China, Cuba, two African
nations are top jailers of journalists
Ethiopian crackdown
fuels worldwide increase; U.S. is 6th among
nations
Committee
to Protect Journalists, December 13,
2005.
New York, December 13, 2005-China, Cuba,
Eritrea, and Ethiopia are the world's leading
jailers of journalists in 2005, together
accounting for two-thirds of the 125 editors,
writers, and photojournalists imprisoned
around the world, according to a new analysis
by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The United States, which is holding journalists
in detention centers in Iraq and Guantánamo
Bay, Cuba, rose to sixth among countries
jailing journalists, just behind Uzbekistan
and tied with Burma, CPJ found.
"Antistate" allegations, including
subversion, divulging state secrets, and
acting against the interests of the state,
were the most common charges used to imprison
journalists worldwide. Seventy-eight journalists
were jailed under such charges, many by
the Chinese and Cuban governments.
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Global tally of journalists
in jail on December 1, 2005, by country
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A sudden and far-reaching crackdown on
the Ethiopian press this fall fueled an
increase in the number of journalists jailed
worldwide, according to CPJ's census of
those held on December 1, 2005. The global
tally is three more than the 122 imprisoned
journalists CPJ found in its 2004 census.
Twenty-four countries imprisoned journalists
in 2005, reflecting an increase from the
20 nations included in the 2004 census.
"We're disturbed to see the number
of jailed journalists rise, and we're particularly
troubled that the list of the worst abusers
now includes Ethiopia and the United States,"
CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said.
"Journalists covering conflict, unrest,
corruption, and human rights abuses face
a growing risk of incarceration in many
countries, where governments seek to disguise
their repressive acts as legitimate legal
processes."
For the seventh consecutive year, China
was the world's leading jailer of journalists,
with 32 imprisoned. Fifteen, or nearly half,
of the cases in China involve Internet journalists;
more than three-quarters of the cases were
brought under vague "antistate"
laws.
Cuba ranked second, with 24 reporters,
writers, and editors behind bars, most of
them jailed in the country's massive March
2003 crackdown on dissidents and the independent
press. Eritrea was the leader among African
countries, with 15 journalists in prison,
many of them held incommunicado in secret
jails for reasons the government would not
fully explain, according to CPJ research.
Neighboring Ethiopia imprisoned 13 journalists,
all of whom were swept up by authorities
seeking to quell dissent amid civil unrest
in November. Ethiopian police blocked most
private newspapers from publishing; raided
newspaper offices, confiscating computers,
documents and other materials; and issued
a "wanted list" of editors, writers,
and dissidents.
Uzbekistan ranked fifth among countries,
with six journalists in prison. Burma and
the United States followed, with five apiece.
U.S. detention centers in Iraq were holding
four journalists, while the U.S. Naval Base
at Guantánamo held one.
Here are other trends and details that
emerged in CPJ's analysis:
o Forty-one journalists whose work appeared
primarily on the Web or in other electronic
forms were in jail, accounting for just
under one-third of the cases worldwide.
o Nine were charged with criminal defamation,
the second most common allegation used to
imprison journalists worldwide.
o Another five were jailed for reporting
what governments called "false"
information.
o No charge was publicly disclosed in 11
cases. The United States and Eritrea each
account for five such cases.
o The longest-serving journalists in CPJ's
census were Chen Renjie and Lin Youping,
who were jailed in China in July 1983 for
publishing a pamphlet titled Ziyou Bao (Freedom
Report). Codefendant Chen Biling was later
executed.
One of the imprisoned Chinese journalists,
Shi Tao, was honored with CPJ's 2005 International
Press Freedom Award. A freelance journalist
for Internet publications and an editor
for Dangdai Shang Bao, a business newspaper,
Shi is serving a 10-year sentence for "leaking
state secrets abroad." Shi was imprisoned
in November 2004 for posting online notes
detailing the government's instructions
on how the news media were to cover the
15th anniversary of the military crackdown
in Tiananmen Square. The government did
not classify the instructions as secret
until after the fact.
CPJ is waging a campaign seeking Shi's
release, collecting signatures from prominent
journalists and press freedom advocates.
Two of three imprisoned journalists honored
by CPJ since 2003-Burma's Aung Pwint and
Cuba's Manuel Vázquez Portal-were
freed due in part to the international advocacy
campaigns of CPJ and others. The third,
Burmese documentary filmmaker Nyein Thit,
remains in jail.
CPJ believes that journalists should not
be imprisoned for doing their jobs. The
organization has sent letters expressing
its serious concerns to each country that
has imprisoned a journalist.
In addition, CPJ sent requests during the
year to Eritrean and U.S. officials seeking
details in the cases in which journalists
were held without publicly disclosed charges.
Eritrean officials did not respond directly
to CPJ, but Information Minister Ali Abdu
told Agence France-Press that the jailings
were an internal issue that did not warrant
explanation. Journalists jailed in Iraq
were deemed security threats by U.S. and
Iraqi officials, according to U.S. military
officials, but those officials would not
disclose specific charges or supporting
evidence. A U.S. military spokesman would
not discuss the detention in Guantánamo.
CPJ's list is a snapshot of journalists
incarcerated at midnight on December 1,
2005. It does not include the many journalists
imprisoned and released throughout the year;
accounts of those cases can be found at
www.cpj.org. CPJ conducted its annual census
one month earlier than in past years to
provide a more timely year-end analysis.
CPJ considers journalists imprisoned when
governments deprive them of their liberty
because of their work. Journalists remain
on CPJ's list until the organization determines
with reasonable certainty 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.
Their cases are classified as "missing"
or "abducted." Details of these
cases are also available on CPJ's Web site.
See
CPJ's full list of imprisoned journalists.
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