The list was headed in 1999 by three perennial offenders: President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia, President Jiang Zemin of China, and President Fidel Castro of Cuba. They were joined by several newcomers, including President Alberto K. Fujimori of Peru, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine.
President Slobodan Milosevic, Yugoslavia
Suppression
of the press through intimidation, assault, crippling fines, and license
denialsÑall codified in a draconian media law imposed in October of 1998Ñis
a prime weapon in Milosevic's arsenal of control. With the onset of NATO
bombing in March 1999, Milosevic's repression of all independent media quelled
opposition voices, imperiled journalists' lives, and filled the state-controlled
airwaves with hate speech. President Jiang Zemin, China
The
confluence in 1999 of the 10th anniversary of the government-ordered massacre
of pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square and the 50th anniversary
of the founding of the People's Republic led Jiang to renew Beijing's hard-line
attitudes toward the press. Last year he presided over worsening conditions
for politically independent journalists as the Communist Party's propaganda
department shut down several newspapers, magazines, and book publishing
houses and threatened many others for challenging party orthodoxy. The jailing
of journalists continued, and, in an ominous development, an Internet entrepreneur
was sentenced in January 1999 to two years in prison for providing e-mail
addresses to a dissident online magazine. President Fidel Castro, Cuba
President
Castro's crackdown on the independent press eroded any hope for improvement
generated by Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba in 1998. Castro represses
independent journalists to the point of extinction, forcing them to flee
the country to avoid detention and arrest seemingly for even thinking about
covering a trial of dissidents or a public demonstration that would reflect
unfavorably on his complete control. Constant harassment forced at least
10 journalists into exile during 1999, bringing the total of exiled journalists
to around 40. Four journalists are imprisoned for their work. A new press
law criminalizes free speech and imposes harsh sentences on anyone deemed
guilty of serving U.S. interests against Cuba, which precludes any contact
with foreign media. President Laurent-Désiré Kabila, Democratic Republic of Congo
Expectations
that Kabila would bring greater freedom to the country formerly known as
Zaire vanished once he seized power and unleashed an unremitting barrage
of attacks on the press. No journalist is immune to Kabila's intolerance
for opposing views. Using the threat of a rebel takeover to justify his
actions, he has created a reign of terror for scores of journalists through
his penchant for blaming military failures on the independent press. Since
his takeover in May 1997, more than 60 journalists have been imprisoned,
many without charge. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia
Retaining
his title as Africa's leading jailer of journalistsÑ there were 13 in prison
at the end of 1998, and another 16 incarcerated during the yearÑMeles repeatedly
employs his technique of decimating the press by arresting and imprisoning
any independent journalist, often without charge. His tactics, encoded in
a press law that provides broad means for silencing the media, drive independent-minded
journalists from the profession, and from the country. Those persevering
in their craft suffer dire consequences. President Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine
Using
tax and libel laws as instruments of his hostility to journalists, Kuchma
runs roughshod over any expression of opposition. His tacit acceptance of
violence against the press has encouraged bombings of newspaper offices,
assaults on reporters and editors, and a general climate of fear and self-censorship.
His tax policies force print and broadcast outlets without foreign support
to seek financial aid from businesses and politicians who then extort favorable
publicity. President Zine Abdine Ben Ali, Tunisia
The
climate of fear created by a decade of rule by this dictator who masks his
actions with a veneer of purported human rights achievement has transformed
what was once a respected press into one of the most restricted in the Arab
world. Tunisian journalists who dare to veer from a path of strict self-censorship
face swift reprisal in the form of dismissal from jobs, severing of phone
and fax lines, restrictions on travel, and intimidation by state agents.
Ben Ali brooks no dissent in his self-styled police state, banning foreign
publications and blocking access to websitesÑincluding CPJ'sÑthat offer
information critical of the country's dismal rights record. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia
Like
a master puppeteer, Mahathir pulls the strings of the major media, mostly
owned or controlled by his ruling coalition, to perpetuate his power. Strict
licensing requirements are in force, self-censorship by journalists of news
deemed negative or derogatory is rewarded, and foreign press are closely
monitored and frequently harassed. Despite journalists' valiant attempts
at free expression through the Internet and efforts by opposition newspapers
to report on public outrage over the imprisonment of Anwar Ibrahim, his
reform-minded former deputy, Mahathir continues to manage the flow of mainstream
domestic news coverage. President Alberto K. Fujimori, Peru
A
systematic state-run campaign to discredit Peru's independent press bears
the stamp of Fujimori's "infotatorship." Fujimori's intelligence arm has
engaged in assassination plans, death threats, wiretapping, surveillance,
and smear tactics to harass and imperil journalists, often forcing or ordering
them into exile. Investigative reporters looking into government corruption
and collusion between drug traffickers and the military have been hit with
charges of espionage, treason, and terrorism invoked to discredit and deter
their work. President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt
A
siege of jailings under the provisions of the Mubarak-approved press law
and the censorship and closure of newspapers marked a sharp deterioration
in the climate for press freedom in his one-man 18-year rule. In 1998 CPJ
documented the first cases of journalists imprisoned in Egypt for libel,
including two for reporting on profiteering by the family of a government
official. Dozens more face imprisonment on pending libel charges. Government
censorship of publications registered abroad elicited this endorsement from
Mubarak: "Any newspaper published from outside Egypt can be banned if it
does not abide by Egyptian social values and seeks to stir up sectarian
rift."