---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: RSF - WORLDWIDE PRESS FREEDOM INDEX 2005 : North Korea, Eritrea
and Turkmenistan are the world's "black holes" for news From: "RSF
Afrique / RSF Africa" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, October 19, 2005 8:11 am
To: Recipient List Suppressed:;
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 2005 Worldwide Press Freedom Index and all
press releases about it are embargoed until :
06:01 Paris time (04:01 GMT) on Thursday, 20 October 2005 !!!
WORLDWIDE PRESS FREEDOM INDEX 2005
North Korea, Eritrea and Turkmenistan are the world's "black holes" for news
More and more African countries move up the list
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.
Reporters Without Borders
World press freedom ranking 2005
N° Country Note
1 Denmark 0,50
- Finland 0,50
- Iceland 0,50
- Ireland 0,50
- Netherlands 0,50
- Norway 0,50
- Switzerland 0,50
8 Slovakia 0,75
9 Czech Republic 1,00
- Slovenia 1,00
11 Estonia 1,50
12 Hungary 2,00
- New Zealand 2,00
- Sweden 2,00
- Trinidad and Tobago 2,00
16 Austria 2,50
- Latvia 2,50
18 Belgium 4,00
- Germany 4,00
- Greece 4,00
21 Canada 4,50
- Lithuania 4,50
23 Portugal 4,83
24 United Kingdom 5,17
25 Benin 5,50
- Cyprus 5,50
- Namibia 5,50
28 El Salvador 5,75
29 Cape Verde 6,00
30 France 6,25
31 Australia 6,50
- South Africa 6,50
33 Bosnia and Herzegovina 7,00
34 Jamaica 7,50
- Mauritius 7,50
- South Korea 7,50
37 Japan 8,00
- Mali 8,00
39 Hong-Kong 8,25
40 Spain 8,33
41 Costa Rica 8,50
42 Italy 8,67
43 Macedonia 8,75
44 United States of America (American territory) 9,50
45 Bolivia 9,67
46 Uruguay 9,75
47 Israel 10,00
48 Bulgaria 10,25
49 Mozambique 10,50
50 Chile 11,75
51 Dominican Republic 12,25
- Taiwan 12,25
53 Cyprus (North) 12,50
- Mongolia 12,50
- Poland 12,50
56 Croatia 12,83
57 Niger 13,00
58 Timor-Leste 13,50
59 Argentina 13,67
60 Botswana 14,00
- Fiji 14,00
62 Albania 14,17
63 Brazil 14,50
- Tonga 14,50
65 Serbia and Montenegro 14,83
66 Ghana 15,00
- Panama 15,00
68 Nicaragua 15,25
69 Paraguay 15,50
70 Romania 16,17
71 Congo 17,00
- Guinea-Bissau 17,00
- Seychelles 17,00
74 Moldova 17,50
- Tanzania 17,50
76 Angola 18,00
- Honduras 18,00
78 Burkina Faso 19,00
- Senegal 19,00
80 Uganda 19,25
81 Lesotho 19,50
82 Central African Republic 19,75
83 Cameroon 20,50
- Liberia 20,50
85 Kuwait 21,25
86 Guatemala 21,50
87 Ecuador 21,75
88 Comoros 22,00
89 Malawi 22,75
90 Burundi 23,00
- Cambodia 23,00
- Qatar 23,00
- Venezuela 23,00
- Zambia 23,00
95 Togo 23,75
96 Jordan 24,00
97 Madagascar 24,50
98 Turkey 25,00
99 Georgia 25,17
100 Kosovo 25,75
- United Arab Emirates 25,75
102 Armenia 26,00
- Gabon 26,00
- Guinea 26,00
- Indonesia 26,00
106 India 27,00
107 Thailand 28,00
108 Lebanon 28,25
109 Chad 30,00
- Kenya 30,00
111 Kyrgyzstan 32,00
112 Ukraine 32,50
113 Malaysia 33,00
- Tajikistan 33,00
115 Sri Lanka 33,25
116 Peru 33,33
117 Haiti 33,50
118 Swaziland 35,00
119 Kazakhstan 36,17
- Morocco 36,17
121 Djibouti 37,00
122 Rwanda 38,00
123 Bahrein 38,75
- Nigeria 38,75
125 Afghanistan 39,17
126 Sierra Leone 39,50
127 Mauritania 40,00
128 Colombia 40,17
129 Algeria 40,33
130 Gambia 41,00
131 Ethiopia 42,00
132 Palestinian Authority 42,50
133 Equatorial Guinea 44,00
- Sudan 44,00
135 Mexico 45,50
136 Yemen 46,25
137 United States of America (in Iraq) 48,50
138 Russia 48,67
139 Philippines 50,00
140 Singapore 50,67
141 Azerbaijan 51,00
142 Bhutan 51,50
143 Egypt 52,00
144 Côte d'Ivoire 52,25
145 Syria 55,00
146 Democratic Republic of Congo 57,33
147 Tunisia 57,50
148 Maldives 58,50
149 Somalia 59,00
150 Pakistan 60,75
151 Bangladesh 61,25
152 Belarus 61,33
153 Zimbabwe 64,25
154 Saudi Arabia 66,00
155 Laos 66,50
- Uzbekistan 66,50
157 Iraq 67,00
158 Vietnam 73,25
159 China 83,00
160 Nepal 86,75
161 Cuba 87,00
162 Libya 88,75
163 Burma 88,83
164 Iran 89,17
165 Turkmenistan 93,50
166 Eritrea 99,75
167 North Korea 109,00
--
Bureau Afrique / Africa desk
Reporters sans frontières / Reporters Without Borders
5, rue Geoffroy-Marie
75009 Paris, France
Tel : (33) 1 44 83 84 84
Fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51
Email : [log in to unmask] / [log in to unmask]
Web : www.rsf.org
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
|
