Reporters Without Borders has this year, for the first time, compiled
a list of the world’s 10 most dangerous places for the media – the 10
cities, districts, squares, provinces or regions where journalists and
netizens were particularly exposed to violence and where freedom of
information was flouted.

Overall, 2011 took a heavy toll on media freedom. The Arab Spring was
at the centre of the news. Of the total of 66 journalists killed in
2011, 20 were killed in the Middle East (twice as many as in 2010). A
similar number were killed in Latin America, which is very exposed to
the threat of criminal violence. For the second year running, Pakistan
was the single deadliest country with a total of 10 journalists
killed, most of them murdered. China, Iran and Eritrea continue to be
the world’s biggest prisons for the media.

The Arab Spring, the protest movements it inspired in nearby countries
such as Sudan and Azerbaijan, and the street protests in other
countries such as Greece, Belarus, Uganda, Chile and the United States
were responsible for the dramatic surge in the number of arrests, from
535 in 2010 to 1,044 in 2011. There were many cases of journalists
being physically obstructed in the course of their work (by being
detained for short periods or being summoned for interrogation), and
for the most part they represented attempts by governments to suppress
information they found threatening.

The 43 per cent increase in physical attacks on journalists and the 31 per cent increase in arrests of netizens – who are leading targets
when they provide information about street demonstrations during media
blackouts – were also significant developments in a year of protest.
Five netizens were killed in 2011, three of them in Mexico alone.

From Cairo’s Tahrir Square to Khuzdar in southwestern Pakistan, from
Mogadishu to the cities of the Philippines, the risks of working as a
journalist at times of political instability were highlighted more
than ever in 2011. The street was where danger was to be found in
2011, often during demonstrations that led to violent clashes with the
security forces or degenerated into open conflict. The 10 places
listed by Reporters Without Borders represent extreme cases of
censorship of the media and violence against those who tried to
provide freely and independently reported news and information.
____

(Listed by alphabetical order of country)

Manama, Bahrain

The Bahraini authorities did everything possible to prevent
international coverage of the pro-democracy demonstrations in the
capital, Manama, denying entry to some foreign reporters, and
threatening or attacking other foreign reporters or their local
contacts. Bahraini journalists, especially photographers, were
detained for periods ranging from several hours to several weeks. Many
were tried before military tribunals until the state of emergency
imposed on 15 March was lifted. After months of demonstrations, order
was finally restored thanks to systematic repression. Bloggers jailed
by military courts are still in prison because civilian courts did not
review their convictions. Bahrain is an example of news censorship
that succeeded with the complicity of the international community,
which said nothing. A newspaper executive and a netizen paid for this
censorship with their lives.

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Abobo, Adjamé, Plateau, Koumassi, Cocody, Yopougon… all of these
Abidjan neighbourhoods were dangerous places for the media at one
stage or another during the first half of 2011. Journalists were
stopped at checkpoints, subjected to heavy-handed interrogation or
physically attacked. The headquarters of the national TV station, RTI,
was the target of airstrikes. A newspaper employee was beaten and
hacked to death at the end of February. A Radio Yopougon presenter was
the victim of an execution-style killing by members of the Forces
Républicaines de Côte d’Ivoire (FRCI) in May. The post-election crisis
that led to open war between the supporters of the rival presidential
contenders, Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, had a dramatic
impact on the safety of journalists. During the Battle of Abidjan, the
country’s business capital, at the start of April, it was completely
impossible for journalists to move about the city.

Cairo’s Tahrir Square, Egypt

The pro-democracy demonstrations that finally forced Hosni Mubarak to
stand down as president on 20 February began at the end of January in
Tahrir Square, now the emblem of the Arab Spring uprisings. Foreign
journalists were systematically attacked during the incredibly violent
first week of February, when an all-out hate campaign was waged
against the international media from 2 to 5 February. More than 200
violations were reported. Local journalists were also targeted. The
scenario was similar six months later – from 19 to 28 November, in the
run-up to parliamentary elections, and during the weekend of 17-18
December – during the crackdown on new demonstrations to demand the
departure of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Misrata, Libya

After liberating Benghazi, the anti-Gaddafi rebels took Misrata,
Libya’s third largest city and a strategic point for launching an
offensive on Tripoli. But the regular army staged a counter-offensive
and laid siege to the city, cutting it off from the rest of the world
and imposing a news and information blockade lasting many weeks,
during which its main road, Tripoli Street, was repeatedly the scene
of particularly intense fighting. The Battle of Misrata highlighted
the risks that reporters take in war zones. Two of the five
journalists killed in Libya in 2011 lost their lives in this city.

