Number of jailed journalists hits a record in '06

New York, Dec 8: The number of journalists jailed worldwide fortheir work increased for the second consecutive year and one in threeis now an Internet blogger, online editor or Web-based reporter,according to a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

CPJ's annual worldwide census found 134 journalists imprisoned asof December 1, a rise of nine from the 2005 tally. China, Cuba, Eritreaand Ethiopia are the top four jailers among the 24 nations thatimprison journalists.

Other nations included Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Print reporters, editors, and photographers continue to make upthe largest professional category, with 67 cases in 2006, but Internetjournalists are a growing segment of the census and now constitute thesecond largest category, with 49 cases, the analysis released yesterdaysaid.

The number of imprisoned journalists whose work appeared primarilyon the Web, via e-mail, or in another electronic form has increasedeach year since CPJ recorded the first jailed Internet writer in its1997 census.

The 2006 figure is the highest number of Internet journalists CPJ has ever tallied in its annual survey.

''We are at a crucial juncture in the fight for press freedombecause authoritarian states have made the Internet a major front intheir effort to control information,'' CPJ Executive Director JoelSimon said.

''China is challenging the notion that the Internet is impossibleto control or censor, and if it succeeds there will be far-rangingimplications, not only for the medium but for press freedom all overthe world.'' Over all, anti-state allegations such as subversion,divulging state secrets, and acting against the interests of the stateare the most common charges used to imprison journalists worldwide.

Eighty-four journalists are jailed under these charges, many by the Chinese, Cuban and Ethiopian governments.

But CPJ also found an increasing number of journalists heldwithout any charge or trial. Twenty imprisoned journalists -- or 15 percent -- have been denied even the most basic elements of due process,CPJ found.

Eritrea, which accounts for more than half of these cases, keepsjournalists in secret locations and withholds basic information abouttheir well-being.

The United States has imprisoned two journalists without charge ortrial: Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, now held for eightmonths in Iraq without due process; and Al-Jazeera cameraman Samial-Haj, jailed five years and now held at Guantanamo Bay.

''In Cuba and in China, journalists are often jailed after summarytrials and held in miserable conditions far from their families. Butthe cruelty and injustice of imprisonment is compounded where there iszero due process and journalists slip into oblivion. In Eritrea, theworst abuser in this regard, there is no check on authority and it isunclear whether some jailed journalists are even alive,'' Mr Simonadded.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, non-profit organisation that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.

UNI