Reporters Without Borders

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Logo of the Reporters Without Borders.

Reporters Without Borders, or RWB (French: Reporters sans frontières, Spanish: Reporteros Sin Fronteras, or RSF, Chinese: 無國界記者, Persian: گزارشگران بدون مرز, Arabic: مراسلون بلا حدود‎ Murāsilūn bi-lā Ḥudūd) is a Paris-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985 by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud.^[1] Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008.^[2]

[edit] Press freedom

RWB was founded in Montpellier, France in 1985. At first, the association was aimed at promoting alternative journalism, but before the failure of their project, the three founders stumbled on disagreements between themselves.^[1] Finally, only Robert Ménard stayed and became its Secretary General. Ménard changed the NGO's aim towards freedom of press.^[1]

Reporters Without Borders states that it draws its inspiration from Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, according to which everyone has "the right to freedom of opinion and expression" and also the right to "seek, receive and impart" information and ideas "regardless of frontiers." This has been re-affirmed by several charters and declarations around the world. In Europe, this right is included in the 1950 Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Reporters Without Borders is a founding member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, a virtual network of non-governmental organisations that monitors free expression violations worldwide and defends journalists, writers and others who are persecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

In 2005, Reporters Without Borders shared the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought with Nigerian human rights lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim and Cuba's Ladies in White movement.^[3]

Over the years, RWB has published several books to raise public awareness of threats to press freedom around the world. A recent publication is the Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents,^[4] which was launched in September 2005. The handbook provides technical tips on how to blog anonymously and avoid censorship. It includes contributions from well-known blogger-journalists Dan Gillmor, Jay Rosen and Ethan Zuckerman.

Reporters Without Borders publishes the Predators of Press Freedom list.^[5]

[edit] Funding

According to the annual accounts, its total budget is of €4,000,000, which is mostly financed by sale of photo-albums (of which the authors freely grant copyright, and which are freely distributed by the Nouvelles Messageries de la presse parisienne, NMPP ^[6]), as well as extras such as T-shirts, etc ^[6].

More than 20% of its funding comes from private groups, such as Sanofi-Aventis (€400,000, 10% of its budget ^[6]), François Pinault, the Fondation de France, the Open Society Institute of George Soros, the Sigrid Rausing Trust, Benetton, or the Center for a Free Cuba (which donated €64,000 in 2002).^[6][7]. Furthermore, Saatchi & Saatchi has realized various communication campaigns of RWB for free (for instance, concerning censorship in Algeria^[8]).

Some of its funding (12% of total in 2007) comes from governmental organisations.^[9] According to RWB president Robert Ménard, the donations from the French government account for 4,8% of RWB's budget; the total amount of governmental aid being 11% of its budget (including money from the French government, the OSCE, UNESCO and the Organisation internationale de la francophonie).^[10] Daniel Junqua, the vice-president of the French section of RWB (and also vice-president of the NGO Les Amis du Monde diplomatique), states that the NED's funding, which reachs an amount of €35,000 ^[6], does not compromise RWB's impartiality.^[10] RSF's Chinese website credits support from Taiwan Foundation for Democracy,^[11] a quasi-government organization funded by the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs.^[12]

Reporters Without Borders books are sold by the French leisure chains and supermarkets Fnac, Carrefour, Casino, Monoprix and Cora, the websites alapage.com, fnac.com and amazon.fr, as well as A2Presse and over 300 bookshops throughout France.^[13]

Journalist Salim Lamrani has estimated that RSF would have to sell 170,200 books in 2004 and 188,400 books in 2005 to earn the more than $2 million in the organisation's income statement. ^[14] In fact, Reporters Without Borders book sales were 230,000 in 2007.^[15]

[edit] Campaigns

[edit] Philippines

On August 23, 2007, RWB condemned the continuing threats and violence against Philippine radio commentators who report on organized crime and corruption, following a death threat on RGMA Palawan station manager Lily Uy.^[16] On December 27, 2007, RSF appealed to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration to forthwith arrest the killers of radio broadcaster Ferdinand Lintuan, 51, the 5th journalist killed in 2007 in the Philippines. As first president of the Davao Association of Sports Journalists he was murdered in Davao City on December 24.^[17]

