Solomon Islands

After four years of fierce civil conflict in the Solomon Islands, an Australian-led international peacekeeping force managed to pacify the country in 2003. The media, which had been a frequent target of armed militias and corrupt local officials, enjoyed a respite under the international presence and operated with relative freedom.

The vicious murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan focused international attention on the dangers faced by journalists covering the U.S. "war on terror," yet most attacks on journalists in Asia happened far from the eyes of the international press. In countries such as Bangladesh and the Philippines, reporters covering crime and political corruption were as vulnerable to attack as those reporting on violent insurgency. Seven journalists were killed in 2002 for their work in Asia.

Shortly after U.S. president George W. Bush arrived in South Korea's capital, Seoul, in February 2002 for a state visit, the North Korean state news agency, KCNA, reported a miracle: that a cloud in the shape of a Kimjongilia, the flower named after the country's leader, Kim Jong Il, had appeared over North Korea. "Even the sky above the Mount Paektu area seemed to be decorated with beautiful flowers," KCNA said. The piece was a whimsical effort to trump news of Bush's visit to the other side of the divided Korean peninsula, according to The New York Times.

Despite a hostile political and economic atmosphere, the Solomon Islands' small but tenacious media have managed to pursue controversial stories, including exposés of official misconduct and links between the government and ethnic militias. In 1998, a violent conflict erupted after indigenous residents of Guadalcanal, the archipelago's largest island, formed the Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM) to force out migrants from neighboring Malaita Island--who in turn created the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF). Although the warring militias signed a peace deal in 2000, they have mostly reneged on pledges to disarm and still hold tremendous power. Militants from both groups have been responsible for violent threats against journalists who report on their activities.

Journalists across Asia faced extraordinary pressures in 2001. Risks included reporting on war and insurgency, covering crime and corruption, or simply expressing a dissenting view in an authoritarian state.

CPJ's two most striking indices of press freedom are the annual toll of journalists killed around the world and our list of journalists imprisoned at the end of the calendar year. Asian countries registered disproportionately high on both counts--with more journalists killed in Afghanistan than in any other country, and China once again the world's leading jailer of journalists. Nepal, shockingly, took second place on the imprisoned list, with 17 journalists detained as of December 31, 2001, due to a sweeping crackdown on the Maoist insurgency that had severe implications for the press.

Throughout the year, a volatile political situation and a destitute economy made survival the media's primary goal. Although a peace agreement ended the country's 2-year-old civil war in October 2000, tension pervaded the country, with two ethnic militia groups--the Isatabu Freedom Movement and the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF)--remaining heavily armed.

DESPITE PRESS FREEDOM ADVANCES ACROSS ASIA IN RECENT YEARS, totalitarian regimes in Burma, China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Laos maintained their stranglehold on the media. Even democratic Asian governments sometimes used authoritarian tactics to control the press, particularly when faced with internal conflict.

Sri Lanka, for instance, imposed harsh censorship regulations during the year in order to restrict reporting on the country's long-running civil war. And in countries with a vibrant independent press, including India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia, journalists were frequently subjected to physical assault and intimidation.

SECURITY CONDITIONS FOR LOCAL JOURNALISTS COVERING ARMED ETHNIC CONFLICT in the Solomon Islands deteriorated markedly last year, as several reporters went into hiding after militants threatened them with physical violence.

A coup attempted on June 5 by the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF), a rebel group representing emigrants from neighboring Malaita Island to the archipelago's main island, Guadalcanal, eventually forced prime minister Bartholomew Ulufa'alu to leave office. A new government, led by former opposition leader Manasseh Sogavare, was installed at the end of June. However, the MEF maintained de facto control of the capital, Honiara. Since Honiara is the country's media center, most non-Malaitan journalists fled.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned over your administration's decision to impose draconian regulations governing all media coverage of the ethnic tensions there. On June 28, the Governor General issued an amendment to the Emergency Powers Act of 1999 (see below) that threatens journalists who violate state--imposed reporting restrictions with up to two years imprisonment or a fine of up to SI$5,000 (US$1,050), or both. The regulations prohibit any reporting that "may incite violence," "is likely to cause racial disharmony," or that is "likely to be prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state." There are also provisions in the amendment that criminalize the possession of an official document by anyone "who has no right to retain it."