PRESS COVERAGE OF ARMED CONFLICTS CONTINUED TO STIR THE HOSTILITY of governments and rebel factions alike and claim reporters’ lives, but the prominent role of the press in the often-volatile process of democratization also brought unprecedented challenges to journalists working in Africa. CPJ confirmed that in 2000, five journalists were killed specifically because of their…
IN LATE JUNE, A NATIONAL REFERENDUM REAFFIRMED PUBLIC CONFIDENCE in Uganda’s unique no-party political system. President Yoweri Museveni suspended the activities of political parties in 1986, arguing that the parties, many of which had religious or tribal bases, were the root of the armed conflicts and other problems afflicting Uganda and the rest of Africa.…
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…
President Yoweri Museveni and his ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) made it clear that criticism would not be tolerated in the run-up to a referendum on the Ugandan political system scheduled for June 2000. Using harassment and discriminatory legislation, the NRM government managed to suppress most independent political activity, including meetings and public rallies. This…
Your Excellency: As an organization of journalists dedicated to the defense of press freedom worldwide, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the ongoing prosecution of newscaster Frank Bagonza Kimoone and reporter Joseph Kasimbazi of the community radio station Voice of Tooro.