[edit] International Online Free Expression Day

Reporters Without Borders launched the first International Online Free Expression Day on March 12, 2008.^[18] UNESCO, who initially had granted patronage to that event, withdrew its patronage on March 12 giving as reasons that RWB "published material concerning a number of UNESCO’s Member States, which UNESCO had not been informed of and could not endorse" and that "UNESCO’s logo was placed in such a way as to indicate the Organization’s support of the information presented."^[19][20]

[edit] Cyber-dissident prize

On several years, Reporters Without Borders has awarded a cyber-dissident prize. Winners have included Guillermo Fariñas (Cuba), Zouhair Yahyaoui (Tunisia), Huang Qi (China), and Massoud Hamid (Syria).^[21]

[edit] Worldwide Press Freedom Index

RWB compiles and publishes an annual ranking of countries based upon the organization's assessment of their press freedom records. Small countries, such as Malta and Andorra, are excluded from this report. The 2008 list was published on 21 October 2008.

The report is based on a questionnaire ^[22] sent to partner organizations of Reporters Without Borders (14 freedom of expression groups in five continents) and its 130 correspondents around the world, as well as to journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists.^[23]

The survey asks questions about direct attacks on journalists and the media as well as other indirect sources of pressure against the free press. RWB is careful to note that the index only deals with press freedom, and does not measure the quality of journalism. Due to the nature of the survey's methodology based on individual perceptions, there are often wide contrasts in a country's ranking from year to year.

Yearly worldwide press freedom ranking of countries published by Reporters Without Borders

