The 2011 edition of the Committee to Protect Journalists' prison list draws a dark picture: the number of journalists imprisoned worldwide shot up more than 20 percent to its highest level -179- since 1996.
Iran has become the world's top jailer of journalists (42), before Eritrea, China, Burma, Vietnam, Syria, Turkey, Ethipoia and Israel/Occupied territories..
Jailing journalists does not only silence the voices of those that are directly targeted. It also creates a general atmosphere of intimidation and self-censorship, affecting the capacity of all citizens to be informed about issues of public interest.
Most journalists have been imprisoned on anti-state charges such as "treason", "subversion" or "acting against national interests". In China, the state has repressed particularly journalists covering marginalized or persecuted ethnic or religious minorities while in Turkey the pressure has been focused on journalists writing on Kurdish or national security issues.
Freelance journalists are especially vulnerable since they do not have the legal backing of media institutions. Nearly half of the jailed journalists worked mostly for online media.
Despite this sombre assessment the CPJ however also highlights in this report that at least 65 imprisoned journalists were released worldwide thanks to sustained advocacy campaigns. Cuba, for instance, released all jailed journalists (even though some are detained on a short-term basis as a form of harassment).
Some governments however are adamant in keeping journalists in prison despite international protests. In Eritrea under the repressive rule of President Isaias Afewerki, 28 journalists are in jail, most of them for decades.
http://www.cpj.org/reports/2011/12/journalist-imprisonments-jump-worldwide-and-iran-i.php
Iran has become the world's top jailer of journalists (42), before Eritrea, China, Burma, Vietnam, Syria, Turkey, Ethipoia and Israel/Occupied territories..
Jailing journalists does not only silence the voices of those that are directly targeted. It also creates a general atmosphere of intimidation and self-censorship, affecting the capacity of all citizens to be informed about issues of public interest.
Most journalists have been imprisoned on anti-state charges such as "treason", "subversion" or "acting against national interests". In China, the state has repressed particularly journalists covering marginalized or persecuted ethnic or religious minorities while in Turkey the pressure has been focused on journalists writing on Kurdish or national security issues.
Freelance journalists are especially vulnerable since they do not have the legal backing of media institutions. Nearly half of the jailed journalists worked mostly for online media.
Despite this sombre assessment the CPJ however also highlights in this report that at least 65 imprisoned journalists were released worldwide thanks to sustained advocacy campaigns. Cuba, for instance, released all jailed journalists (even though some are detained on a short-term basis as a form of harassment).
Some governments however are adamant in keeping journalists in prison despite international protests. In Eritrea under the repressive rule of President Isaias Afewerki, 28 journalists are in jail, most of them for decades.
http://www.cpj.org/reports/2011/12/journalist-imprisonments-jump-worldwide-and-iran-i.php
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