M E D I A

Press Freedom: Asia still plagued by authoritarianism
Jyotika J Thukral

Worldwide, in the first two months of this year, 119 journalists and 57 cyberdissidents have been imprisoned simply for doing their job. And 2005 was no better. Rather it was the deadliest year for journalists since 1995 with 63 journalists and 5 media assistants getting killed; more than 1, 300 physical assaulted and over 1, 000 media reports censored. This violence accounted for an increase of 60 percent over 2004.

A journalist organisation, Reporters Without Borders in its reports said King Gyanendra of Nepal demonstrated the full force of hatred, a head of state can harbour towards the press in 2005. The Himalayan monarch, who is drawn to absolutism, was responsible for more than half of all recorded censorship cases worldwide. The royal administration censored news in the country’s many publications and on independent radio stations as many as 567 times during the year. This unprecedented campaign even ended in a general strike after an independent radio had its broadcast equipment seized.

The Nepal scenario typifies the struggle throughout Asia with the old demons of totalitarianism. North Korea, a graveyard for freedom, is still in the grip of numbing propaganda from its leader Kim Jong-il. And in Burma, the military tries to keep everything under control by imposing relentless advance censorship. While China, a burgeoning power, keeps its journalists in a state of servitude to bias. In Laos, journalists have been forced to play to the tunes of the sole ruling party.

But Asia is also a region of democracy and India offers a fine example of pluralism of information where tens of thousands of private-owned dailies, radio and TV stations provide news for a billion inhabitants. India is gradually consolidating its position as the Asian press freedom giant. The diversity of its media, both written and broadcast, is matched by a zeal for investigative journalism. This year a private-owned TV channel brought down around a score of deputies after trapping them in a corruption case. While the country’s 40,000 newspapers play a vital role in the exposure of abuses and social problems. However, violence in Kashmir and the northeastern states makes work difficult for many reporters.

Similarly even though Indonesia is a democracy, only a few media risk in-depth investigation into the corruption that is undermining the country. New Zealand is flourishing at the head of Asian countries in the World Press Freedom Index established yearly by Reporters Without Borders, while many Australian journalists find themselves under threat from a draft anti-terror law introduced by the government in September 2005. Journalists would be at risk of penalties of up to five years in prison if they cover a police operation or speak about the detention of a suspect under the law without permission.

But things are different in the region from Kabul to Bangkok, where the elected leaders incapable of accepting criticism, violated press freedom. Afghan President Hamid Karzai refused to help the editor of a women’s magazine who languished in jail for  three months on changers of blasphemy by the conservative judiciary.

Pakistan remains attracted to control and censorship. Omnipresent military secret services continue to harass investigative journalists, while the Urdu-language press is closely watched. Under an onslaught from the Jihadists, the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has stepped up pressure on the most radical media. At the same time he has closed an FM radio accused of relaying a BBC World Service Programme on last October’s earthquake.

In Bangladesh, Jihadists’ terror has been added to the already serious existing threats. At least 55 press correspondents were the target of harassment for articles deemed “non Islamic”.

The return of tension in Sri Lanka, where a covert state of war exists, has struck a hard blow at Tamil journalists, targets of groups both favourable and opposed to the Colombo government. Media that carry out investigations, like The Sunday Leader, have suffered constant threats and bombings.

A constant barrage of death threats and physical attacks make life impossible for hundreds of journalists. Threats arrived by text message in the Philippines, while in Bangladesh, armed groups send duly stamped letters to journalists and press clubs. The 583 cases of physical attack and threats in Asia represented more than half the cases of this kind recorded throughout the world in 2005.

The authorities and businessmen increasingly use defamation cases to try to restore their good name after the publication of compromising investigations or to hamstring media that are too free. Less serious than violence, this new tendency in Asia is however no less a threat to the right to inform the public. In the overwhelming majority of countries, prison sentences are imposed for defamation cases. In Singapore, journalists and opposition figures live in fear of being ordered to pay hefty amounts in damages.

The media, particularly new media in India, has been able to take advantage of a favourable climate for press freedom to boost its development. For instance, around a dozen deputies were forced to resign in December after being filmed by journalists on the private-owned TV station, Aaj Tak, in the act of accepting bribes. The investigative press remains marginalised, but is not afraid to tilt at the powerful.

However, in Kashmir, despite the ongoing peace process, the violence has still not ended. Around a score of reporters have been physically attacked by police during 2005. At least five others have been wounded in blind bomb attacks by radical separatists.

In the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, the government has launched an offensive against Maoist groups. N. Venugopal, editor of a regional bi-monthly, spent two weeks in prison on the basis of unproven accusations of intellectual support for this armed movement. In contrast journalists who report Maoist activities can be jailed for up to three years, under a security order passed in the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh.

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