Rank 2008 Country Index[clarification needed] 2008 Index 2007 Index 2006 Index 2005 Index 2004 Index 2003 Index 2002 Notes 1  Iceland 1.50 0.75 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1  Luxembourg 1.50             1  Norway 1.50 0.75 2.00 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 4  Estonia 2.00 1.00 2.00 1.50 2.00 2.50   4  Finland 2.00 1.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 4  Republic of Ireland 2.00 2.00 0.50 0.50 0.50 2.83 1.00 7  Belgium 3.00 1.50 4.00 4.00 4.00 1.17 3.50 7  Latvia 3.00 3.00 2.50 1.00 2.25   7  New Zealand 3.00 4.17 5.00 2.00 0.67 2.83   7  Slovakia 3.00 1.00 2.50 0.75 0.50 2.50   7  Sweden 3.00 1.50 4.00 2.00 2.00 1.50 1.50 7  Switzerland 3.00 3.00 2.50 0.50 0.50 2.50 4.25 13  Canada 3.33 4.88 4.50 4.50 3.33 1.83 0.75 14  Austria 3.50 4.25 4.50 2.50 3.25 2.75 7.50 14  Denmark 3.50 2.00 5.00 0.50 0.50 1.00 3.00 16  Czech Republic 4.00 4.00 0.75 1.00 3.50 2.50 11.25 16  Lithuania 4.00 7.00 6.50 4.50 3.00 2.83   16  Netherlands 4.00 3.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 16  Portugal 4.00 2.00 3.00 4.83 4.50 5.17 1.50 20  Germany 4.50 5.75 5.50 4.00 2.00 1.33 1.50 21  Jamaica 4.88 8.63 5.50 7.50 4.17 3.33   22  Costa Rica 5.10 6.50 6.67 8.50 7.63 3.83 4.25 23  Hungary 5.50 4.50 3.00 2.00 6.00 3.33 6.50 23  Namibia 5.50 8.50 6.00 5.50 10.00 11.00 8.00 23  United Kingdom 5.50 8.25 6.50 5.17 6.00 4.25 6.00 26  Suriname 6.00             27  Trinidad and Tobago 6.13 5.00 5.00 2.00 2.00 1.00   28  Australia 6.25 8.79 9.00 6.50 9.50 9.25 3.50 29  Japan 6.50 11.75 12.50 8.00 10.00 8.00 7.50 30  Slovenia 7.33 6.50 3.00 1.00 2.25 3.00 4.00 31  Cyprus 7.50 14.00 7.50 5.50 22.00 20.83   pre-2005 data included Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus 31  Ghana 7.50 9.00 8.50 15.00 13.50 8.75 23.00 31  Greece 7.50 9.25 8.00 4.00 7.00 6.00 5.00 31  Mali 7.50 16.50 9.00 8.00 12.83 11.00 12.50 35  France 7.67 9.75 9.00 6.25 3.50 4.17 3.25 36  Bosnia and Herzegovina 8.00 11.17 5.00 7.00 3.67 6.83 12.50 36  Cape Verde 8.00 14.00 11.50 6.00 8.75 8.25 13.75 36  South Africa 8.00 13.00 11.25 6.50 5.00 3.33 7.50 36  Spain 8.00 10.25 10.00 8.33 9.00 7.67 7.75 36  Republic of China (Taiwan) 8.00 10.00 10.50 12.25 14.25 12.00 9.00 36  United States 8.00 14.50 13.00 9.50 4.00 6.00 4.75 42  Macedonia 8.25 11.50 11.50 8.75 11.25 9.67   43  Uruguay 8.33 11.75 13.75 9.75 10.00 4.00 6.00 44  Italy 8.42 11.25 9.90 8.67 9.00 9.75 11.00 45  Croatia 8.50 12.50 13.00 12.83 11.83 16.50 8.75 46  Israel (Israeli territory) 8.83 13.25 12.00 10.00 8.00 8.00 30.00 47  Mauritius 9.00 8.50 8.00 7.50 10.50 7.25 9.50 47  Poland 9.00 18.50 14.00 12.50 6.83 6.17 7.75 47  Romania 9.00 12.75 14.00 16.17 17.83 11.50 13.25 47  South Korea 9.00 12.13 7.75 7.50 11.13 9.17 10.50 51  Hong Kong 9.75 20.00 14.00 8.25 7.50 11.00 4.83 51  Liberia 9.75 25.33 19.00 20.50 40.00 40.00 37.75 53 Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus 10.00 19.00 14.50 12.50 22.00 20.83   pre-2005 data included Cyprus 53  Montenegro 10.00 19.00 11.50 14.83 20.13 21.33 20.75 pre-2007 data from Serbia and Montenegro 53  Togo 10.00 15.17 15.00 23.75 19.50 27.50 31.50 56  Chile 11.50 12.13 11.63 11.75 10.00 6.83 6.50 57  Panama 11.83 17.88 9.50 15.00 14.50 9.75 15.50 58  Kosovo 