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ANGOLA

Angola’s defamation laws have been the subject of much criticism, with the UN Human Rights Committee, a body that monitors compliance with the International Convention on Civil and Polictical Rights, ruling in that they violated international law. the relevant parts of the penal code have not been amended, meaning that defamation continues to constitute a criminal violation punishable by incarceration. In addition, procedural peculiarities make it almost impossible to successfully plead the defense of "truth" in response to allegations of defamation. The defense is not available at all for the crime of "injuria", defined as the "crime of injury, without imputation of any determined fact…committed against any person publicly", regardless of the medium used; it carries penalties consisting of fines and up to two months in prison. This law and many others are used to control press freedoms  throughout Angola.

CHINA

The major source of news in China is Xinhua, the state controlled news source. The press outside Xinhua in China is severely limited. Newspapers are arbitrarily shut down if they print material the state deems inappropriate. Reporters lose their credentials or are fired or jailed if they report what isn’t allowed. Foreign journalists are routinely blocked from covering stories the Chinese don’t want covered. Even when it does allow coverage, the journalists are highly controlled in terms of who they can meet and when.

ECUADOR

Effective intimidation against the press by threatening any journalist with imprisonment because of the mere fact of trying to fulfill his or her duty to keep the public informed. These statues are holdovers from colonial or autocratic eras, whose origins date back to the Roman Empire, which created them in order to shield the emperor from criticism from the rest of the public.

EQUATORIAL GUINEA

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Equatorial Guinea is one of the top ten countries in the world for abuse of the press. State-run radio in Equatorial Guinea has described President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo as “the country’s God.”

ERITREA

Eritrea in 2007 was rated the worst countries in Africa for abuse of the press. The privately-owned press has been banished by the authoritarian President Issaias Afeworki and the few journalists who dare to criticize the regime are sent off to prison camps. Four of them have died in detention and others will suffer the same fate. In 2008, the following journalists held in jail without legal representation are said to include; Fitzum Wedi Ade, assistant editor with Zemen; Selamyinghes Beyene, reporter for Meqaleh; Habteab and Habtemichael of Meqaleh; founder and manager Zemenfes Haile and reporter Ghebrehiwet Keleta of Tsigenay; Tsehaye, and Daniel Mussie, of Radio Dimtsi Hafash. The group also still includes Isaac, co-owner of the defunct Setit, arrested in 2001. Isaac, who is an Eritrean national but also holds a Swedish passport, was briefly released for a medical checkup in November 2005, but forced back to prison after just two days. He has not been heard from since.

ETHIOPIA

According to Committee to Protect Journalists “Ethiopia’s toxic political environment, Zenawi’s government sweeps up journalists and shuts down newspapers”. Over 200 journalists have been arrested exiled or killed inder the present government.

GAZA STRIP

There is freedom of the press in Gaza, yet at the same time, reporters are subject to beatings and murder if found in the wrong place by the wrong people, be they Israeli troops or Hamas or Fatah. Offices of opposition newspapers have been burned and bombed as well. In a statement, the Jerusalem-based Foreign Press Association (FPA) urged the 'relevant authorities in Gaza to allow the proper functioning of the free press. There can be no excuse for any attempt to limit this freedom.'

GUINEA

The press is highly restricted and is coerced to act as the government’s mouthpiece. Equatorial Guinea continues to be rated as one of the worst oppressors of media in the world. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) lists it as one of the five most-censored countries, while Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls Guinea one of the world’s "predators of press freedom" and lists it in the "red zone" regarding difficulties faced by independent press. Equatorial Guinea is one of the few African countries with virtually no independent media, along with a reputation for grave violations of human rights. It is among the top 10 most corrupt states, according to corruption watchdog Transparency International. The situation will only get worse as the most recent President was assassinated last month and it is unclear what leadership will emerge

HAITI

The press in Haiti is less subject to legal restriction than it is to retribution. Local gangs and warlords will kill or injure any journalist that dreates problems for them. As a result, few do. A commission, composed of journalists from a variety of Port-au-Prince media outfits, was established recently to identify problems with the investigations into the murders of at least 10 journalists in recent years. It was given access to official police and court documents, and tasked with studying the case files to determine how and why the cases had stalled. Twenty days after the CIAPEAJ was launched, two gang members received life sentences for their part in the July 2005 abduction and murder of the journalist Jacques Roche. A third suspect was arrested in October

IRAN

Iran is rated 136 out of 162 countries worldwide. Free press is extremely limited in Iran in which the press is almost exclusively controlled by the government. Newspapers in disagreement will find themselves bombed and reporters arrested. Recently The Press Supervisory Board, Iran's press watchdog, says that it closed the Reformist weekly for unauthorized publication of political content. This closure sends a chilling message in advance of national elections due shortly.

KAZAKHSTAN

There is “soft” repression of the press. For example, lawsuits by the government against papers that oppose it; these suits are invariably won by the government.

KYRGYZSTAN

The press in Kyrgyzstan recently suffered a blow when parliament passed a law giving the President the power to appoint executives in charge of the state run TV and radio stations. In the last two years, with concerted and brash efforts by the government to censor the media. legal protection has become increasingly unstable and unreliable, in part due to a standoff in parliament between the ruling and opposition parties. The decriminalization of libel failed to pass into law. One of the most significant and troubling blows to independent journalism in Kyrgyzstan was dealt in October, when all transmissions from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) into the country were suspended after the Kyrgyz government withdrew RFE/RL’s broadcasting rights. The reason cited for the withdrawal was alleged unpaid debts.

