RSF Press Freedom Index: Eritrea worst, Iceland best
By Leah McBride Mensching, Tuesday 16 October 2007 at 22:19 :: Press Freedom & Laws :: #710 :: rss
International press freedom watchdog group Reporters Sans Frontières released Tuesday its Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2007, which measures the level of press freedom in 169 countries. The index revealed Eritrea has replaced North Korea as being in last place in the world with respect to press freedom, while Iceland claimed the number one spot as best in the world.
Online press freedom violations are playing an increasing role in affecting overall press freedom around the world, as the most oppressive governments, such as China, are finding new ways to quash freedom of speech, the index reported.
The index was compiled by sending a questionnaire to its 15 partner freedom of expression organisations, a network of 130 correspondents, and to journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. Countries not found in the index are due to insufficient data.
“Even if we are not aware of all the press freedom violations in North Korea and Turkmenistan, which are second and third from last, Eritrea deserves to be at the bottom. The privately-owned press has been banished by the authoritarian President Issaias Afeworki and the few journalists who dare to criticise the regime are thrown in prison. We know that four of them have died in detention and we have every reason to fear that others will suffer the same fate,” RSF members said in a statement.
Seven of the 20 countries at the bottom of the index are in Asia (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Laos, Vietnam, China, Burma and North Korea), five are in Africa (Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Somalia and Eritrea), four are in the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, Palestinian Territories and Iran), three are former Soviet republics (Belarus, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan) and one is in the Americas (Cuba).
The situation in Burma (164th) is especially disturbing, RSF stated, as the military junta's crackdown on demonstrations “bodes ill for the future of basic freedoms” in the country. “We also regret that China (163rd) stagnates near the bottom of the index. With less than a year to go to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the reforms and the releases of imprisoned journalists so often promised by the authorities seem to be a vain hope.”
The Internet is also playing an increasing role in how press freedom violations break down around the world. Several countries have fallen in rankings due to “serious, repeated violations of online news and information.”
In Malaysia (124th), Thailand (135th), Vietnam (162nd) and Egypt (146th), bloggers have been arrested and news Web sites have been closed. At least 64 people are in prisons around the world due to what they posted on the Internet. China's government is best in the world at this type of repression, with 50 so-called cyber-dissidents in prison.
“More and more governments have realised that the Internet can play a key role in the fight for democracy and they are establishing new methods of censoring it. The governments of repressive countries are now targeting bloggers and online journalists as forcefully as journalists in the traditional media,” RSF stated.
Iceland is at the top of the index, followed by Norway, Estonia, Slovakia and Belgium in the top five. The top 14 countries are in Europe, and all countries in the European Union made the top 50, except for Bulgaria (51st) and Poland (56th).
G8 member countries have fallen steadily in the past three years, but all show slight improvement in this year's index, except for Russia. In the United States (48th), there were slightly fewer press freedom violations than last year. Blogger Josh Wolf was freed after spending 224 days in prison, “but the detention of Al-Jazeera’s Sudanese cameraman, Sami Al-Haj, since 13 June 2002 at the military base of Guantanamo and the murder of Chauncey Bailey in Oakland in August mean the United States is still unable to join the lead group,” RSF stated.
However, only two G8 members, Canada (18th) and Germany (20th), made the top 20.
“Russia (144th) is not progressing. Anna Politkovskaya’s murder in October 2006, the failure to punish those responsible for murdering journalists, and the still glaring lack of diversity in the media, especially the broadcast media, weighed heavily in the evaluation of press freedom in Russia,” the group stated.
Some stand outs the RSF noted include Italy (35th) which stopped its fall, even though mafia groups continue to threaten journalists. Japan has also recovered 14 places in the index.
“These developments are good news,” RSF stated. “Perhaps the repeated calls to these democracies to behave in an exemplary manner has finally borne fruit. But we must remain careful and vigilant. Nothing can be taken for granted and we hope this trend will continue or even accentuate near year.”
Some countries outside Europe making it into the top 50 for the first time include Mauritania (50th), Uruguay (37th) and Nicaragua (47th). Others that have been in good positions in the past and have fallen include Benin (53rd) and Mali (52nd).
For the RSF's full list and explanations, click here.
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