12.00 19.75 16.00 25.75 20.13 21.33 20.75 pre-2005 data from Serbia and Montenegro    Grenada       12.00     59  Bulgaria 12.50 16.25 9.00 10.25 8.00 6.50 9.75 59  Nicaragua 12.50 14.25 15.50 15.25 11.67 6.50   61  Kuwait 12.63 20.17 17.00 21.25 31.67 31.33 25.50 62  El Salvador 12.80 20.20 10.00 5.75 6.00 6.83 8.75 63  Burkina Faso 13.00 21.50 16.00 19.00 16.25 18.00 27.75 64  Serbia 13.50 21.00 11.50 14.83 20.13 21.33 20.75 pre-2007 data from Serbia and Montenegro 65  Timor-Leste 13.75 27.00 18.50 13.50 13.50 5.50   66  Botswana 14.00 23.50 13.00 14.00 11.50 13.00   66  Lebanon 14.00 28.75 27.00 28.25 24.38 32.50 19.67 68  Argentina 14.08 24.83 17.30 13.67 21.33 15.17 12.00 69  United Arab Emirates 14.50 20.25 17.50 25.75 50.25 37.00   70  Benin 15.00 17.00 5.50 5.50 5.50 5.25 6.00 70  Malawi 15.00 26.75 25.50 22.75 31.00 21.00 27.67 70  Tanzania 15.00 18.00 19.82 17.50 14.50 16.50 21.25 73  Haiti 15.13 23.50 19.50 33.50 42.13 31.00 36.50 74  Bhutan 15.50 37.17 25.00 51.50 55.83 77.33 90.75 74  Ecuador 15.50 18.50 15.25 21.75 16.50 7.67 5.50 74  Qatar 15.50 24.00 18.00 23.00 32.50 35.00   74  Seychelles 15.50 33.00 24.50 17.00 23.50 26.75 20.75 74  Zambia 15.50 21.50 22.50 23.00 29.75 23.25 26.75 79  Albania 16.00 25.50 18.00 14.17 11.50 6.50   79  Fiji 16.00 33.50 14.00 14.00 16.00 11.50   81  Guinea-Bissau 16.33 33.50 14.50 17.00 23.50 35.25 30.25 82  Brazil 18.00 25.25 17.17 14.50 16.50 16.75 18.75 82  Dominican Republic 18.00 22.75 12.75 12.25 6.75 17.00   82  Tonga 18.00 38.25 13.00 14.50 38.17     85  Central African Republic 18.50 22.50 14.50 19.75 32.50 32.75 21.50 86  Senegal 19.00 25.00 17.50 19.00 21.50 14.50 14.00 87  Ukraine 19.25 26.75 26.50 32.50 51.00 40.00 40.00 88  Guyana 19.75             89  Comoros 20.00 28.00 22.50 22.00 26.50 18.50 20.50 90  Mozambique 20.50 23.00 11.50 10.50 16.25 14.00 23.50 90  Paraguay 20.50 26.10 18.25 15.50 10.50 7.17 8.50 92  Republic of the Congo 20.75 24.50 17.00 17.00 17.50 14.00 23.17 93  Mongolia 20.83 23.40 19.25 12.50 19.00 18.25 24.50 94 Burundi 21.00 43.40 39.83         94  Madagascar 21.00 20.00 15.00 24.50 18.50 8.17 22.75 96  Bahrain 21.17 38.00 28.00 38.75 52.50 35.17 23.00 97  Kenya 21.25 23.75 30.25 30.00 22.25 18.50 24.75 98  Moldova 21.38 24.75 19.17 17.50 20.50 27.00   99  Guinea 21.50 33.50 27.50 26.00 24.50 33.17 26.00 99  Honduras 21.50 25.50 14.50 18.00 11.75 14.17   101  Guatemala 22.64 33.00 21.25 21.50 16.50 30.83 27.25 102  Armenia 22.75 23.63 25.50 26.00 23.50 25.17   102  Turkey 22.75 31.25 25.00 25.00 37.25 35.00 33.50 104  Maldives 23.25 45.17 51.25 58.50 69.17 47.50   105  Mauritania 23.88 15.50 17.50 40.00 51.00 36.67 41.33 106  Tajikistan 25.50 37.00 30.00 33.00 27.75 34.50 28.25 107  Uganda 26.00 28.00 29.83 19.25 24.00 25.75 17.00 108  Peru 26.25 37.38 28.25 33.33 40.00 10.25 9.50 109  Côte d'Ivoire 26.50 27.00 25.00 52.25 60.38 42.17 19.00 110  Gabon 26.75 31.50 28.50 26.00 37.50 31.25 20.50 111  Indonesia 27.00 30.50 26.00 26.00 37.75 34.25 20.00 111  Kyrgyzstan 27.00 33.60 34.00 32.00 35.25 32.00 31.75 113  Venezuela 27.33 36.88 29.00 23.00 24.63 27.83 25.00 114  Sierra Leone 27.75 39.50 26.00 39.50 24.50 23.50 24.50 115  Bolivia 28.20 21.50 4.50 9.67 20.00 9.67 14.50 116  Angola 29.50 26.50 21.50 18.00 26.50 28.00 