MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cuba: “world's second largest prison for journalists”

Cuba remained in 2005 the Latin American country where reporters are most exposed to government violence and holds the deplorable honour of being “the world's second-largest prison for journalists” behind China according to Reporters Without Borders, RSF, 167 country annual index.

The wave of repression launched by the Fidel Castro regime in the spring of 2003 continued last year, as three additional independent reporters joined the ranks of the 21 jailed at the beginning of the crackdown, the Paris-based group said in its annual report. RSF released the document to coincide with Wednesday's World Press Freedom Day.

North Korea once again ranks last in the RSF index closely preceded by Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Iran, Burma, Libya, Cuba, Nepal, China, Vietnam and Iraq among others, countries where journalists face the greatest risks and where government repression or armed groups prevent the media from operating freely. Harassment, psychological pressure, intimidation and 24-hour surveillance are routine.

The situation in Iraq (157) worsened in 2005 when the safety of journalists became even more precarious than in 2004. At least 24 journalists and media assistants have been killed so far this year, making it the mostly deadly conflict for the media since World War II-a conflict that proved more deadly for the media in a few months than during the entire Vietnam War. A total of 72 media workers have been killed since the fighting began in March 2003.

But a growing number of African and Latin American countries have earned very respectable rankings: Benin 25, Namibia 25, El Salvador 28, Cape Verde 29, Mauritius 34, Mali 37, Costa Rica 41 and Bolivia 45.

US slip 20 places

Some Western democracies slipped in the Index. The United States (44) fell more than 20 places, mainly because of the imprisonment of New York Times reporter Judith Miller and judicial action that is undermining the privacy of journalistic sources. Federal courts are getting increasingly bold about subpoenaing journalists and trying to force them to disclose their confidential sources. Canada (21) also dropped several places due to decisions that weakened source confidentiality, turning some journalists into "court auxiliaries." France (30) also slipped, mainly because of court-ordered searches of media offices, interrogations of journalists and the introduction of new press offenses.

Leading the Index once again are northern European countries Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands, where robust press freedom is alive and well. The top 10 are all European. The highest-ranking countries in other continents are New Zealand (12), Trinidad and Tobago (12), Benin (25) and South Korea (34).

In terms of press freedom, the small Caribbean state of Trinidad and Tobago (12) is still the region's top-ranked country. El Salvador (28)-a still-fragile democracy after years of civil war-came in second, followed, as it was last year, by Costa Rica (41), Bolivia (45), Uruguay (46) and Chile (50), where attacks on press freedom usually amount to intimidation and threats.

Argentina (59) rose sharply in the Index because there were fewer physical attacks on journalists, the media won a fight to preserve source confidentiality and the press offense laws were relaxed.

The press law in Brazil (63)-which dates from the military dictatorship and provides for imprisonment-has yet to be repealed, even though it is no longer enforced. The local media is also still the target of violent reprisals, such as the murder July 1 of community radio director José Cândido Amorim Pinto.

No journalists were killed this year in Peru (116) but violence against journalists has soared to more than 30 incidents, -60 in all, if we include incidents involving threats and intimidation.

Two more journalists were jailed in Cuba (161), in addition to the 21 who have been held since the March 2003 crackdown. One of them, Oscar Mario González Pérez, faces 20 years in prison under Law 88, passed to protect "national independence and the economy".

Journalists face high-risk working conditions in Haiti (117), despite the greater press freedom enjoyed since former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in February 2004. Jacques Roche, of the daily paper Le Matin, was murdered on July 14, and Nancy Roc of Radio Metropole was forced to seek asylum abroad on June 16 after she was given kidnapping threats. Her radio station manager, Richard Widmaier, had narrowly escaped a kidnapping attempt five days earlier.

Colombia (128), second to last among American continent countries, moved up this year ahead of Mexico (135), as press freedom is deteriorating in countries bordering the US. The Mexican media have been focusing on a "Black April," when two journalists were murdered and a third disappeared in just one week. In Colombia, Julio Palacios Sánchez of Radio Lemas, was shot dead on January 11 in a region dominated by drug traffic and riddled with corruption. So far this year, broadcasting equipment has been routinely sabotaged and seven journalists have had to flee the region or the country.