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Reporters Without Borders publishes
the first worldwide press freedom index.
The first worldwide index of press freedom
has some surprises for Western democracies. The United States
ranks below Costa Rica and Italy scores lower than Benin. The
five countries with least press freedom are North Korea, China,
Burma, Turkmenistan and Bhutan.
Surprises among Western democracies : US below
Costa Rica and Italy below Benin
Reporters Without Borders
is publishing for the first time a worldwide index of countries
according to their respect for press freedom. It also shows
that such freedom is under threat everywhere, with the 20 bottom-ranked
countries drawn from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.
The situation in especially bad in Asia, which contains the
five worst offenders - North Korea, China, Burma, Turkmenistan
and Bhutan.
The top end of the
list shows that rich countries have no monopoly of press freedom.
Costa Rica and Benin are examples of how growth of a free press
does not just depend on a country's material prosperity.
The index was drawn
up by asking journalists, researchers and legal experts to answer
50 questions about the whole range of press freedom violations
(such as murders or arrests of journalists, censorship, pressure,
state monopolies in various fields, punishment of press law
offences and regulation of the media). The final list includes
139 countries. The others were not included in the absence of
reliable information.
In the worst-ranked
countries, press freedom is a dead letter and independent newspapers
do not exist. The only voice heard is of media tightly controlled
or monitored by the government. The very few independent journalists
are constantly harassed, imprisoned or forced into exile by
the authorities. The foreign media is banned or allowed in very
small doses, always closely monitored.
Right at the top of
the list four countries share first place - Finland, Iceland,
Norway and the Netherlands. These northern European states scrupulously
respect press freedom in their own countries but also speak
up for it elsewhere, for example recently in Eritrea and Zimbabwe.
The highest-scoring country outside Europe is Canada, which
comes fifth.
Some countries with
democratically-elected governments are way down in the index
- such as Colombia (114th) and Bangladesh (118th). In these
countries, armed rebel movements, militias or political parties
constantly endanger the lives of journalists. The state fails
to do all it could to protect them and fight the immunity very
often enjoyed by those responsible for such violence.
Costa Rica better placed than the
United States
The poor ranking of
the United States (17th) is mainly because of the number of
journalists arrested or imprisoned there. Arrests are often
because they refuse to reveal their sources in court. Also,
since the 11 September attacks, several journalists have been
arrested for crossing security lines at some official buildings.
The highest-ranked
country of the South is Costa Rica, in 15th position. This Central
American nation is traditionally the continent's best performer
in terms of press freedom. In February 2002, it ceased to be
one of the 17 Latin American states that still give prison sentences
to those found guilty of "insulting" public officials. The murder
in July 2001 year of journalist Parmenio Medina was an exception
in the history of the Costa Rican media.
Cuba, the last dictatorship
in Latin America, came 134th and is the only country in the
region where there is no diversity of news and journalists are
routinely imprisoned. In Haiti (106th), journalists are targeted
by informal militias whose actions are covered by the government.
Italy gets bad marks in Europe
The 15 member-countries
of the European Union (EU) all score well except for Italy (40th),
where news diversity is under serious threat. Prime minister
Silvio Berlusconi is turning up the pressure on the state-owned
television stations, has named his henchmen to help run them
and continues to combine his job as head of government with
being boss of a privately-owned media group. The imprisonment
of journalist Stefano Surace, convicted of press offences from
30 years ago, as well as the monitoring of journalists, searches,
unjustified legal summonses and confiscation of equipment, are
all responsible for the country's low ranking.
France, in 11th place
overall, comes only 8th among EU countries because of several
disturbing measures endangering the protection of journalists'
sources and because of police interrogation of a number of journalists
in recent months.
Among those states
hoping to join the EU, Turkey (99th) is very poorly placed.
Despite the reform efforts of its government, aimed at easing
entry into the EU, many journalists are still being given prison
sentences and the media is regularly censored. Press freedom
is especially under siege in the southeastern part of the country.
Elsewhere in Europe,
such as Belarus (124th), Russia (121st) and the former Soviet
republics, it is still difficult to work as a journalist and
several have been murdered or imprisoned. Grigory Pasko, jailed
since December 2001 in the Vladivostok region of Russia, was
given a four-year sentence for publishing pictures of the Russian
Navy pouring liquid radioactive waste into the Sea of Japan.
