Since the 1991 overthrow of Maj. Gen. Mohammed Siad Barre by forces loyal to warlord Mohammed Farah Aideed, historic clan rivals have threatened the unity of this country, once known for practicing multiparty democracy while military juntas and civilian despots controlled most other African countries. In the face of such chaos, the media, which had…
On September 27, in a landmark decision for press freedom in South Africa, a Johannesburg court dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by Minister of Housing Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele against the independent daily Mail & Guardian and its former editor Phillip van Niekerk. Van Niekerk and the Mail & Guardian had been sued over the paper’s December…
Like many of its East African neighbors,Tanzania has been overwhelmed by the proliferation of pornographic tabloids. Since 1992, when the advent of multiparty politics fostered media liberalization, the number of privately owned newspapers has steadily increased to about 400.
The Togolese government attempted to create a veneer of openness and democracy by finally holding twice-postponed legislative elections, while President Gnassingbé Eyadéma and his ruling Rassemblement du Peuple Togolais (Rally of the Togolese People, or RPT) increasingly harassed the private press. Authorities’ routine censorship of private publications, imprisonment of reporters, and attempts to impose new…
Uganda was the only country in Africa where a journalist was killed in 2002. Jimmy Higenyi, a student at the private journalism school United Media Consultants and Trainers, was shot by police while covering a rally of the opposition party Uganda People’s Congress in the capital, Kampala, on January 12. The government had banned the…
The U.S. government took aggressive measures in 2002 to shield some of its activities from press scrutiny. These steps not only reduced access for U.S. reporters but had a global ripple effect, with autocratic leaders citing U.S. government actions to justify repressive policies.
President Levy Mwanawasa was inaugurated on January 2 amid opposition charges of fraudulent elections and editorial comments in the independent press that the new head of state was the “puppet” of his predecessor, Frederick Chiluba. The election controversy, power struggles, and financial scandals in the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) dominated headlines in 2002.
Zimbabwean journalists continue to toil under extremely tough conditions, with government lawsuits and physical attacks by backers of the ruling ZANU-PF still regular occurrences. On August 28, unknown assailants blew up the newsroom of Voice of the People, which was founded by former employees of the official Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. The private news outlet has…
New York, March 28, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) deplores the Togolese government’s decision to bar the entire foreign press corps from working in the country. On March 26, the Communications Ministry sent a press release to the local newsrooms of the BBC, Radio France Internationale, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse barring foreign journalists from…
New York, March 20, 2003— Mathurin Momet, publication director of the private daily Le Confident in the Central African Republic (CAR), was released by rebels under the command of General François Bozizé on Saturday, March 15. He had spent more than three weeks in prison. Momet was among a group of prisoners jailed by President…