IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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CAPSULE REPORT - INTERNATIONAL
8 December 2006
CPJ census finds more journalists held without charge or due process in 2006, with Internet fuelling rise in
imprisonment
SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York
(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 7 December 2006 CPJ press release:
Internet fuels rise in number of jailed journalists
More held without charge or due process, CPJ census also finds
New York, December 7, 2006 - The number of journalists jailed worldwide for their work increased for the second
consecutive year, and one in three is now an Internet blogger, online editor, or Web-based reporter, according to a new
analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
CPJ's annual worldwide census found 134 journalists imprisoned on December 1, an increase of nine from the 2005 tally.
China, Cuba, Eritrea, and Ethiopia are the top four jailers among the 24 nations who imprison journalists. Detailed
accounts of each imprisoned journalist are posted on CPJ's Web site.
Print reporters, editors, and photographers continue to make up the largest professional category, with 67 cases in
2006, but Internet journalists are a growing segment of the census and now constitute the second largest category, with
49 cases. The number of imprisoned journalists whose work appeared primarily on the Web, via e-mail, or in another
electronic form has increased each year since CPJ recorded the first jailed Internet writer in its 1997 census. The 2006
figure is the highest number of Internet journalists CPJ has ever tallied in its annual survey. The roster of jailed
Internet journalists includes China's "citizen" reporters, the independent Cuban writers who file reports for overseas
Web sites, and the U.S. video blogger Joshua Wolf who refused to hand over footage to a grand jury.
"We're at a crucial juncture in the fight for press freedom because authoritarian states have made the Internet a major
front in their effort to control information," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. "China is challenging the notion
that the Internet is impossible to control or censor, and if it succeeds there will be far-ranging implications, not
only for the medium but for press freedom all over the world."
Over all, "antistate" allegations such as subversion, divulging state secrets, and acting against the interests of the
state are the most common charges used to imprison journalists worldwide. Eighty-four journalists are jailed under these
charges, many by the Chinese, Cuban, and Ethiopian governments.
But CPJ also found an increasing number of journalists held without any charge or trial at all. Twenty imprisoned
journalists, or 15 percent, have been denied even the most basic elements of due process, CPJ found. Eritrea, which
accounts for more than half of these cases, keeps journalists in secret locations and withholds basic information about
their well-being. The United States has imprisoned two journalists without charge or trial: Associated Press
photographer Bilal Hussein, now held for eight months in Iraq without due process; and Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj,
jailed five years and now held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"In Cuba and in China, journalists are often jailed after summary trials and held in miserable conditions far from their
families. But the cruelty and injustice of imprisonment is compounded where there is zero due process and journalists
slip into oblivion. In Eritrea, the worst abuser in this regard, there is no check on authority and it is unclear
whether some jailed journalists are even alive," Simon added.
For the eighth consecutive year, China is the world's leading jailer of journalists, with 31 imprisoned. About
three-quarters of the cases in China were brought under vague "antistate" laws; 19 cases involve Internet journalists.
China's list includes Shi Tao, an internationally recognized journalist serving a 10-year sentence for posting notes
online detailing propaganda department instructions on how to cover the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
The government declared the instructions a "state secret."
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. Nearly all of those on Cuba's list had filed news and
commentary to overseas Web sites. These journalists used phone lines and faxes, not computers, to transmit their
reports; once posted, their articles were seen across the world but almost never in Cuba, where the government heavily
restricts Internet access.
Eritrea is the leader among African countries, with 23 journalists in prison. These prisoners are being held
incommunicado, and their well-being is a growing source of concern. A non-bylined report, circulated on several Web
sites in August and deemed by CPJ sources to be generally credible, claimed that three of the journalists may have died.
CPJ and other international organizations have urgently sought information from Asmara, but the government has refused
to provide basic facts about the journalists' whereabouts, their health, or whether they are still alive.
Neighboring Ethiopia has imprisoned 18 journalists, most of whom are being tried for treason after being swept up by
authorities in a November 2005 crackdown on dissent. A CPJ investigation in April found no basis for the government's
treason charges. Burma, which is holding seven journalists, is fifth among nations, followed by Uzbekistan, which is
holding five journalists. The United States, Azerbaijan, and Burundi are seventh on the list of nations, each having
jailed three journalists.
Here are other trends and details that emerged in CPJ's analysis:
- In about 10 percent of cases, governments used a variety of charges unrelated to journalism to retaliate against
critical writers, editors, and photojournalists. Such charges ranged from property damage and regulatory violations to
drug possession and association with extremists. In the cases included in this census, CPJ has determined that the
charges were most likely lodged in reprisal for the journalist's work.
- Spreading ethnic or religious "hatred" was the next most common charge used to imprison journalists worldwide. Such
charges were lodged in about four percent of cases.
- Criminal defamation charges were filed in about three percent of cases, a slight decline from the rate recorded in
recent years. A growing number of nations, particularly in Western Europe, have moved to decriminalize defamation and
insult.
- Violations of censorship rules account for another three percent of cases. Burma, for example, jailed two journalists
in March for violating prohibitions on photographing or filming the country's new capital, Pyinmana.
- 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.
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.
CPJ's list is a snapshot of those incarcerated at midnight on December 1, 2006. It does not include the many journalists
imprisoned and released throughout the year; accounts of those cases can be found at http://www.cpj.org . Journalists
remain on CPJ's list until the organization determines with reasonable certainty that they have been released or have
died in custody.
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.
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more
information, visit http://www.cpj.org
Ends