LAOS

Silence and the lack of information are the main indicators of the lack of press freedom in Laos, officially the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. This one-party state continues to control all media in the landlocked country, which has repeatedly been described as having one of the lowest levels of press freedom in the world. The ruling communists maintain strict editorial control over the press, and the media continue to restrict themselves to news that is favorable to the regime.

LIBERIA

Incidents of harassment, whether verbal, physical or imposed through judicial channels, are consistent and plentiful.  This pattern earned Libera third place on a list compiled by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), identifying countries with the highest number of press freedom rights abuses in West Africa. While MFWA noted that the high number of violations mostly involved acts by "errant security personnel," even a cursory  look at the  events reveals that Liberia’s journalists face hostility from a variety of sources.

NEPAL

Nepal suffers from roving gangs of revolutionaries and opposition forces who regularly threaten and harm journalists there.

NIGERIA

Observers talk about a "crackdown on freedom of expression in the country. One journalist has just been beaten and threatened while three other senior editors have been "arrested and charged with sedition and defamation of character."

NORTH KOREA

North Korea is rated the worst country in the world for press repression. All media is state owned. There is zero tolerance for dissent. North Korea’s state-run news agency reported that two American journalists who were seized in March would be tried on 4 June for illegal entry and "hostile acts". Euna Lee and Laura Ling of US-based Current TV could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

RUSSIA

On the surface Russia has a large and active press corp. Nonetheless, the government and private interests have been responsible for murdering dozens of journalists who attempt to uncover corruption and other large, endemic crimes. The government has also taken control over television stations and programming, firing executives who disagree with them.

SAUDI ARABIA

There is some press freedom in Saudi Arabia. However it is given and then taken away in fits and starts. Government officials silence critical voices and dismiss editors, suspend or blacklist dissident writers, order news blackouts on controversial topics, and admonish independent columnists over their writings to deter undesirable criticism or to appease religious constituencies.

SRI LANKA

As Sri Lanka appears to be nearing the end of a vicious civil war with Tamil rebels, the International Press Institute is appealing to the international community to pressure the government for increased transparency in the embattled region, and justice for journalists killed during years of conflict.

Journalists have not been allowed free access to the north of Sri Lanka, where government soldiers and rebel fighters have entered a final stand-off. More than 50,000 civilians are reportedly trapped in the war zone. Sri Lanka holds one of the world’s worst records when it comes to prosecuting killers of journalists. Sixteen journalists have been killed in Sri Lanka since 2004. In a January 2009 report, press freedom organizations pinpointed impunity as a major problem, noting that there are few serious investigations of attacks on journalists by the authorities and none of the killers are brought to trial.

SYRIA

The press in Syria is tightly controlled and is in effect, a mouthpiece for the government. Except for a handful of radio stations that do not broadcast news, all radio and tv is state owned. The newspaper, Baladna was banned for 47 days after it published a cartoon satirizing the congress. Journalists are routinely jailed and interrogated by the government in order to chill the medium.

TAJIKISTAN

Freedom of expression in Tajikistan has improved, yet problems persist. Repressive media laws, attacks on journalists and media outlets, and the frequent use of lawsuits to silence dissent highlight the latest trends as the government attacks the press to maintain its own positions.

TURKMENISTAN

Turkmenistan is rated as one of the ten worst countries in the world for press freedom. The press is totally subjugated under state controlled and acts in synch with all government demands and propaganda. Only Eritrea and North Korea are rated worse.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The United Arab Emirates has a relatively active press but it suffers from omission rather that commission. The press is self regulating as it knows the government will crush it if it pushes too hard.

UZBEKISTAN

The press is entirely muzzled and acts as a mouthpiece for the government. There has been a dramatic increase in government harassment of civil society. Harassment of individual Uzbeks, local organizations and international NGOs promoting human rights by Uzbek authorities has escalated. A prominent human rights defender and reporter of the bloodshed in Andijan, Saidjahon Zaynobiddinov, was charged with defamation and anti-government activities and effectively held incommunicado for five months. An Uzbek court ithen handed down a 7-year prison sentence in the Saidjahon case, following a judicial process in which Uzbek authorities provided neither details of the charges, nor indicated where or when the trial was held.. Most trials are held without outside scrutiny.

VENEZUELA

The press is active but battles a strong politically driven imperatives and abuse by government agencies intent on clamping down on unfavorable reporting on a daily basis. So called ‘independent” groups show up at independent newspapers and tv stations to destroy computers and harass reporters

VIETNAM

The press is active but strongly controlled by the government and often avoids unfavorable reporting.

YEMEN

There is substantial pressure against press freedom in Yemen. Journalists are jailed and the government acts quite harshly to repress and influence journalists not to speak negatively or to expose corruption there.

ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe has a very active press but it is subject to violent protests by organized gangs operating on behalf of the government. Robert Mugabe continues to cling to power through repression on many fronts, not the least of which is the press. He is aided in this by the passage of an Official Secrets Act and a draconian Defamation law. Prosecutions take place constantly to muzzle the press, radio and TV.