Press Censorship and the Horn of Africa

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has just released its list of 10 Most Censored Countries. The Horn of Africa performed poorly. According to the CPJ, the most censored country in the world is Eritrea, followed by North Korea, Syria, Iran, Equatorial Guinea, Uzbekistan, Burma, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Belarus.

Concerning Eritrea, the CPJ wrote that "only state news media are allowed to operate in Eritrea, and they do so under the complete direction of Information Minister Ali Abdu."

The six runner-up countries were Turkmenistan, China, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Sudan and Azerbaijan. Of the sixteen countries cited, three are in the Horn of Africa. The CPJ said that censorship in Ethiopia has become far more restrictive in recent years. In Sudan, security forces have increasingly adopted the technique of confiscating newspaper editions wholesale to inflict financial losses on publishers.

Click here to read the report.