Vietnam is rated in the bottom ten of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) index
21
October 2009
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released its latest press freedom index on 20
October, showing how European countries, Israel and Iran have all slid in the
rankings. The index ranks the degree of press freedom throughout the world as
well as efforts made by governments to protect journalists' rights.
Although the first 13 places are held by European countries, many have fallen in
the index: "It is disturbing to see European democracies such as France, Italy
and Slovakia fall steadily in the rankings year after year," RSF said. "Europe
should be setting an example as regards civil liberties. How can you condemn
human rights violations abroad if you do not behave irreproachably at home? The
Obama effect, which has enabled the United States to recover 16 places in the
index, is not enough to reassure us."
The United States now ranks at 20 because President Barack Obama is "less
hawkish" than his predecessor, says RSF. However, the U.S. also has an
additional ranking at 108 specifically for its extraterritorial actions. Both
the U.S. and Israel have rankings for their actions outside their own countries.
Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has affected its ranking as it
dropped 47 places to 93, falling behind several other countries in the region.
Journalists have been illegally arrested and imprisoned. Israel received a
second ranking at 150 for its extraterritorial actions. Around 20 journalists
were injured by the Israeli military forces in the Gaza Strip and three were
killed while covering the conflict.
The main threat in Europe comes from new legislation that compromises the work
of journalists, says RSF. In Slovakia (44) the culture minister wields great
influence over publications. In the Western world, Canada also dropped a few
spots to 19.
Scandinavia comes out on top. Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Finland
share first place as the five freest countries for the media.
In Iran, automatic prior censorship, state surveillance of journalists,
mistreatment, illegal arrests and imprisonment has now brought its ranking close
to the worst cluster of states for press freedom. It ranks 172, followed by
Turkmenistan (173), North Korea (174) and Eritrea (175). Burma remains at the
bottom, right behind Iran at 171. Laos, China and Vietnam round out the cluster
of Asian countries in the bottom ten.
In Sri Lanka (162), the state sentenced a journalist to 20 years in prison while
other journalists under threat are forced to flee the country, says RSF.
Pakistan came in at 159, "crippled" by murders of journalists caught between the
military and the insurgency. It shared a record with Somalia for the world
record of journalists killed during the RSF review period.
In Yemen (167) journalists continue to "pay for the government's scorched-earth
policies towards any form of separatism." A similar downward trend has occurred
in Syria (165). In Africa, violence takes the worst toll in countries like
Somalia (164) and Democratic Republic of Congo (146).
And in the Americas, Venezuela (124) is now among the region's worst press
freedom offenders, dropping down close to Colombia (126) and Mexico (tied with
Gambia at 137). Honduras comes in at 128 after the recent coup d'état. Cuba,
where RSF says "where press freedom is non-existent," holds a spot in the bottom
ten.
The index is drawn from a questionnaire completed by hundreds of journalists and
media experts around the world. Countries are given a ranking and score based on
press freedom violations from September 2008 through August 2009. It takes into
consideration physical assault, imprisonment and murder of journalists, as well
as censorship, confiscation of newspapers, harassment and the degree of impunity
enjoyed by those responsible for press freedom violations. It includes the
measure of self-censorship and the ability of media to investigate and challenge
those in power, among many more criteria.