ALTHOUGH THE BOLIVIAN PRESS IS PLURALISTIC and freedom of the press is generally respected, structural barriers as well as a tense political situation continued to impede independent reporting. In April, President Hugo Banzer imposed a state of emergency that lasted for nearly two weeks after violent protests against an increase in water rates broke out…
WITH LOCAL MEDIA SPLIT ALONG ETHNIC LINES and nationalist parties that found many ways to intimidate the press, Bosnia and Herzegovina made only modest press freedom gains in 2000. In the broader context of recovery under the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, more war criminals were captured and more minority refugees returned to their pre-war homes.…
WHILE REPORTERS IN BRAZIL’S MAJOR CITIES UNEARTHED various political scandals, their colleagues in the provinces faced violent reprisal from politicians and local landowners because of their reporting. One provincial journalist was murdered. In July, the aggressive urban press reignited a lingering scandal involving a 169 million real (US$90 million) embezzlement scheme tied to the construction…
WHILE BULGARIA PURSUED A BROAD RANGE OF LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS last year, living standards have been slow to improve and corrupt insiders have been the main beneficiaries of privatization. Journalists had more freedom to work independently, but many were still reluctant to pursue controversial stories due to concerns about physical security and legal harassment.…
TWO YEARS OF CIVIL UNREST SPARKED BY THE 1998 MURDER of a popular journalist have galvanized the independent press and forced President Blaise Compaoré to broaden his government. On November 12, Compaoré announced a new cabinet that included members of at least 10 opposition parties. The move followed widening protests, including general strikes in April…
CONDITIONS FOR JOURNALISTS IN BURMA ARE AMONG THE WORST in the world and showed no sign of improvement in 2000. All media outlets are either owned or controlled by the ruling State Peace and Development Council, the military junta that has governed the country since 1988. The handful of private journals allowed to publish face…
IN 1996, MAJ. PIERRE BUYOYA SEIZED POWER and promised a quick end to Burundi’s murderous civil war, which has taken more than 200,000 lives since 1993 and now consumes 50 percent of the national budget. His promises remained unfulfilled last year, leaving local journalists victims of and sometimes actors in a poisonous communal conflict. Amid…
WHILE CAMBODIA ENJOYS A SUBSTANTIALLY FREE PRINT MEDIA, local journalism continues to suffer from bitter political divisions and frequent clashes with government authorities. Press freedom is guaranteed by the Constitution, and the Khmer-language press is famous for taking dramatic liberties in print, often engaging in name-calling and attacks on various political leaders. Speaking to a…
NOVEMBER 4 MARKED PRESIDENT PAUL BIYA’S 18TH YEAR as leader of a regime that has persistently been accused of human rights violations. Cameroonian law enforcement officials make “widespread and systematic” use of torture, according to a March report by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The pompous anniversary celebrations failed to impress Cameroonian journalists,…
PRESS FREEDOM IS GENERALLY RESPECTED IN CANADA, and CPJ does not routinely monitor press conditions in the country. However, CPJ was greatly alarmed by the September 13 shooting of Michel Auger, a veteran crime reporter with the French-language daily Le Journal de Montréal, and sent a letter to Florent Gagné, general director of the Quebec…