The United States has tied with Myanmar (the former Burma) for sixth place among countries that are holding the most journalists behind bars, according to a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Each country is jailing five journalists. The United States is holding four Iraqi journalists in detention centers in Iraq and one Sudanese, a cameraman who works for Al Jazeera, at the United States Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. None of the five have been charged with a specific crime.
This year, a total of 125 writers, editors and photojournalists were held in jails around the world on Dec. 1, 2005, the report said.
Among the listed countries that are holding journalists behind bars, Algeria 3, Tunisia 2, Libya 1 and Morocco 1.
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i'm sad to see my country in the list..com'on Morocco,u can do better.
Yeah :-(
Unfortunately, four out of twenty four countries in that list are Arab countries!
I think that the numbers are flawed. The U.S. continues to use the threat of imprisonment to force journalists to reveal their sources. If thet do not comply, they are placed in custody. This is a common occurrence. This happened recently with a New York Times journalist. She made headlines due to the high profile nature of her story, but there are countless others that that don't make the news.
James,
No American journalists are being held in jails anywhere in the world, according to CPJ. The survey is taken on a single day each year and does not count those who may have been held and released at other points during the year. Thus, Judith Miller, the former reporter for The New York Times who served 85 days in jail this summer for refusing to reveal a confidential source, was not included because she was not incarcerated on Dec. 1