2005 a "dark year" for press freedom, says WAN

Fifty-one journalists have been killed so far this year and more than 500 arrested, making 2005 a dark year, the World Association of Newspapers said Monday in its annual review of press freedom worldwide.

North Koreans read a newspaper at the Yonggwang underground station – which means glory station – in the North Korean capital Pyongyang October 17, 2005. Little or no information on the state of the media trickles out of North Korea, which is a clear enough indicator that press freedom is non-existent in this police state. (Reuters/Reinhard Krause)

"Asia remains the worst region in the world for practising journalism, for the sheer number of persecuted journalists, lack of independent media outlets, and government repression of press freedom" said WAN in its report to its board, meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Iraq remains a deadly place to practice journalism. Eight journalists have been murdered in the past six months, bringing the total number for this year to nineteen. Asia remains the worst region in the world for practising journalism, for the sheer number of persecuted journalists, lack of independent media outlets, and government repression of press freedom.

The suffocation of independent media continues unabated in countries around the world. The governments of China, Cuba, Nepal, Belarus and Zimbabwe persist in their relentless onslaught against the media. Silence from North Korea, Eritrea, Libya and Turkmenistan sends an explicit message concerning the state of the media behind their fortified walls.

From the murder of journalists in Brazil and Haiti, the jailing of two more journalists in Cuba, and the imprisonment of Judith Miller in the United States, the Americas have faced a number of press freedom challenges in the past six months.

With China leading the group of the world’s worst press freedoms offenders alongside North Korea and Burma, Asia can be classified as the world’s worst region for media. Worsening conditions for journalists in Nepal further tarnish the region’s reputation. A small glimmer of improvement can be noted in the Philippines, however, where one journalist has been killed in the past six months, the lowest death toll in a long time.

An Iraqi man looks at a photograph of Iraq's former President Saddam Hussein making the front page of a newspaper, in central Baghdad, October 18, 2005. Ongoing violence and instability in Iraq have made the country the most dangerous place in the world for media. At least eight journalists have been murdered in the past six months, bringing the yearly total thus far to nineteen. Most of the victims were local journalists, many falling victim to attacks by insurgents. (Reuters/Ali Jasim)

The same Central Asian countries appear again and again on the radar for press freedom violations, and the past six months have been no different. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan remain inhospitable environments for media of any kind, and conditions are worsening for journalists in Kazakhstan. The government in Belarus continues to persecute what remains of the country’s independent press, and journalists in Russia sometimes fall victim to gang-style violence.

The Middle East and North Africa is one of the most troubling regions in the world for press freedom, and events in recent months have proved no exception. The continued slaughter of journalists in Iraq, intolerance and incarceration in Iran, and murders in both Lebanon and Libya have made this region the bloodiest in the world for journalists in the past six months.

Press freedom problems in Africa are punctuated by severe economic constraints, endemic problems of weak infrastructure, and a lack of resources, inadequate training facilities and the continued use of restrictive press laws. Despite these challenges, a vibrant press exists in Nigeria, Uganda and a number of southern African states.