The Middle East and Israel's
ambivalent position
No Arab country is
among the top 50. Lebanon only makes 56th place and the press
freedom situation in the region is not encouraging. In Iraq
(130th) and Syria (126th), the state uses every means to control
the media and stifle any dissenting voice. Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein especially has set his country's media the sole task
of relaying his regime's propaganda. In Libya (129th) and Tunisia
(128th), no criticism of Col Muammar Kadhafi or President Zine
el-Abidine Ben Ali is tolerated.
The political weakening
of the Palestinian Authority (82nd) means it has made few assaults
on press freedom. However, Islamic fundamentalist opposition
media have been closed, several attempts made to intimidate
and attack local and foreign journalists and many subjects remain
taboo. The aim is to convey a united image of the Palestinian
people and to conceal aspects such a demonstrations of support
for attacks on Israel.
The attitude of Israel
(92nd) towards press freedom is ambivalent. Despite strong pressure
on state-owned TV and radio, the government respects the local
media's freedom of expression. However, in the West Bank and
Gaza, Reporters Without Borders has recorded a large number
of violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights which guarantees press freedom and which Israel has signed.
Since the start of the Israeli army's incursions into Palestinian
towns and cities in March 2002, very many journalists have been
roughed up, threatened, arrested, banned from moving around,
targeted by gunfire, wounded or injured, had their press cards
withdrawn or been deported.
Good and bad examples in
Africa
Eritrea (132nd) and
Zimbabwe (122nd) are the most repressive countries of sub-Saharan
Africa. The entire privately-owned press in Eritrea was banned
by the government in September 2001 and 18 journalists are currently
imprisoned there. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is notable
for his especially harsh attitude to the foreign and opposition
media.
At the other end of
the spectrum, Benin is in 21st place despite being classified
by the UN Development Programme as one of the world 15 poorest
countries. Other African states, such as South Africa (26th),
Mali (43rd), Namibia (31st) and Senegal (47th), have genuine
press freedom too.
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The
index
Rank
|
Country
|
Note
|
1
|
Finland
|
0,50
|
-
|
Iceland
|
0,50
|
-
|
Norway
|
0,50
|
-
|
Netherlands
|
0,50
|
5
|
Canada
|
0,75
|
6
|
Ireland
|
1,00
|
7
|
Germany
|
1,50
|
-
|
Portugal
|
1,50
|
-
|
Sweden
|
1,50
|
10
|
Denmark
|
3,00
|
11
|
France
|
3,25
|
12
|
Australia
|
3,50
|
-
|
Belgium
|
3,50
|
14
|
Slovenia
|
4,00
|
15
|
Costa
Rica |
4,25
|
-
|
Switzerland
|
4,25
|
17
|
United
States |
4,75
|
18
|
Hong
Kong |
4,83
|
19
|
Greece
|
5,00
|
20
|
Ecuador
|
5,50
|
21
|
Benin
|
6,00
|
-
|
United
Kingdom |
6,00
|
-
|
Uruguay
|
