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…
A year and a half after the youthful Bashar al-Assad came to power following the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad, in 2000, hopes that the new president would usher in an era of greater press freedom gave way to cynicism and disillusionment. President al-Assad’s regime has made it abundantly clear that while it will…
Read first-hand accounts by journalists covering the war in Afghanistan. • December 21, 2001—The New York Times reported that on December 20, Afghan tribal fighters detained three photojournalists working for U.S. news organizations. The journalists were detained for more than one hour, apparently at the behest of U.S. Special Operations forces in the Tora Bora area….
New York, September 28, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by harsh content restrictions contained in the new press decree announced by President Bashar al-Assad on September 22. “While CPJ welcomes the legalization of private media in Syria, which had been banned since 1963, the aggressive restrictions appear to negate the positive aspects of…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has welcomed news of the release of Syrian journalist and human rights activist Nizar Nayyouf, who was taken from prison to his parents’ home on the night of May 6 after serving nine years of a 10-year sentence. This action is a very positive step, although it is long overdue, particularly since Nayyouf has suffered severe health problems in prison.
New York, May 7, 2001 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed the release of Syrian journalist and human rights activist Nizar Nayyouf, who was taken by police from prison to his parents’ home Sunday night after serving nine years of a 10-year sentence for his conviction of membership in an unauthorized organization and…
ALTHOUGH RIGHTS TO FREE EXPRESSION AND PRESS FREEDOM are enshrined in national constitutions from Algeria to Yemen, governments found many practical ways to restrict these freedoms. State ownership of the media, censorship, legal harassment, intimidation, and imprisonment of journalists were again among the favored tools of repression and control. In Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria,…
PRESIDENT HAFEZ AL-ASSAD’S DEATH IN JUNE, after a 30-year reign, marked the passing of one of the most repressive dictators in modern Middle Eastern history. Assad ruled a police state that eliminated political opponents and stifled all independent debate. No independent or private media existed, and newspapers, television, and radio were mere propaganda outlets for…