ATTACKS O N T H E Press in 2009
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A Worldwide Survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists ATTACKS o n t h e press in 2009 Preface by fareed zakaria Founded in 1981, the Committee to Protect Journalists responds to attacks THE COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS on the press worldwide. CPJ documents hundreds of cases every year and takes action on behalf of journalists and news organizations without board of directors regard to political ideology. To maintain its independence, CPJ accepts no government funding. CPJ is funded entirely by private contributions from Chairman Honorary Co-Chairmen executive director individuals, foundations, and corporations. Paul E. Steiger Walter Cronkite (1916-2009) Joel Simon Terry Anderson The Associated Press, Thomson Reuters, and Agence France-Presse provided news and photo services for Attacks on the Press in 2009. directors Andrew Alexander Michael Massing Associated Press Franz Allina Geraldine Fabrikant Metz Christiane Amanpour Victor Navasky Editorial Director: Bill Sweeney Dean Baquet Andres Oppenheimer Deputy Editor: Lauren Wolfe Kathleen Carroll Burl Osborne Designer: Justin Goldberg Rajiv Chandrasekaran Clarence Page Chief Copy Editor: Lew Serviss Sheila Coronel Norman Pearlstine Copy Editor and Proofreader: Shazdeh Omari Josh Friedman Ahmed Rashid Anne Garrels Dan Rather Photo credits James C. Goodale Gene Roberts Cover: Reuters/Oswaldo Rivas—Honduran police surround AP photographer Cheryl Gould María Teresa Ronderos Dario Lopez-Mills as he covers protests that followed the June presidential coup. Charlayne Hunter-Gault Sandra Mims Rowe Back cover: AP/Bullit Marquez—Protesters in Manila call for justice in the mass killings of journalists and others in Maguindanao province, Philippines. Gwen Ifill Diane Sawyer Jane Kramer David Schlesinger David Laventhol Paul C. Tash © 2010 Committee to Protect Journalists, New York Lara Logan Mark Whitaker All rights reserved Printed by United Book Press in the United States of America Rebecca MacKinnon Brian Williams David Marash Matthew Winkler Kati Marton Attacks on the Press in 2009: A Worldwide Survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists advisory Board Tom Brokaw Charles L. Overby ISSN: 1078-3334 Steven L. Isenberg Erwin Potts ISBN: 978-0-944823-29-3 Anthony Lewis John Seigenthaler ATTACKS ON THE PRESS IN 2009 table of contents Preface by Fareed Zakaria 6 introduction by Joel Simon 9 middle east and north africa 199 analysis: Human Rights Coverage Spreads, Despite Pushback 201 by Mohamed Abdel Dayem and Robert Mahoney africa 13 Country Summaries 207 analysis: In African Hot Spots, Journalists Forced Into Exile 15 Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian by Tom Rhodes Territory, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Yemen Country Summaries 20 Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe journalists killed 245 Maguindanao: Makings of a Massacre: Impunity Fostered Killings 247 americas 59 by Shawn W. Crispin analysis: In the Americas, Big Brother Is Watching Reporters 61 analysis: Philippines, Somalia Fuel Record Media Death Toll 251 by Carlos Lauría Capsule reports 253 Country Summaries 68 Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, United States, Venezuela journalists in prison 285 asia 105 analysis: As News Business Evolves, Freelancers Are Under Fire 286 analysis: As Fighting Surges, So Does Danger to Press 107 Capsule reports 289 by Bob Dietz Country Summaries 115 Afghanistan, Burma, China, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam international Press freedom awards 346 Burton Benjamin Memorial award 351 europe and central asia 155 CPJ at a Glance 353 analysis: Why a Killing in Chechnya Is an International Issue 157 How to report an attack on the Press 354 by Nina Ognianova Staff 355 Country Summaries 165 Contributors 357 Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan index of Countries 358 attacks on the press in 2009 preface PREFACE Bahari was lucky. He had the resources of Newsweek and the Washington b y f a r e e d z a k a r i a Post Company behind him. With the help of the Committee to Protect Journal- ists and others, we were able to mount an international campaign on his behalf. Toward the end of his 118-day ordeal inside tehran’s evin prison, Newspapers around the globe ran ads and editorials calling for Bahari’s release. Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari had a bizarre exchange with his interrogator. World leaders pressured the Iranian government both publicly and privately. Bahari had been held in solitary confinement since his arrest after Iran’s disputed presidential election in June; he had been subjected to near-daily beatings and inter- rogation sessions that stretched for hours. But his jailers had not been able to prove But the media business is changing rapidly. Unable to afford foreign bureaus, their accusation that Bahari was a spy for Western intelligence agencies. So they more newspapers and magazines are relying on freelancers abroad. These had an ominous-sounding new charge to levy against him: “media espionage.” stringers look just as suspicious to dictators and militant groups—and they As Bahari later recounted, his interrogator didn’t have a specific definition are distinctly more vulnerable. In late year, Iran was still holding three U.S. for the crime, only an analogy. As a reporter for a Western news organization, the hikers, one of whom had worked as a freelance journalist in the Middle East. In November, two freelancers, man said, Bahari had been paid to send reports to foreigners—in his words, to Freelancers and local “enemies of Iran.” Was that not precisely what spies did? Case closed. a Canadian and an Australian, Bahari could laugh when telling the story later, home with his wife and child journalists take on added were released by a Somali rebel in London. But Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have essentially criminalized jour- importance and greater risk. group after 15 months in cap- nalism in their post-election crackdown. Like Bahari, several reporters have been tivity; with no media organi- accused of being instigators of a “velvet revolution” in the Islamic Republic— zation behind them, their case had received scant attention. Nine freelancers shapers, rather than witnesses to events. Since June, more than 90 have been ar- were killed in reprisal for their work in 2009, while 60 others were in prisons rested. Twenty-three remained in prison in late year, and some received years-long worldwide in late year. As publications and TV networks continue to shed staff sentences after quick show trials. In 2009, Iran became one of the world’s leading and look for ways to cover conflicts more affordably, the number of such cases jailers of journalists, second only to China. Other authoritarian governments are is only going to grow. watching, and no doubt learning from Tehran’s effort to muzzle the press. In this new environment, local journalists are going to assume added im- portance—and they will take on greater risk. In increasingly violent Pakistan, local reporters face threats from the Taliban and other militants, along with gov- ernment harassment and military indifference to their safety. (A year ago, News- week’s Sami Yousafzai was shot at point-blank range by a Taliban assassin and then detained by Pakistani police as soon as he left the hospital.) The Somali press corps has suffered devastating losses. Nine local journalists were killed in 2009 and dozens have fled the country. Western correspondents—few of whom venture into Somalia now—no longer have sources to rely upon for basic in- formation. Says Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Paul Salopek: “They were the first responders, if you will, to breaking news in Somalia. And most of them are gone.” Other than the U.S. hiker, the reporters inside Evin Prison are Iranians who worked for local media outlets; many others have been cowed into silence or have left the country. Quite a few of those Iranian prisoners are bloggers, or reporters and editors Associated Press—In Tehran, more than 100 dissidents and journalists faced vague antistate accusations during a mass, televised judicial proceeding in August. 7 attacks on the press in 2009 introduction for opposition Web sites. And with good reason: In many repressive societies, INTRODUCTION where newspapers and radio and TV stations are routinely shuttered, online b y j o e l s i m o n journalists have often been the most nimble at circumventing press restrictions. In Cuba, for example, where at least 25 journalistic blogs cover social issues and Does “name and shame” still work in the internet age? political news, bloggers cobble together personal computers from black-market After all, the massacre of 31 journalists and media workers in the Philippines parts and use their precious spare money to buy time at Internet cafés. But like pushed the 2009 media death toll to the highest level ever recorded by CPJ. The other freelancers, they also work without the sort of institutional protections— number of journalists in prison also rose, fueled by the fierce crackdown in Iran. including lawyers, money, and professional affiliations—that can help shield them For more than three decades, the strategy of “name and shame” has been a from harassment or detention. These types of journalists are especially vulnerable hallmark of the international human rights movement. The guiding premise is in China, Burma, Vietnam, and Iran. Indeed, half the news people in jail world- that even the most brutal leaders want to hide—or at least justify—their repres- wide are online journalists. sive actions. If abuses could be exposed through meticulously documented re- ports, and if those reports could generate coverage in major international media outlets, governments would be compelled to curb their most egregious behavior. This changing landscape makes the work done by the Committee to Protect The strategy worked exceptionally well from the 1970s through the 1990s, Journalists more critical than ever.