(CPJ/IFEX) – On 30 April 1998, CPJ released the following statement in recognition of World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 1998: The leaders of Nigeria, Burma, Belarus, Cuba, and Indonesia are among the world’s 10 Enemies of the Press named today by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Selected for their relentless campaigns of suppression […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 30 April 1998, CPJ released the following statement in
recognition of World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 1998:
The leaders of Nigeria, Burma, Belarus, Cuba, and Indonesia are among the
world’s 10 Enemies of the Press named today by the Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ). Selected for their relentless campaigns of suppression of
journalists as documented by CPJ worldwide, they were identified in
connection with World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 1998.
Gen. Sani Abacha of Nigeria was named the press’ worst enemy. Other enemies
include Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia and Jiang Zemin of China. Leaders of
Jordan, Tunisia, and Turkmenistan were cited in CPJ’s annual ranking for the
first time.
“All of these 10 individuals are intent upon suppressing any independent
media voice, through whatever means necessary”, said William A. Orme, Jr.,
executive director of the New York-based press freedom group. “They are
collectively responsible for unabating press freedom abuse that has
penalized hundreds of journalists through physical attack, imprisonment,
censorship, harassment, and even murder.”
The 1998 Enemies of the Press:
1. Nigeria’s General Sani Abacha.
Five years into his dictatorship, Abacha has escalated his outrageous
assault on the country’s once-thriving independent press and reneged on his
promise to return the country to democracy. His brutal tactics keep 21
Nigerian journalists behind bars: Nigeria now holds more journalists in
prison than any other African nation. The February murder of Guardian editor
Tunde Oladepo, in front of his wife and children, and the April life
sentence meted out to “Diet” editor Niran Malaolu were warnings to
journalists not to criticize Abacha’s stage-managed referendum to secure his
succession unopposed.
2. Burma’s Senior General Than Shwe.
Than Shwe presides over the cosmetically renamed State Peace and Development
Council, but a junta is still a junta, and this stifling regime has changed
little since the military seized power in 1988. Burma is a nightmare for
free expression. Fax machines, photocopies, and computer modems are illegal.
There are no independent newspapers. Foreign broadcasts are frequently
jammed. In this climate of oppression, the Burmese people are kept in the
dark about even the nature of their own government.
3. Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko.
Ignoring international protests of repeated press freedom violations,
Lukashenko wages an ongoing, Soviet-style campaign against independent and
foreign media in Belarus. His March directive “On Enhancing
Counter-Propaganda Activities Towards Opposition Press” forbids state
officials to make any documents available to independent media and bans
government advertising in all but state-run venues. Lukashenko’s routine
suppression of the press is typified by the censorship and shutdown of the
independent newspaper “Svaboda” (Freedom). A staged trial of ORT (Russian
television) personnel in Minsk sentenced them to silence or two years in
prison.
4. Cuba’s President Fidel Castro.
Despite implicit promises to Pope John Paul II that there would be greater
room for freedom of expression, Castro continues his control over all media
outlets and his harsh treatment of independent journalists, who are
routinely detained, arrested and beaten, or forced into exile, especially
before major political events. In a new effort to staunch the
flow of information from the island, Castro created a special task force
within the State Security Agency to muzzle the independent press.
Journalists try to file stories by phone with colleagues abroad in order to
communicate with the outside world, but the Castro regime routinely monitors
journalists’ calls and interrupts telephone service.
5. Indonesia’s President Suharto.
With Indonesia’s economy in free fall, Suharto continues to run roughshod
over the media to prevent open, independent coverage of business and
politics. Journalists have been arrested, harassed, and threatened by the
military and driven into hiding. Despite this persecution, Indonesian
journalists are still attempting to provide broad coverage of the
rising opposition to Suharto. But publications that once dared to report on
the Suharto clan’s financial dealings remain closed by state order.
Meanwhile, cronyism endures, exacerbating the economic crisis, and reporters
are fearful that digging too deeply into the country’s financial troubles
could cost them their jobs or their lives.
6. Turkmenistan’s President Saparmurat Niyazov.
The self-proclaimed “father of all Turkmen” rules his country like the
old-style totalitarian,
cult-of-personality Soviet dictator he is making Turkmenistan the most
repressive of the former Soviet states. A pervasive culture of fear stifles
all dissent. Reporters for Radio Liberty (RL), the only alternative
non-state source of information in the Turkmen language, are routinely
harassed, beaten and forced into exile, and in recent months several have
been imprisoned by Niyazov’s state security forces. Despite his record,
Niyazov has been feted by President Clinton, Vice President Gore and others
seeking access to Turkmenistan’s vast natural gas and oil reserves.
7. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Lauded by U.S. policy makers as one of the new generation of African leaders
for his ostensive contributions to the democratization of Africa, Meles is
in fact an autocrat who attempts to suppress all press criticism of his
regime. His deliberate campaign of detention and harassment of Ethiopia’s
independent press has spurred scores of journalists to flee the country. In
1997 alone he imprisoned 16 journalists, many of whom are being held without
charge. Journalists continue to be targeted by police and threatened with
prosecution by a partisan judiciary.
8. Tunisia’s President Zine Abdine Ben Ali.
Ben Ali’s decade of rule has reduced the Tunisian press to one of the most
restricted in the Arab world. Journalists face swift reprisal for even the
most benign independent reporting of political affairs in the Tunisian
police state. They are dismissed from their jobs, denied
accreditation, and barred from leaving the country for anything that is
perceived as critical coverage. As a result, self-censorship has become
virtually institutionalized. The foreign press is also targeted: Ben Ali has
expelled four correspondents since 1991, and foreign news entering Tunisia
is systematically censored.
9. China’s President Jiang Zemin.
Jiang’s one-party state continues to control all forms of media, effectively
making independent reporting impossible. Press that fail to toe the
Communist Party line remain subject to harsh censure. All Internet
communications by local and foreign news media are monitored and subject to
state censorship. The release of two famous dissidents after intense
international pressure suggests a mild thaw in the climate for free
expression,
but it is far too early to celebrate a Beijing Spring. For reform to be
meaningful, the 10 journalists still in prison in China must be freed.
10. Jordan’s Prime Minister Abd al-Salam al-Majali.
In little more than a year in office Majali has mounted a harsh offensive
against Jordan’s outspoken independent press, known for its aggressive
coverage of the Israel-Jordan peace treaty, the economy, alleged government
corruption, and human rights abuses.
Last year, al-Majali’s cabinet enacted draconian amendments to the press
law, decimating the independent weekly press just before parliamentary
elections. This brazen manipulator muzzles the media through intimidation,
by arresting and prosecuting outspoken journalists, and by censorship.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit
organization that works to safeguard press freedom around the world. To view
CPJ’s annual report, “Attacks on the Press in 1997”, and the latest news
about press freedom conditions worldwide, visit http://www.cpj.org
