Number of Journalists, Student Reporters Jailed Worldwide Skyrockets
SOURCE:
San Francisco Chronicle reporter Vivian Ho was arrested at the No Justice No BART protest on Sept 8, 2011.
More journalists are imprisoned worldwide than at any since the mid-1990s, according to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The report lists 179 writers, editors, and photojournalists as being in captivity as of Dec. 1, an increase of more than 20 percent from the previous year.
“The 2011 census also found an alarming rise in the number of journalists held without charge or due process,” reads the report. “Sixty-five journalists, accounting for more than a third of those in prison worldwide, were being held without any publicly disclosed charge, many of them in secret prisons without access to lawyers or family members.”
A number of the incarcerated individuals were student journalists.
Tashi Rabten, a student at Northwest Minorities University in Lanzhou, Gansu province, China was sentenced to four years in prison in June, possibly on charges of separatism. Rabten had served as editor of the banned literary magazine Shar Dungri and penned a collection of political essays titled Written In Blood.
Iranian medical student and political blogger Rojin Mohammadi was briefly freed on bail before she was sentenced and held in solitary confinement in late November. Mohammadi has been charged with “assembly and collusion with the intent to disrupt state security,” “propagating against the regime,” and “human rights activities.”
The report targets Iran as the world's most prolific jailer, holding 42 journalists in custody at the time of publication. The authors also note gradual improvements in Europe and Central Asia, offset by "large-scale" jailings in the Middle East and North Africa, possibly due to unrest following the “Arab Spring” movement.
Seventy-eight of the imprisoned journalists were working on a freelance basis, a rate which the authors attribute to a lack of legal and monetary support.
The report also noted a crackdown against online reporting, as 86 writers whose work “appeared primarily online” were incarcerated at the time of publication.
“CPJ believes that journalists should not be imprisoned for doing their jobs,” reads the report. “The organization has sent letters expressing its serious concerns to each country that has imprisoned a journalist.”
In separate records, the same organization also reported that 42 journalists were killed in 2011. Two more are listed as missing, both in Mexico, and many more are listed as having been abducted by non-government entities worldwide.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is a nonprofit organization based in New York City that advocates for the rights of journalists and freedom of the press through activist and diplomatic channels.
Jon Christian is a staff writer with Campus Progress. Follow him on Twitter @Jon_Christian.
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