BANGLADESH: Bangladesh 5th on CPJ list of worst places for journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has tagged Bangladesh as the world's fifth worst place to be a journalist in

The Daily Star
Wednesday, May 5, 2004

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has tagged Bangladesh as the world's fifth worst place to be a journalist in.

The New York-based media watchdog that released a list of 10 worst places for journalists marking World Press Freedom Day on Monday says the list represents the full range of current threats to press freedom.

"Crime, corruption, and lawlessness make Bangladesh the most violent country for journalists in Asia," the CPJ repeats. CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper, visiting Dhaka on March 5, made the same observation.

Bangladesh was placed next to Iraq, Cuba, Zimbabwe and Turkmenistan, while China, Eritrea, Haiti, the West Bank and Gaza, and Russia followed Bangladesh on Monday's list of worst places. Iraq where 25 journalists have died since the U.S.-led war began in March 2003 topped the list.

"Reporters routinely face threats, harassment, and often brutally violent physical attacks in retaliation for their reporting. Despite promises from government officials to apprehend those responsible for assaults, the majority of attacks on journalists go unpunished. Deep political divisions in the country and within the journalism community also contribute to the climate of fear," the report says of Bangladesh.

The CPJ has documented dozens of violent attacks against Bangladeshi journalists over the last decade, including the murders of seven journalists in the last eight years.

Journalists working outside Dhaka are particularly vulnerable. Journalist Manik Saha was killed in January in the southwestern city of Khulna when unidentified assailants threw a homemade bomb at him.

"In December 2003, a group of thugs affiliated with the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) tried to kill Shafiul Haque Mithu in the southwestern town of Pirojpur after he wrote a series of articles exposing local officials' abuse of power."

A brutal crackdown launched last year in Cuba by Fidel Castro's government has left an unprecedented 29 journalists behind bars, who served lengthy prison terms of up to 27 years.

Last year also saw the biggest blow to Zimbabwe's beleaguered press when authorities closed the country's only remaining independent daily.

"In all of these places, reporting the news is an act of courage and conviction," Cooper said. "Journalism is essential in helping all of us understand the events that shape our lives, and our need and desire for information cannot be eliminated by violence and repression."

Date Posted: 5/5/2004