6,00
|
24
|
Chile
|
6,50
|
-
|
Hungary
|
6,50
|
26
|
South
Africa |
7,50
|
-
|
Austria
|
7,50
|
-
|
Japan
|
7,50
|
29
|
Spain
|
7,75
|
-
|
Poland
|
7,75
|
31
|
Namibia
|
8,00
|
32
|
Paraguay
|
8,50
|
33
|
Croatia
|
8,75
|
-
|
El
Salvador |
8,75
|
35
|
Taiwan
|
9,00
|
36
|
Mauritius
|
9,50
|
-
|
Peru
|
9,50
|
38
|
Bulgaria
|
9,75
|
39
|
South
Korea |
10,50
|
40
|
Italy
|
11,00
|
41
|
Czech
Republic |
11,25
|
42
|
Argentina
|
12,00
|
43
|
Bosnia
and Herzegovina |
12,50
|
-
|
Mali
|
12,50
|
45
|
Romania
|
13,25
|
46
|
Cape
Verde |
13,75
|
47
|
Senegal
|
14,00
|
48
|
Bolivia
|
14,50
|
49
|
Nigeria
|
15,50
|
-
|
Panama
|
15,50
|
51
|
Sri
Lanka |
15,75
|
52
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Uganda
|
17,00
|
53
|
Niger
|
18,50
|
54
|
Brazil
|
18,75
|
55
|
Ivory
Coast |
19,00
|
56
|
Lebanon
|
19,67
|
57
|
Indonesia
|
20,00
|
58
|
Comoros
|
20,50
|
-
|
Gabon
|
20,50
|
60
|
Yugoslavia
|
20,75
|
-
|
Seychelles
|
20,75
|
62
|
Tanzania
|
21,25
|
63
|
Central
African Republic |
21,50
|
64
|
Gambia
|
22,50
|
65
|
Madagascar
|
22,75
|
-
|
Thailand
|
22,75
|
67
|
Bahrain
|
23,00
|
-
|
Ghana
|
23,00
|
69
|
Congo
|
23,17
|
70
|
Mozambique
|
23,50
|
71
|
Cambodia
|
24,25
|
72
|
Burundi
|
24,50
|
-
|
Mongolia
|
24,50
|
-
|
Sierra
Leone |
24,50
|
75
|
Kenya
|
24,75
|
-
|
Mexico
|
24,75
|
77
|
Venezuela
|
25,00
|
78
|
Kuwait
|
25,50
|
79
|
Guinea
|
26,00
|
80
|
India
|
26,50
|
81
|
Zambia
|
26,75
|
82
|
Palestinian
National Authority |
27,00
|
83
|
Guatemala
|
27,25
|
84
|
Malawi
|
27,67
|
85
|
Burkina
Faso |
27,75
|
86
|
Tajikistan
|
28,25
|
87
|
Chad
|
28,75
|
88
|
Cameroon
|
28,83
|
89
|
Morocco
|
29,00
|
-
|
Philippines
|
29,00
|
-
|
Swaziland
|
29,00
|
92
|
Israel
|
30,00
|
93
|
Angola
|
30,17
|
94
|
Guinea-Bissau
|
30,25
|
95
|
Algeria
|
31,00
|
96
|
Djibouti
|
31,25
|
97
|
Togo
|
31,50
|
98
|
Kyrgyzstan
|
31,75
|
99
|
Jordan
|
33,50
|
-
|
Turkey
|
33,50
|
101
|
Azerbaijan
|
34,50
|
-
|
Egypt
|
34,50
|
103
|
Yemen
|
34,75
|
104
|
Afghanistan
|
35,50
|
105
|
Sudan
|
36,00
|
106
|
Haiti
|
36,50
|
107
|
Ethiopia
|
37,50
|
-
|
Rwanda
|
37,50
|
109
|
Liberia
|
37,75
|
110
|
Malaysia
|
37,83
|
111
|
Brunei
|
38,00
|
112
|
Ukraine
|
40,00
|
113
|
Democratic
Republic of the Congo |
40,75
|
114
|
Colombia
|
40,83
|
115
|
Mauritania
|
41,33
|
116
|
Kazakhstan
|
42,00
|
117
|
Equatorial
Guinea |
42,75
|
118
|
Bangladesh
|
43,75
|
119
|
Pakistan
|
44,67
|
120
|
Uzbekistan
|
45,00
|
121
|
Russia
|
48,00
|
122
|
Iran
|
48,25
|
-
|
Zimbabwe
|
48,25
|
124
|
Belarus
|
52,17
|
125
|
Saudi
Arabia |
62,50
|
126
|
Syria
|
62,83
|
127
|
Nepal
|
63,00
|
128
|
Tunisia
|
67,75
|
129
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Libya
|
72,50
|
130
|
Iraq
|
79,00
|
131
|
Vietnam
|
81,25
|
132
|
Eritrea
|
83,67
|
133
|
Laos
|
89,00
|
134
|
Cuba
|
90,25
|
135
|
Bhutan
|
90,75
|
136
|
Turkmenistan
|
91,50
|
137
|
Burma
|
96,83
|
138
|
China
|
97,00
|
139
|
North
Korea |
97,50
|
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