (19th) dropped from joint first place because of serious threats
against the authors of the Mohammed cartoons published there in autumn 2005.
For the first time in recent years in a country that is very observant of
civil liberties, journalists had to have police protection due to threats
against them because of their work.
Yemen (149th) slipped four places, mainly because of the arrest of
several journalists and closure of newspapers that reprinted the cartoons.
Journalists were harassed for the same reason in Algeria (126th), Jordan
(109th), Indonesia (103rd) and India (105th).
But except for Yemen and Saudi Arabia (161st), all the Arab peninsula
countries considerably improved their rank. Kuwait (73rd) kept its place at
the top of the group, just ahead of the United Arab Emirates (77th) and Qatar
(80th).
Newcomers to the top ranks
Two countries moved into the Index's top 20 for the first time. Bolivia
(16th) was best-placed among less-developed countries and during the year its
journalists enjoyed the same level of freedom as colleagues in Canada or
Austria. But the growing polarisation between state-run and privately-owned
media and between supporters and opponents of President Evo Morales could
complicate the situation. Bosnia-Herzegovina (19th) continued its gradual
rise
up the Index since the end of the war in ex-Yugoslavia and is now placed
above
its European Union member-state neighbours Greece (32nd) and Italy (40th).
Ghana (34th) rose 32 places to become fourth in Africa behind the
continent's three traditional leaders - Benin (23rd), Namibia (26th) and
Mauritius (32nd). Economic conditions are still difficult for the Ghanaian
media but it is no longer threatened by the authorities.
Panama (39th) is enjoying political peace which has helped the growth of
a free and vigorous media and the country moved up 27 places over the year.
War, the destroyer of press freedom
Lebanon has fallen from 56th to 107th place in five years, as the
country's media continues to suffer from the region's poisonous political
atmosphere, with a series of bomb attacks in 2005 and Israeli military
attacks
this year. The Lebanese media - some of the freest and most experienced in
the
Arab world - desperately need peace and guarantees of security. The inability
of the Palestinian Authority (134th) to maintain stability in its territories
and the behaviour of Israel (135th) outside its borders seriously threaten
freedom of expression in the Middle East.
Things are much the same in Sri Lanka, which ranked 51st in 2002, when
there was peace, but has now sunk to 141st because fighting between
government
and rebel forces has resumed in earnest. Dozens of Tamil journalists have
been
physically attacked after being accused by one side or the other of being
biased against them.
Press freedom in Nepal (159th) has shifted according to the state of the
fighting that has disrupted the country for several years. The "democatic
revolution" and the revolt against the monarchy in April this year led
immediately to more basic freedoms and the country should gain a lot of
ground
in next year's Index.
Welcome changes of regime
Changes of ruler are sometimes good for press freeedom, as in the case of
Haiti, which has risen from 125th to 87th place in two years after the flight
into exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in early 2004. Several murders
of journalists remain unpunished but violence against the media has abated.
Togo (66th) has risen 29 places since the death of President Gnassingbe
Eyadema in February 2005, the accession to power of his son and
internationally-backed efforts to make peace with the opposition.
A coup in Mauritania in August 2005 ended the heavy censorship of the
local media and the country has risen to 77th position after being 138th in
2004, one of the biggest improvements in the Index.
Some African countries slipping while others move up
After a brief period of hope for improvement, Ethiopia (160th) dropped 29
places to near the bottom of the Index because of a crackdown and trial of
about 20 newspaper editors arrested at the same time as leaders of an
opposition coalition.
A combination of zealous police and corrupt judges once again sent
journalists to prison in Niger (95th) and Cameroon (112th), where an
Australian reporter was held for several days and some outspoken newspapers
were hauled before courts. Things got much worse in Burundi (125th) due to
increasingly aggressive behaviour by the government elected in 2005 towards
privately-owned media. Open threats, absurd legal harassment and shows of
force pushed the country down 35 places. Tight control of news and hostility
towards foreign journalists during the election campaign knocked Uganda
(116th) down 36 places.
Election year in the Seychelles (95th) took place under the dominance of
the government-run media and intimidation of the opposition press, losing the
country 23 places in the Index.
Despite the continuing political crisis in C矌e d'Ivoire (98th), the
country moved up 41 places because of the comparative calm for journalists
after several very bad years, though Abidjan remains a very dangerous city
for
the media. The "Young Patriot" militia once again seized control of the state
broadcasting studios in January 2006.
Madagascar (66th) moved up 31 places after a peaceful year without
violence or closure of media outlets. Reporters Without Borders compiled the
Index by asking the 14 freedom of expression organisations that are its
partners worldwide, its network of 130 correspondents, as well as
journalists,
researchers, jurists and human rights activists, to answer 50 questions about
press freedom in their countries. The Index covers 168 nations. Others were
not included for lack of data about them.