30.17 116  Lesotho 29.50 29.50 16.00 19.50 29.50 17.75   118  India 30.00 39.33 26.50 27.00 38.50 39.00 26.50 119  United States (extra-territorial) 31.00 36.00 31.50 48.50 36.00 41.00   120  Georgia 31.25 20.83 21.00 25.17 27.50 17.33   121  Algeria 31.33 40.50 40.00 40.33 43.50 33.00 31.00 122  Morocco 32.25 33.25 24.83 36.17 43.00 39.67 29.00 123  Oman 32.67         57.75   124  Thailand 34.50 53.50 33.50 28.00 14.00 19.67 22.75 125  Kazakhstan 35.33 41.63 41.00 36.17 44.17 42.50 42.00 126  Cambodia 35.50 25.33 27.25 23.00 36.50 19.50 24.25 126  Colombia 35.50 42.33 44.75 40.17 47.38 49.17 40.83 128  Jordan 36.00 40.21 27.50 24.00 39.13 37.00 33.50 129  Cameroon 36.90 36.00 28.25 20.50 27.00 30.50 28.83 130  Niger 37.00 25.50 24.50 13.00 18.33 15.75 18.50 131  Nigeria 37.75 49.83 32.23 38.75 37.75 31.50 15.50    Brunei           38.00 132  Malaysia 39.50 41.00 22.25 33.00 39.83 32.00 37.83 133  Chad 41.25 36.50 35.50 30.00 33.25 24.00 28.75 134  Djibouti 41.50 50.25 33.00 37.00 55.00 35.50 31.25 135  Sudan 42.00 55.75 48.13 44.00 44.25 45.75 36.00 136  Bangladesh 42.70 53.17 48.00 61.25 62.50 46.50 43.75 137  Gambia 42.75 48.25 54.00 41.00 29.50 18.25 22.50 138 Nepal 43.25 53.75 73.50 86.75 84.00 51.50 63.00 139  Philippines 45.00 44.75 51.00 50.00 36.63 35.25 29.00 140  Mexico 46.13 53.63 45.83 45.50 27.83 17.67 24.75 141  Russia 47.50 56.90 52.50 48.67 51.38 49.50 48.00 142  Ethiopia 47.75 63.00 75.00 42.00 37.00 37.50 37.50 143  Tunisia 48.10 57.00 53.75 57.50 62.67 50.83 67.75 144  Singapore 49.00 56.00 51.50 50.67 57.00 47.33   145  Rwanda 50.00 58.88 41.00 38.00 37.25 34.25 37.50 146  Egypt 50.25 58.00 46.25 52.00 43.50 34.25 34.50 147  Swaziland 50.50 54.50 40.50 35.00 31.00 37.50 29.00 148  Democratic Republic of the Congo 51.25 50.50 51.00 57.33 51.50 38.50 40.75 149  Israel (extra-territorial) 51.50 32.00 47.00   37.50 49.00   150  Azerbaijan 53.63 55.40 47.00 51.00 49.67 34.50 34.50 151  Zimbabwe 54.00 62.00 50.00 64.25 67.50 45.50 48.25 152  Pakistan 54.88 64.83 70.33 60.75 61.75 39.00 44.67 153  Somalia 58.00 71.50 51.25 59.00 43.50 45.00   154  Belarus 58.33 63.63 57.00 61.33 54.10 52.00 52.17 155  Yemen 59.00 56.67 54.00 46.25 48.00 41.83 34.75 156  Afghanistan 59.25 56.50 44.25 39.17 28.25 40.17 35.50 156  Equatorial Guinea 59.25 65.25 48.00 44.00 46.25 44.75 42.75 158  Iraq 59.38 67.83 66.83 67.00 58.50 37.50 79.00 159  Syria 59.63 66.00 63.00 55.00 67.50 67.50 62.83 160  Libya 61.50 66.50 62.50 88.75 65.00 60.00 72.50 161  Saudi Arabia 61.75 59.75 76.00 66.00 79.17 71.50 62.50 162  Uzbekistan 62.70 74.88 71.00 66.50 52.13 61.50 45.00 163 Palestinian Authority 66.88 69.83 46.75 42.50 43.17 39.25 27.00 164  Laos 70.00 75.00 67.50 66.50 64.33 94.83 89.00 165  Sri Lanka 78.00 67.50 50.75 33.25 36.50 24.83 15.75 166  Iran 80.33 96.50 90.88 89.17 78.30 89.33 48.25 167  People's Republic of China (mainland only) 85.50 89.00 94.00 83.00 92.33 91.25 97.00 168  Vietnam 86.17 79.25 67.25 73.25 86.88 89.17 81.25 169  Cuba 88.33 96.17 95.00 87.00 106.83 97.83 90.25 170  Myanmar 94.38 93.75 94.75 88.83 103.63 95.50 96.83 171  Turkmenistan 95.50 103.75 98.50 93.50 99.83 82.83 91.50 172  North Korea 96.50 108.75 109.00 109.00 107.50 99.50 97.50 173  Eritrea 97.50 114.75 97.50 99.75 93.25 91.50 83.67

