Attacks on the Press 1999: Africa Analysis
By Claudia McElroyAll over Africa, conflict continued to be the single biggest threat to journalists and to press freedom itself. Both civil and cross-border wars were effectively used as an excuse by governments (and rebel forces) to harass, intimidate, and censor the press–often in the name of “national security”–and in some cases to kill journalists…
Attacks on the Press 1999: 1999 Death Toll: Listed by Country
[Click here for full list of documented cases] At its most fundamental level, the job of a journalist is to bear witness. In 1999, journalists in Sierra Leone witnessed rebels’ atrocities against civilians in the streets of Freetown. In the Balkans, journalists watched ethnic Albanians fleeing the deadly menace of Serbian police and paramilitaries. In…
Attacks on the Press 1999: The Trauma of Sierra Leone
Introduction On January 6, 1999, rebel forces entered Freetown and launched a campaign of terror. Revolutionary United Front (RUF) fighters systematically murdered, mutilated, and raped thousands of civilians. During the three weeks that it took for Nigerian-led West African peacekeeping troops to expel the rebels from Freetown, Sierra Leone officially became the most dangerous country…
Attacks on the Press 1999: Sierra Leone
In 1999, Sierra Leone became the world’s most dangerous country for journalists, with a total of 10 journalists killed in the line of duty. (See Special Report on Sierra Leone) The combined rebel forces of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) viewed all journalists as “enemies.” During a bloody…
Sierra Leone: Peacekeepers make war on local press
Dear Lt. Col. Olokulade, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a non-partisan organization committed to the defense of press freedom worldwide, is deeply concerned about a number of attacks on the press in Freetown in recent days. An ECOMOG officer was directly involved in one attack. In another case, an ECOMOG officer stood by and did nothing to intervene.
Rebel soldiers free one journalist
Former military junta soldiers released a journalist and one other hostage on the night of Thursday, August 6. The two freed hostages were among 40 people kidnapped near the capital, Freetown, on Wednesday. The journalist, local Reuters reporter Christo Johnson, later told the BBC that the soldiers said they would free the remaining hostages once…
FOUR JOURNALISTS RELEASED
August 4, 1999 President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah State House Freetown, Sierra Leone BY FAX: (232-22) 225615 Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a non-partisan organization dedicated to the defense of press freedom worldwide, welcomes the release from jail, on the weekend of July 31, of four journalists who were imprisoned on charges of…
118 Journalists Imprisoned in 25 Countries
Washington, D.C., March 25 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported today in its annual worldwide study of press freedom that at least 118 journalists were in prison in 25 countries at the end of 1998, and 24 journalists in 17 countries were murdered during the year in reprisal for their reporting.
African Journalists Strategize at WAJA Conference
For some delegates, just getting to the West African Journalists Association (WAJA) regional conference in Dakar, Senegal, was an impressive achievement. While his colleagues used more conventional modes of transportation, Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) president Frank Kposowa navigated his way out of the country by night in a hired motorized dugout canoe. The…