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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 May - 2 June 1999 Issue No. 431 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 May - 2 June 1999 Issue No. 431
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Living Features Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Violations without borders
By Fatemah FaragCentral to the aims of Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), a Paris-based international association, are the protection of journalists throughout the world and the defence of press freedom. It is not an easy mandate, considering that in 1998, 19 journalists were killed, 100 imprisoned, 487 arrested and 697 threatened or assaulted.
These figures are taken from RSF's recently-released report for 1999 entitled, "Freedom of the Press Throughout the World". While the numbers of those in prison, either serving sentences or awaiting trial, is more or less the same as the previous year, the number of journalists killed in the course of their work or because of their profession has continued to decline. For example, while 26 were killed in 1997, 1995 saw 51 deaths (22 of which were in Algeria) and in 1994 the figure reached 103 (including 48 in Rwanda).
However, it would seem that there is little to rejoice at in this reduction, for these relatively low new figures conceal a worrying trend: those 19 journalists who died last year did not die while covering armed conflicts, as has often been the case in the past. Almost all those who lost their lives in 1998 were killed because they had revealed or were investigating corruption, or ties between governments and organised crime. Thus, for example, in Russia, journalist Larissa Yudina was murdered while investigating embezzlement by the president of the republic of Kalmykia.
Moreover, according to the report, governments are not the sole source of violence against the press. A comparison is drawn in this connection between Turkey and Russia. In Turkey, an estimated 80 per cent of all assaults against journalists are committed by the police. In Russia, on the other hand, a central authoritarian power has largely been replaced by criminal organisations run by financial magnates, arms dealers and ambitious, unscrupulous politicians.
Whether the locus of violence is the state or some form of "private enterprise", Ethiopia and China topped the list as the globe's leading violators of journalists' rights and freedoms, followed by Syria, Burma and Turkey. Again, it is examples which best reveal what the press is up against. Journalist Gao Yu was arrested in China in October 1993. She is now serving a six-year sentence on charges of revealing state secrets. Although her health deteriorated sharply in 1998, the government still refuses to release her unless she undertakes a public act of self-criticism.
Alleged libel, publishing false information and insulting the head of state are accusations used by many governments to undermine the work of the media. In Croatia, a satirical weekly, Feral Tribune, was forced to pay $2.4 million in fines, while 600 similar cases are still pending against Croatian journalists. The report noted that most of the plaintiffs were close associates of President Franjo Tudjman. Blanket categories such as "state security", as well as various states of "emergency", are widely used to achieve similar ends.
It is not surprising then that, as we approach the year 2000, approximately 75 countries maintain a state monopoly on television, while 45 are doing battle with the forces of the age by trying to limit their citizens' access to the Internet. Again, China offers an insightful example: a web surfer was recently sentenced to two years in prison for supplying e-mail addresses to dissident publications based in the United States. Hanoi refuses to allow private Internet service providers to operate; in Rangoon, jail sentences of several years are handed down against anyone who does not declare ownership of a computer; while in Kuala Lumpur, the government has been trying to censor web sites that oppose the prime minister. All in all, it is estimated that 501 publications, TV channels and radio stations were the target of repression in 1998.
RSF works to alleviate the plight of imprisoned journalists and draw attention to their cases, through press campaigns, protest letters to responsible governments, providing lawyers, paying bills and supporting families. In addition to the annual report, RSF also issues a monthly news letter and provides material assistance to independent publications and broadcasters facing government repression.
Those interested in learning more about their work can access their web site at www.rsf.fr. Anyone with information relating to unjustified arrest, imprisonment, disappearance or expulsion of a journalist is encouraged to contact a 24-hour hotline number: + 33 1 47 77 74 14.
Our media may be growing technologically more advanced with every passing day, yet despite the countless pacts, charters, conventions and solemn statements that have confirmed and expanded on Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights over the past half-century, freedom of expression and of information are still the subject of severe repression all across the world.
