25 October 2006
RSF RELEASES 2006 GLOBAL PRESS FREEDOM INDEX
North Korea, Eritrea and Turkmenistan are the world's worst violators of press freedom, according to the latest global index released by Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontieres, RSF).
It is the sixth straight year that North Korea has topped the list since RSF's index was introduced in 2002. Under Kim Jong-il, the media is under total state control, says RSF.
In Turkmenistan, the death of journalist Ogulsapar Muradova shows that the country?s leader, "President-for-Life" Separmurad Nyazov, is willing to use extreme violence against those who dare to criticise him.
In Eritrea, several journalists have been imprisoned in secret detention centres for more than five years.
At the other end of the scale, Finland, Ireland, Iceland and the Netherlands tied for first place in having the best record on press freedom.
The United States ranked 53rd, behind countries such as Ghana, Mali, El Salvador and Panama.
Covering 168 countries, the index reflects the degree of freedom journalists and news organisations enjoy in each country, and the efforts made by the state to respect and ensure respect for press freedom, between September 2005 and September 2006.
The rankings are based on a list of 50 criteria for assessing press freedom in a country, including every kind of violation directly affecting journalists (murders, imprisonment, physical attacks and threats) and news media (censorship, confiscation of issues, searches and harassment).
Visit: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19388
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