Wars and elections constituted the chief threat to journalists in 2009, according to a year-end review published by Reporters without Borders.

The organisation found that 76 journalists were killed during the course of the year, with another 33 kidnapped and 573 arrested.

It said a major concern was the significant number of journalists forced into exile from repressive countries. Around 160 journalists in all continents fled, often in very dangerous circumstances, to escape prison or death.

The authorities in these countries have understood that by pushing journalists into exile, they can drastically reduce pluralism of ideas and the amount of criticism they attract, the report noted.

“This is a dangerous tendency and it must be very strongly condemned,” said Jean-François Julliard, Reporters Without Borders Secretary-General.

Election violence

Violence before and after elections was particularly prevalent in countries with poor democratic credentials, according to the report.

It drew attention to “two appalling events that marked 2009”: one was the largest ever massacre of journalists in a single day – a total of 30 killed – by the private militia of a governor in the southern Philippines and the other was an unprecedented wave of arrests and convictions of journalists and bloggers in Iran following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election.

“The courage shown by journalists before and after elections earned them periods in custody, mistreatment and prison sentences that were in some cases extremely harsh,” Reporters without Borders said.

“These post-election crackdowns should stimulate the international community to seek better ways of protecting the press after rigged election results are announced.”

The organisation, which carries out media monitoring during election campaigns, noted that a number of crucial elections are scheduled for 2010, including in Côte d’Ivoire, Sri Lanka, Burma, Iraq and the Palestinian Territories.

Journalists killed

A total of 76 journalists were killed during the year, up from 60 in 2008; almost every journalist killed in 2009 died in their own country.

“Less known to international public opinion than the foreign correspondents, it is these local journalists who pay the highest price every year to guarantee our right to be informed about wars, corruption or the destruction of the environment,” Julliard said

Kidnappings have also continued to rise. Most cases are concentrated in Afghanistan, Mexico and Somalia.Other forms of violence, physical assaults and threats have gone up by a third (from 929 cases in 2008 to 1,456 in 2009).

Journalists are most at risk in the Americas (501 cases), particularly when they expose drug-trafficking or local potentates. Asia comes next with 364 cases of this kind, chiefly in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

Censorship

The report found that the number of censored media escalating alarmingly in 2009, with nearly 570 cases of newspapers, radio or TV stations banned from putting out news or forced to close.

It also noted that that the rise of blogging, new media and social networking had led to a corresponding increase in censorship and repression.

“As soon as the Internet or new media start to play a leading role in the spread of news and information, a serious clampdown follows. Bloggers are now watched as closely as journalists from the traditional media,” the report said.

“For the first time since the Internet’s emergence, Reporters Without Borders is aware of more than 100 bloggers and cyber-dissidents being imprisoned worldwide for posting their opinions online.”

Prison

According to the organisation, at least 167 journalists are in prison around the world at the end of 2009.

“One would need to go back to the 1990s to find so many of them in jail,” the report noted.

“Although the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression keeps reiterating that imprisonment is a disproportionate punishment for press offences, many governments keep laws that allow them to jail journalists, and continue to abuse these laws.”

The sentences given to journalists in Cuba, China, Sri Lanka and Iran can be as harsh as those imposed for terrorism or violent crime.

Read more

• Wars and disputed elections: The most dangerous stories for journalists, Reporters without Borders