Reporters Without Borders/Reporters sans frontières - www.rsf.org

13 February 2008

REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS CRITICISES LACK OF PUBLIC COMMITMENT TO PRESS FREEDOM AND FEARS ANTI-MEDIA VIOLENCE IN COMING MONTHS

The plight of journalists in 98 countries reviewed

Reporters Without Borders today accused public officials around the world of "impotence, cowardice and duplicity" in defending freedom of expression.

"The spinelessness of some Western countries and major international bodies is harming press freedom," secretary-general Robert Ménard said in the organisation's annual press freedom report, out today (13 February) and available at www.rsf.org. "The lack of determination by democratic countries in defending the values they supposedly stand for is alarming."

He charged that the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva had caved in to pressure from countries such as Iran and Uzbekistan and expressed concern at the softness of the European Union towards dictators who did not flinch at the threat of European sanctions.

The report's introduction listed problems expected in the coming year, especially physical attacks on journalists during key elections in Pakistan (18 February), Russia (2 March), Iran (14 March) and Zimbabwe (29 March).

The worldwide press freedom organisation voiced concern about the safety of journalists covering fighting in Sri Lanka, the Palestinian Territories, Somalia, Niger, Chad and especially Iraq, where it said "journalists continue to be buried almost every week."

It also protested against censorship of new media (mobile phones transmitting photos and film and video-sharing and social networking websites) and highlighted media repression in China in the run-up to the Olympic Games there this summer.

"Nobody apart from the International Olympic Committee seems to believe the government will make a significant human rights concession before the Games start," it said. "Every time a journalist or blogger is released, another goes into prison. (Š) China's dissidents will probably be having a hard time this summer."

The report includes surveys of press freedom in every region of the world over the past year and chapters on 98 countries, including European Union members and the United States.

A press conference to introduce the report will be held in Washington on 13 February in the presence of journalists from Iraq, China, Eritrea and Pakistan. Another will be held in Berlin with Russian and Zimbabwean journalists.

FIJI

Area: 18,270 sq. km.
Population: 825,000.
Languages: Fijian, English, Hindi.
Head of state: Ratu Josefa Iloilo Uluivuda.

The military, which has been in power since a 5 December 2006 coup, gave some guarantees to privately-owned media. After a few tense months, Fijian journalists regained their independence, but the authorities continued to harass its critics, particularly on the Internet.

An army spokesman said in May 2007 that the military would stop hounding blogs "critical towards the institution and members of government". After blocking access to several of them, Col. Pita Driti relented and said that the military authorities "were no longer concerned about comments posted on these blogs". He explained his change of heart with the remark that the military had developed a "thick skin" and "no longer feels offended by criticism".

Several blogs had been made inaccessible over a period of a few days, among them resistfrankscoup.blogspot.com and fijishamelist.blogspot.com, but many of them changed address to get round this censorship. Col. Pita Driti made it clear: "The state of emergency is still in place and people should realise that some freedoms have to be restricted, including freedom of expression. When we have found these bloggers, we will take them to our military quarters and explain to them how their comments constitute a threat to the country". In 2007, the government appointed by the military said it wanted to allow media some independence, while keeping the power to "thwart those who try to take advantage of the situation to incite people to disturb the peace which now reigns." Many opposition figures were detained threatened, and sometimes beaten following the coup.