US GROUP: TURKEY RANKED PARTLY FREE IN PRESS FREEDOM INDEX
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
May 1 2008
Although Western Europe has continued to boast the highest level of
press freedom worldwide, Turkey is the only country ranked as "partly
free" in the region following a two-point dip in the country’s score,
the US-based Freedom House announced in a report on Tuesday.
The survey, released annually in advance of World Press Freedom
Day on May 3, assessed the degree of print, broadcast and Internet
freedom in every country in the world. Out of the 2008 ratings of
195 countries and territories, 72 (37 percent) were rated "Free,"
59 (30 percent) "Partly Free" and 64 (33 percent) "Not Free." The
evaluations are based on an assessment of the legal, political and
economic environments in which journalists worked during 2007.
"The continued prosecution of large numbers of journalists and the
high-profile January 2007 assassination of Turkish-Armenian editor
Hrant Dink, apparently with some involvement by state actors, were
the primary factors behind a two-point decline in the score from
49 to 51," according to the report, titled "Press Freedom in 2007:
A Year of Global Decline."
Turkey’s legal and political environments were both ranked 20 and
its economic environment ranked 11. A lower number indicates more
freedom. "With heightened polarization regarding issues of secularism,
nationalism and separatism, reform efforts toward enhanced freedom
of expression stalled in 2007," the report said.
The report also noted developments related to the newly revised
Article 301, which restricts freedom of expression. "Convictions
against journalists are made much less frequently than are
prosecutions, but trials are time-consuming and expensive. A total
of six convictions were made for charges under Article 301 in 2007
(nine were acquitted). In a positive development, the Supreme Court of
Appeals confirmed a lower court’s prior decision to drop the Article
301 case against Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk in August."
Freedom House noted setbacks in press freedom outnumbered advances two
to one globally and that there was some improvement in the regions with
the least press freedom: the Middle East and North Africa. Gains in
these regions have been attributed to a growing number of journalists
who are willing to "challenge government restraints, a pushback trend
seen in other regions as well."
Western Europe continued to boast the highest level of press freedom
worldwide in 2007, with 24 countries (96 percent) being listed as
free, including top-ranked Finland and Iceland and lower-ranked
Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland,
Estonia, Germany, Portugal, the Czech Republic and the United
Kingdom. Countries registering declines included Portugal, whose
score worsened due to a new law that could strip journalists of their
right to protect confidential sources and gives employers the right
to reuse journalists’ work in any way for 30 days following initial
publication, as well as Malta, whose score deteriorated by several
points due to a series of a threats and attacks against journalists
covering public demonstrations and debates.