NEWS
North Korea, Eritrea and Turkmenistan are the world's "black holes" for news
More and more African countries move up the list
Source: RSF



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October 20, 2005
North Korea once again comes bottom of the Reporters Without Borders
fourth annual World Press Freedom Index, released today. It is closely
followed in the 167-country list by Eritrea (166th) and Turkmenistan
(165th), which are other "black holes" for news where the privately-owned
media is not allowed and freedom of expression does not exist.

Journalists there simply relay government propaganda. Anyone out of step
is harshly dealt with. A word too many, a commentary that deviates from
the official line or a wrongly-spelled name and the author may be thrown
in prison or draw the wrath of those in power. Harassment, psychological
pressure, intimidation and round-the-clock surveillance are routine.

East Asia (Burma 163rd, China 159th, Vietnam 158th, Laos 155th), Central
Asia (Turkmenistan 165th, Uzbekistan 155th, Afghanistan 125th, Kazakhstan
119th) and the Middle East (Iran 164th, Iraq 157th, Saudi Arabia 154th,
Syria 145th) are where journalists have the toughest time and where
government repression or armed groups prevent the media operating freely.

The situation in Iraq (157th) deteriorated further during the year as the
safety of journalists became more precarious. At least 24 journalists and
media assistants have been killed so far this year, making it the mostly
deadly conflict for the media since World War II. A total of 72 media
workers have been killed since the fighting began in March 2003.

But more and more African and Latin American countries (Benin 25th,
Namibia 25th, El Salvador 28th, Cape Verde 29th, Mauritius 34th, Mali
37th, Costa Rica 41st and Bolivia 45th) are getting very good rankings.
Western democracies slip back
Some Western democracies slipped down the Index. The United States (44th)
fell more than 20 places, mainly because of the imprisonment of New York
Times reporter Judith Miller and legal moves undermining the privacy of
journalistic sources. Canada (21st) also dropped several places due to
decisions that weakened the privacy of sources and sometimes turned
journalists into "court auxiliaries." France (30th) also slipped, largely
because of searches of media offices, interrogations of journalists and
introduction of new press offences.

At the top of the Index once again are northern European countries
Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands, where
robust press freedom is firmly established. The top 10 countries are all
European. New Zealand (12th), Trinidad and Tobago (12th), Benin (25th) and
South Korea (34th) are the highest-ranked countries in other continents.
Press freedom, economic development and independence
Countries that have recently won their independence or have recovered it
are very observant of press freedom and give the lie to the insistence of
many authoritarian leaders that democracy takes decades to establish
itself. Nine states that have had independence (or recovered it within the
past 15 years) are among the top 60 countries - Slovenia (9th), Estonia
(11th), Latvia (16th), Lithuania (21st), Namibia (25th),
Bosnia-Herzegovina (33rd), Macedonia (43rd), Croatia (56th) and East Timor
(58th).

The Index also contradicts the frequent argument by leaders of poor and
repressive countries that economic development is a vital precondition for
democracy and respect for human rights. The top of the Index is heavily
dominated by rich countries, but several very poor ones (with a per capita
GDP of less than $1,000 in 2003) are among the top 60, such as Benin
(25th), Mali (37th), Bolivia (45th), Mozambique (49th), Mongolia (53rd),
Niger (57th) and East Timor (58th).
Two reasons for improvement
More African countries are moving up into the top half of the index each
year thanks to their progress in the fight against impunity and the
abolition of prison terms for press offences such as libel and slander and
the printing of inaccurate news.

While those that usually respect press freedom - Cape Verde (29th), South
Africa (31st), Mauritius (34th) and Mali (37th) - kept their positions in
2005, Mozambique jumped from 64th to 49th place. Heavy sentences passed on
the killers of Mozambican journalist Carlos Cardoso helped to calm a
situation which was difficult in the late 1990s. Decriminalisation of
press offences in the Central African Republic lifted the country from
104th to 82nd place and Angola (76th) also improved its ranking further
due to legal reforms as it emerged from a long civil war.

Continued failure to punish the murderers of Norbert Zongo in Burkina Faso
(78th) and unfulfilled promises of decriminalisation by President
Abdoulaye Wade in Senegal (79th) prevented these countries from moving up,
though the situation was worse in Cameroon (83rd), where journalists are
still routinely thrown in prison. Internationally-observed elections
allowed Guinea-Bissau (71st) and Liberia (83rd) to move up slightly.
Continuing violence
Unjust laws and repressive governments held back some countries where
there is genuine news diversity, such as Madagascar (97th), Guinea
(102nd), Kenya (109th), Chad (109th), Mauritania (127th) and Ethiopia
(131st).

Press freedom sharply deteriorated in some countries. Gambia, with general
mistrust between media and government in recent years, dropped to 130th
place because of the unpunished murder of journalist Deyda Hydara and the
increasingly hostile attitude to the media by President Yahya Jammeh. In
Sierra Leone (126th), political and police violence against journalists
worsened an already bad situation with the murder of Harry Yansaneh, who
replaced the jailed Paul Kamara as editor of the daily paper For Di
People.

Despite efforts by journalists to defend themselves in Somalia (149th),
the country is still one the continent's most dangerous places for the
media and has not managed to emerge from general disorder. Two women
journalists, the BBC's Kate Peyton and Duniya Muhiyadin Nur, of the radio
station HornAfrik, were killed during the year in Mogadishu.

Pervasive violence and repression, backed by often absurd laws, prevented
any improvement in the ranking of the Democratic Republic of Congo
(146th). Zimbabwe (153rd) meanwhile continued downward, with one of the
continent's most ruthless regimes facing a courageous but poorly-equipped
independent press. In Eritrea, which at (166th) is bottom-but-one of the
world ranking, press freedom has not existed since 18 September 2001, when
the privately-owned media was abolished.

Reporters Without Borders compiled this Index of 167 countries by asking
its partner organizations (14 freedom of expression groups from around the
world) and its network of 130 correspondents, as well as journalists,
researchers, legal experts and human rights activists, to answer 50
questions designed to assess a country's level of press freedom. Some
countries are not mentioned for lack of information about them.

Click here to see the complete index.



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