Veracruz state, Mexico

Located on the Gulf of Mexico and long dominated by the cartel of the
same name, Veracruz state is a hub of all kinds of criminal trade,
from drug trafficking to contraband in petroleum products. In 2011, it
became the new epicentre of the federal offensive against the cartels
and three journalists were killed there in the course of the year.
Around 10 others fled the state as a result of the growing threats to
freedom of information and because of the inaction or complicity of
the authorities in the face of this threat.

Khuzdar, Pakistan

The many cases of journalists who have been threatened or murdered in
Khuzdar district, in the southwestern province of Balochistan, is
typical of the extreme violence that prevails in this part of
Pakistan. The province’s media are caught in the crossfire between the
security forces and armed separatists. The murder of Javed Naseer
Rind, a former assistant editor of the Daily Tawar newspaper, was the
latest example. His body was found on 5 November, nearly three months
after he was abducted. An anti-separatist group calling itself the
Baloch Musallah Defa Army issued a hit-list at the end of November
naming four journalists as earmarked for assassination.

The Manila, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro metropolitan areas on the islands
of Luzon and Mindanao, Philippines

Most of the murders and physical attacks on journalists in the
Philippines take place in these three metropolitan areas. The
paramilitary groups and private militias responsible were classified
as “Predators of Press Freedom” in 2011. The government that took
office in July has still not come up with a satisfactory response, so
these groups continue to enjoy a total impunity that is the result of
corruption, links between certain politicians and organized crime, and
an insufficiently independent judicial system.

Mogadishu, Somalia

Mogadishu is a deadly capital where journalists are exposed to
terrible dangers, including being killed by a bomb or a stray bullet
or being deliberately targeted by Islamist militias hostile to the
news media. Although the Islamist insurgent group Al-Shabaab withdrew
from the capital, fighting continues and makes reporting very
dangerous. Three Somali journalists were killed in Mogadishu this
year, in August, October and December. And a visiting Malaysian
cameraman sustained a fatal gunshot injury to the chest in September
while accompanying a Malaysian NGO as it was delivering humanitarian
assistance.

Deraa, Homs and Damascus, Syria

Deraa and Homs, the two epicentres of the protests against Bashar
al-Assad’s regime, have been completely isolated. They and Damascus
were especially dangerous for journalists in 2011. The regime has
imposed a complete media blackout, refusing to grant visas to foreign
reporters and deporting those already in the country. The occasional
video footage of the pro-democracy demonstrations that began in March
has been filmed by ordinary citizens, who risk their lives to do so.
Many have been the victims of arrest, abduction, beatings and torture
for transmitting video footage or information about the repression.
The mukhabarat (intelligence services), shabihas (militias) and their
cyber-army have been used by the regime to identify and harass
journalists. Physical violence is very common. Many bloggers and
journalists have fled the country. Around 30 journalists are currently
believed to be detained.

Sanaa’s Change Square, Yemen

Change Square in Sanaa was the centre of the protests against
President Ali Abdallah Saleh and it is there that much of the violence
and abuses against journalists took place. Covering the demonstrations
and the many bloody clashes with the security forces was dangerous for
the media, which were directly targeted by a regime bent on crushing
the pro-democracy movement and suppressing coverage of it. Two
journalists were killed while covering these demonstrations.
Pro-government militiamen known as baltajiyas also carried out
punitive raids on the media. Physical violence, destruction of
equipment, kidnappings, seizure and destruction of newspapers, and
attacks on media offices were all used as part of a policy of
systematic violence against media personnel.