Press freedom severely backslides in 10 countries: report

May 2, 2007, 1:16 GMT

New York - The worst backsliders in freedom of the press over the past five years include countries that have turned from being relatively open into repressive and those where press conditions have worsened, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says in a survey released Wednesday.

Ethiopia, Gambia, Russia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, Pakistan, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Morocco and Thailand were cited by CPJ for government censorship, judicial harassment, criminal libel prosecutions, imprisonment of journalists and threats against the press.

In Russia, 11 journalists were murdered in the five-year period, the study said.

The survey was published on the eve of the UN annual World Press Freedom Day on Thursday.

'The behaviour of all of these countries is deeply troubling, but the rapid retreats in nations where the media have thrived demonstrate just how easily the fundamental right to press freedom can be taken away,' said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.

Simon said the three sub-Saharan countries are where press freedom has deteriorated the most over the past five years.

Ethiopia has launched a massive crackdown on the private press by closing newspapers and jailing editors. The survey said Ethiopia banned eight newspapers in 2006, expelled two foreign reporters and blocked critical Web sites. The imprisonment of journalists forced dozens of others to go into exile.

Gambia, Congo, Russia and Cuba have become the 'worst backsliders,' the survey says.

In Russia, the survey says all three national television channels are now under state control..

In Cuba, 29 journalists were imprisoned in a massive crackdown in 2003. Four foreign reporters were expelled for covering an opposition meeting in 2005 and another 10 were barred entry to cover Fidel Castro's illness in 2006.

Cuba and Ethiopia have become the world's leading jailers of journalists, the survey says.

Thailand and Morocco were once leading in press freedom, but the condition has sharply declined. Morocco is now tied with Tunisia 'for the dubious distinction of sentencing the most journalists to prison in the Arab world.'

In Thailand, the military junta under Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont nationalized the country's only private television station and ordered radio to broadcast only military-prepared news.

In Egypt, government agents assaulted reporters covering demonstrations and some top editors disappeared. An Egyptian human rights group said 85 criminal cases were lodged against journalists between 2004 and 2006.

In Azerbaijan, an editor named Elmar Huseynov was slain in 2005 and criminal defamation cases rose from one to 14 in the past five years. Two top journalists were kidnapped last year while imprisonments increased from none to five.