<<
World press freedom ranking 2006
No. Country Note
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Finland 0,50
- Iceland 0,50
- Ireland 0,50
- Netherlands 0,50
5 Czech Republic 0,75
6 Estonia 2,00
- Norway 2,00
8 Slovakia 2,50
- Switzerland 2,50
10 Hungary 3,00
- Latvia 3,00
- Portugal 3,00
- Slovenia 3,00
14 Belgium 4,00
- Sweden 4,00
16 Austria 4,50
- Bolivia 4,50
- Canada 4,50
19 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5,00
- Denmark 5,00
- New Zealand 5,00
- Trinidad and Tobago 5,00
23 Benin 5,50
- Germany 5,50
- Jamaica 5,50
26 Namibia 6,00
27 Lithuania 6,50
- United Kingdom 6,50
29 Costa Rica 6,67
30 Cyprus 7,50
31 South Korea 7,75
32 Greece 8,00
- Mauritius 8,00
34 Ghana 8,50
35 Australia 9,00
- Bulgaria 9,00
- France 9,00
- Mali 9,00
39 Panama 9,50
40 Italy 9,90
41 El Salvador 10,00
- Spain 10,00
43 Taiwan 10,50
44 South Africa 11,25
45 Cape Verde 11,50
- Macedonia 11,50
- Mozambique 11,50
- Serbia and Montenegro 11,50
49 Chile 11,63
50 Israel 12,00
51 Japan 12,50
52 Dominican Republic 12,75
53 Botswana 13,00
- Croatia 13,00
- Tonga 13,00
- United States of America 13,00
57 Uruguay 13,75
58 Fiji 14,00
- Hong-Kong 14,00
- Poland 14,00
- Romania 14,00
62 Central African Republic 14,50
- Cyprus (North) 14,50
- Guinea-Bissau 14,50
- Honduras 14,50
66 Madagascar 15,00
- Togo 15,00
68 Ecuador 15,25
69 Nicaragua 15,50
70 Burkina Faso 16,00
- Kosovo 16,00
- Lesotho 16,00
73 Congo 17,00
- Kuwait 17,00
75 Brazil 17,17
76 Argentina 17,30
77 Mauritania 17,50
- Senegal 17,50
- United Arab Emirates 17,50
80 Albania 18,00
- Qatar 18,00
82 Paraguay 18,25
83 Timor-Leste 18,50
84 Liberia 19,00
85 Moldova 19,17
86 Mongolia 19,25
87 Haiti 19,50
88 Tanzania 19,82
89 Georgia 21,00
90 Guatemala 21,25
91 Angola 21,50
92 Malaysia 22,25
93 Comoros 22,50
- Zambia 22,50
95 Niger 24,50
- Seychelles 24,50
97 Morocco 24,83
98 Bhutan 25,00
- C矌e d'Ivoire 25,00
- Turkey 25,00
101 Armenia 25,50
- Malawi 25,50
103 Indonesia 26,00
- Sierra Leone 26,00
105 India 26,50
- Ukraine 26,50
107 Lebanon 27,00
108 Cambodia 27,25
109 Guinea 27,50
- Jordan 27,50
111 Bahrein 28,00
112 Cameroon 28,25
- Peru 28,25
114 Gabon 28,50
115 Venezuela 29,00
116 Uganda 29,83
117 Tajikistan 30,00
118 Kenya 30,25
119 United States of America (extra-territorial) 31,50
120 Nigeria 32,23
121 Djibouti 33,00
122 Thailand 33,50
123 Kyrgyzstan 34,00
124 Chad 35,50
125 Burundi 39,83
126 Algeria 40,00
127 Swaziland 40,50
128 Kazakhstan 41,00
- Rwanda 41,00
130 Afghanistan 44,25
131 Colombia 44,75
132 Mexico 45,83
133 Egypt 46,25
134 Palestinian Authority 46,75
135 Azerbaijan 47,00
- Israel (extra-territorial) 47,00
137 Bangladesh 48,00
- Equatorial Guinea 48,00
139 Sudan 48,13
140 Zimbabwe 50,00
141 Sri Lanka 50,75
142 Democratic Republic of Congo 51,00
- Philippines 51,00
144 Maldives 51,25
- Somalia 51,25
146 Singapore 51,50
147 Russia 52,50
148 Tunisia 53,75
149 Gambia 54,00
- Yemen 54,00
151 Belarus 57,00
152 Libya 62,50
153 Syria 63,00
154 Iraq 66,83
155 Vietnam 67,25
156 Laos 67,50
157 Pakistan 70,33
158 Uzbekistan 71,00
159 Nepal 73,50
160 Ethiopia 75,00
161 Saudi Arabia 76,00
162 Iran 90,88
163 China 94,00
164 Burma 94,75
165 Cuba 95,00
166 Eritrea 97,50
167 Turkmenistan 98,50
168 North Korea 109,00
>>
For further information: Emily Jacquard, Canadian office representative,
Reporters Without Borders, (514) 521-4111, Cell: (514) 258-4208, Fax:
(514)521-7771, [log in to unmask]
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