(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an IPI press release: Vienna, 29 March 2001 Challenging the Silence: IPI Releases the “IPI World Press Freedom Review” 2000 The 2000 review highlights the fact that in many countries, silence is preferred to truth. Providing 165 reports on countries and territories around the globe, the “IPI World Press Freedom […]
(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an IPI press release:
Vienna, 29 March 2001
Challenging the Silence: IPI Releases the “IPI World Press Freedom Review” 2000
The 2000 review highlights the fact that in many countries, silence is preferred to truth.
Providing 165 reports on countries and territories around the globe, the “IPI World Press Freedom Review” is an authoritative account of press freedom violations in the year 2000.
The first year of the millennium has provided terrible evidence of the price paid by journalists when they are trying to report the news. In total, 56 journalists and media workers were killed this year, many in the most horrifying of circumstances. War, internal conflicts, coups, terrorism and personal vendettas have all played a part in ensuring that for the media, the new millennium has largely continued where the old one ended.
In the Americas, where 20 journalists were murdered, Colombia replaced Sierra Leone as the most dangerous country in the world to practice journalism. Asia, with 15 journalists killed, remains a region of concern and the internal problems within India and Pakistan have meant that, with 4 journalists murdered in each country, there is a real need for solutions to be found. Russia is now the most hazardous European country to work in, with six journalists dead, and is now the second most dangerous country in the world to practice journalism. In Africa, the number of journalists killed in countries such as Sierra Leone have fallen.
Significantly, perhaps the most disturbing feature of this year is that there are still many governments, groups and individuals that prefer silence to journalists practising their profession. All over the world, a variety of methods are employed to ensure that news integral to the democratic process never reaches those who have a right to the information. As a result, acts of government fail to be scrutinised, corruption goes unnoticed and murders are carried out with impunity.
Many of the African reports reveal governments that have a deep-seated antagonism towards the media. Countries such as Côte dâIvoire, Liberia and Malawi all make use of their police and military to intimidate and harass journalists. Early dawn raids, arrests without warrants, interrogation, lack of legal representation, imprisonment without bail and assault are all part of journalistsâ professional life in these countries. In other African countries, the mediaâs problems stem from the role played by a number of disparate groups within the societies. Often these groups are allowed to assault and threaten the media without government interference. The failure of governments to protect journalists faced by such dangers has been a consistent feature of many of the incidents during the year 2000.
In Latin America, coercion is a favoured method of maintaining silence. Threatening phone calls, police operatives standing outside journalists’ houses and the interrogation of family members are all examples of methods used to frighten journalists into submission. A compliant judiciary also features widely in some Latin American countries, where judges often appear to merely reflect the political will. Within Asia, compliance and submission are expected by many of the governments and they have been prepared to react harshly where journalists have refused to follow this unspoken code.
In North Africa and the Middle East, countries such as Tunisia and Yemen have consistently tried to block the free flow of information. Journalists courageous enough to speak out in these regions have been arrested and had their licenses to practice journalism withdrawn. In the Oceanic region, attempted coups in Fiji and the Solomon Islands also reinforced the fact that the media are targets in times of crisis.
Dangers for the media still exist in Europe, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, where laws are used to impede journalists and prevent them from informing the public. Secrecy laws are used to silence journalists, and the right not to reveal their journalistic sources has been placed under close scrutiny. In many countries across Europe, despite protests to the contrary, a culture of secrecy continues to prevail. There is also a growing awareness of the power of the media and some countries, especially Russia, have begun to explore a number of different methods to control the media.
Commenting on the state of press freedom, Director of IPI Johann P. Fritz said, “Faced by the events in this yearâs review, IPI believes it is obligated to challenge this silence whenever and wherever it occurs. Failure to do so would mean that those journalists who had the courage to speak out and who paid the ultimate penalty will have done so in vain.”
The “IPI World Press Freedom Review 2000” is available at: www.freemedia.at
