Attacks on the Press 2002: Israel and the Occupied Territories (Including the Palestinian Authority Territories)
While the press is largely free within Israel proper, the country’s military assault on the Occupied Territories fueled a sharp deterioration in press freedom in the West Bank and Gaza during much of 2002. Despite vocal international protest, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) committed an assortment of press freedom abuses, ranging from banning press access…
JOURNALISM’S TERRIBLE TOLL: CPJ releases new statistics
389 journalists killed between 1992 and 2001, most murdered with impunity New York, June 4, 2002–The majority of journalists killed in the line of duty during the last decade were murdered because of their reporting, concludes a study released today by the Committee to Protect Journalists. This comprehensive analysis of journalists killed between 1992 and…
Attacks on the Press 2001: Introduction
IN THE WAKE of September 11, 2001, journalists around the world faced a press freedom crisis that was truly global in scope. In the first days and weeks after the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., governments across the globe–in China, Benin, the Palestinian Authority Territories, and the United States–took actions to…
Attacks on the Press 2001: Middle East Analysis
Bucking a worldwide trend toward democracy in the post-Cold War era, the political landscape of the Middle East and North Africa remained dominated by an assortment of military-backed regimes, police states, autocracies, and oligarchies. A new, younger generation of leaders has emerged in some countries in recent years, inheriting power and bringing hope for political…
Attacks on the Press 2001: Algeria
Algeria’s boisterous press has been at odds with president Abdel Aziz Bouteflika since he took office in 1999. In 2001, the animosity took a more serious turn when the government promulgated harsh new press legislation. In June, despite intense local and international protest, the Algerian Parliament approved a series of new amendments to the Penal…
Attacks on the Press 2001: Journalists in Prison
There were 118 journalists in prison around the world at the end of 2001 who were jailed for practicing their profession. The number is up significantly from the previous year, when 81 journalists were in jail, and represents a return to the level of 1998, when 118 were also imprisoned.
Journalists facing prosecution for defaming military
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that independent Algerian journalists are facing criminal prosecution for defaming the military under restrictive new laws passed in June 2001. During a February 25 court hearing, the Ministry of National Defense charged Selima Tlemcani, a journalist for the French-language daily Al-Watan, under the new law with defaming the army. In a December 11 article, Tlemcani had accused the military police of financial misconduct.