16 February 1999
IPI RECORDS 50 JOURNALISTS MURDERED IN 1998, EXAMINES FREE EXPRESSION IN 168 COUNTRIES
Press freedom violations, including the murder of at least 50 journalists, and major media developments in 168 countries in 1998 are covered in the International Press Institute's (IPI) "World Press Freedom Review". Of the journalists murdered, IPI believes at least 31 were killed because of their work, and the remaining cases are under investigation. There were also hundreds of journalists arrested in 1998 and over 100 remain in jail today. IPI says, "Through murder, beatings, harassment, threats, legal devices, administration and bureaucracy, among other methods, the free flow of information and ideas is all too frequently impeded." IPI's report concludes that true free expression is only experienced by one third of the world's population. It also documents in detail "the manifold methods that those with something to hide use to smother the free flow of information, opinions and ideas."
In Africa, IPI says, nine journalists were murdered, while others were the targets of "assassination attempts, death threats and other kinds of physical violence, persecution and intimidation during 1998." Journalists were subjected to "arbitrary and often illegal arrest and detention, especially in Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Nigeria" prior to the death of dictator Sani Abacha in June. Most of these attacks are "carried out with shocking impunity," says IPI. In addition, "there is a conspicuous and typical lack of neutrality and objectivity in the many state-owned broadcasters in the region." Finally, the media is subjected to legal restrictions including but not limited to criminal defamation laws, as in Ethiopia, Chad, Togo, Cameroon and Gabon, all of which IPI says "contribute to making Africa a very difficult and dangerous place to work in as a journalist."
In the Americas, IPI records ten journalists murdered, while "scores of others were threatened, harassed, detained, jailed, or physically attacked." IPI reports, "With the end of the military governments and the gradual establishment of multi-party democracies, Latin America's media have become increasingly independent, professional and powerful. However, violent attacks against journalists have increased with this new-found power, as corrupt officials, drug traffickers and organized criminals seek to prevent the media from exposing their activities." In addition, IPI says that "although government-sponsored violence is no longer a major threat, authorities are using other methods - including legal, administrative or economic pressure - to muzzle the media's critical reporting."
Most Asian countries have not attained true free expression, and the media suffer censorship and violence. Asian governments reacted differently to the economic crises spreading throughout the region, says IPI, noting that "some, such as Malaysia, tightened control of local and foreign media in order to pre-empt any challenge to the leadership;" while others such as Vietnam "showed some signs of liberalising in an effort to cultivate international goodwill and keep open channels of aid and investment." Meanwhile the "Asian model" of journalism first embraced in Singapore is "spreading fast through Asia, adopted by more and more governments to justify censorship and prohibit the import of specific publications, which apparently could undermine the stability of the state or contravene moral norms."
Europe is by no means exempt from violations against free expression, according to the "World Press Review". IPI writes, "All across Europe's varying media landscape, barriers to freedom of expression exist in numerous shapes and forms. Whether in the shape of murder, or the form of excessive libel judgements, the objective is the same: the quelling of undesirable ideas and information." More violations certainly were recorded across the former Soviet Union in the North and the Balkans in the South, but media also suffered in Western Europe. For example, in France, several journalists were arrested and questioned about their sources of information. The Russian media seem to be at the highest risk across the region, because IPI says in that country "assassination is still tragically used to good effect to silence unwanted voices; cases of intimidation and harassment are commonplace; the 'oligarches' blithely manipulate the media for personal gain; and a Communist-led Duma introduces legislation to censor and control."
The IPI "World Press Freedom Review" is available on IPI's Website at
http://www.freemedia.at or hard copies can be ordered from IPI headquarters, Spiegelgasse 2, A-1010 Vienna, Austria, tel: +43 1 512 90 11, fax: +43 1 512 90 14, e-mail:
ipi@xpoint.at.
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