More citizen journalists jailed
p2pnet.net News:- Citizen reporters are increasingly being targeted by repressive states with China, “challenging the notion that the Internet is impossible to control or censor,” says a new study.
If it succeeds, “there will be far-ranging implications, not only for the medium but for press freedom all over the world,” says the Committee to Protect Journalists annual world-wide census.
“The United States has imprisoned two journalists without charge or trial,” says the CPJ, “Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, now held for eight months in Iraq without due process; and Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj, jailed five years and now held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.”
China is the world’s leading jailer of journalists for the eighth consecutive year with 31 imprisoned, about three-quarters of whom were tried under vague “antistate” laws. Nineteen cases involve Internet journalists. the study states.
One in three journalists jailed world-wide is now a blogger, online editor, or web-based reporter, with China as the #1 jailer, says the report, going on that 134 journalists were imprisoned on December 1, an increase of nine from the 2005 tally.
China, Cuba, Eritrea, and Ethiopia were the top four jailers among the 24 nations who imprisoned journalists, says the study, linking to detailed accounts of each imprisoned journalist
“Print reporters, editors, and photographers continue to make up the largest professional category, with 67 cases in 2006, but Internet journalists are a growing segment of the census and now constitute the second largest category, with 49 cases,” says the CPJ.
“The number of imprisoned journalists whose work appeared primarily on the Web, via e-mail, or in another electronic form has increased each year since CPJ recorded the first jailed Internet writer in its 1997 census.
“The 2006 figure is the highest number of Internet journalists CPJ has ever tallied in its annual survey.”
Jailed Internet journalists include China’s ‘citizen’ reporters, independent Cuban writers who file reports for overseas Web sites, and the US vlogger Josh Wolf who refused to hand over footage to a grand jury.
Crucial juncture
We’re at a crucial juncture in the fight for press freedom, “because authoritarian states have made the Internet a major front in their effort to control information,” says CPJ executive director Joel Simon said.
Over all, “antistate” allegations such as subversion, divulging state secrets, and acting against the interests of the state are the most common charges used to imprison journalists worldwide. Eighty-four journalists are jailed under these charges, many by the Chinese, Cuban, and Ethiopian governments.
But the CPJ says it also found an increasing number of journalists held without any charge or trial at all.
“Twenty imprisoned journalists, or 15 percent, have been denied even the most basic elements of due process,” says the report. “Eritrea, which accounts for more than half of these cases, keeps journalists in secret locations and withholds basic information about their well-being.
In Cuba and in China, journalists are often jailed after summary trials and held in miserable conditions far from their families, the report states, “But the cruelty and injustice of imprisonment is compounded where there is zero due process and journalists slip into oblivion. In Eritrea, the worst abuser in this regard, there is no check on authority and it is unclear whether some jailed journalists are even alive,” Simon added.
Here’s the CPJ break-down.
As mentioned earlier, China enjoyed the Number One spot, but Cuba ranked second with 24 reporters, writers, and editors behind bars, most of them jailed in the country’s massive March 2003 crackdown on dissidents and the independent press. Nearly all of those on Cuba’s list had filed news and commentary to overseas Web sites. These journalists used phone lines and faxes, not computers, to transmit their reports; once posted, their articles were seen across the world but almost never in Cuba, where the government heavily restricts Internet access.
Eritrea is the leader among African countries, with 23 journalists in prison. These prisoners are being held incommunicado, and their well-being is a growing source of concern. A non-bylined report, circulated on several Web sites in August and deemed by CPJ sources to be generally credible, claimed that three of the journalists may have died. CPJ and other international organizations have urgently sought information from Asmara, but the government has refused to provide basic facts about the journalists’ whereabouts, their health, or whether they are still alive.
Neighboring Ethiopia has imprisoned 18 journalists, most of whom are being tried for treason after being swept up by authorities in a November 2005 crackdown on dissent. A CPJ investigation in April found no basis for the government’s treason charges. Burma, which is holding seven journalists, is fifth among nations, followed by Uzbekistan, which is holding five journalists. The United States, Azerbaijan, and Burundi are seventh on the list of nations, each having jailed three journalists.
Other trends and details in the CPJ’s analysis:
In about 10% of cases, governments used a variety of charges unrelated to journalism to retaliate against critical writers, editors, and photojournalists. Such charges ranged from property damage and regulatory violations to drug possession and association with extremists. In the cases included in this census, CPJ has determined that the charges were most likely lodged in reprisal for the journalist’s work.
Spreading ethnic or religious “hatred” was the next most common charge used to imprison journalists worldwide. Such charges were lodged in about four percent of cases.
Criminal defamation charges were filed in about three percent of cases, a slight decline from the rate recorded in recent years. A growing number of nations, particularly in Western Europe, have moved to decriminalize defamation and insult.
Violations of censorship rules account for another three percent of cases. Burma, for example, jailed two journalists in March for violating prohibitions on photographing or filming the country’s new capital, Pyinmana.
The longest-serving journalists in CPJ’s census were Chen Renjie and Lin Youping, who were jailed in China in July 1983 for publishing a pamphlet titled Ziyou Bao (Freedom Report). Codefendant Chen Biling was later executed.
The CPJ says it’s sent letters expressing its serious concerns to each country that has imprisoned a journalist, adding:
“In addition, CPJ sent requests during the year to Eritrean and U.S. officials seeking details in the cases in which journalists were held without publicly disclosed charges.
“CPJ’s list is a snapshot of those incarcerated at midnight on December 1, 2006. It does not include the many journalists imprisoned and released throughout the year; accounts of those cases can be found at www.cpj.org. Journalists remain on CPJ’s list until the organization determines with reasonable certainty that they have been released or have died in custody.
Journalists who either disappear or are abducted by non-state entities, including criminal gangs, rebels, or militant groups, aren’t included on the imprisoned list. Their cases are classified as ‘missing’ or ‘abducted’.
Details are also available on CPJ’s Web site.
Also See:
Committee to Protect Journalists – Internet fuels rise in number of jailed journalists, December 7, 2006
Josh Wolf – Josh Wolf appeal fails, November 18, 2006
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