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Robert Ménard on the ethics of torture

In an interview with France Culture in 2007, whilst speaking about the case of the kidnapped journalist Daniel Pearl, RWB president Robert Ménard discussed the ethics of torture.^[24] Menard told France Culture:

[edit] Western intelligence agencies

An article by John Cherian in the leftist Indian magazine Frontline alleged that RWB "is reputed to have strong links with Western intelligence agencies" and "Cuba has accused Robert Meynard, the head of the group, of having CIA links".^[25] The organization has denied the allegation made by Cuba.^[26]

[edit] Otto Reich

Lucie Morillon, RWB's Washington representative, confirmed in an interview on 29 April 2005 that the organization has a contract with US State Department's Special Envoy to the Western Hemisphere, Otto Reich, who signed it in his capacity as a trustee for the Center for a Free Cuba, to inform Europeans about the repression of journalists in Cuba.^[27]

Critics of RWB, such as Counterpunch, have cited Reich's involvement with the group as a source of controversy: when Reich headed the Reagan administration's Office of Public Diplomacy in the 1980s, the body partook in what its officials termed "White Propaganda" – covert dissemination of information to influence domestic opinion regarding US backing for military campaigns against Left-wing governments in Latin America.^[28][29] An investigation into the Office’s activities by the US Comptroller-General found that under Otto Reich it was engaged in "prohibited, covert propaganda activities ... beyond the range of acceptable agency public information activities".^[30]

In 2002, Reich was appointed to the visiting board of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation,^[31] which was formerly known as the School for the Americas, and described in 2004 by the LA Weekly as a “torture-teaching institution”.^[32] According to Amnesty International, the School in the past has produced training manuals which advocated torture, blackmail, beatings and executions.^[33]

Reacting to Otto Reich’s appointment to the visiting board, School of the Americas Watch said, “Reich on a board charged with monitoring the human rights integrity of an institution as notorious as this one is like the fox guarding the henhouse. His appointment to this position exposes the rubber-stamp character and hypocritical function of such a board…The underlying objective of both the school and Mr. Reich is to continue to control the economic and political systems of Latin America by training and arming Latin American militaries.”^[34]

According to critics, Reich has a “Stalinist-type contempt for press freedom”.^[35] In the 1980s it is alleged that he conducted sex smears against journalists critical of the Contra rebel group in Nicaragua.^[35] Reich himself has joked about his attitude to criticism - in 2002 in mock indignation he joked that opponents had "said that I can't make rational decisions because of my ideology. Well, they are not saying that anymore, because I had them all arrested this morning."^[36]

[edit] Cuba

RWB has been highly critical of press freedom in Cuba, describing the Cuban government as "totalitarian" and engages in direct campaigning against it.^[37] RWB's campaign includes declarations on radio and television, full-page ads in Parisian dailies, posters, leafletting at airports, and an April 2003 occupation of the Cuban tourism office in Paris.^[38] A Paris court (tribunal de grande instance) ordered RWB to pay 6,000 Euros to the daughter and heir of Alberto Korda for non-compliance with a court order of 9 July 2003 banning it from using Korda’s famous (and copyrighted) photograph of Ernesto "Che" Guevara in a beret, taken at the funeral of La Coubre victims. RWB said it was "relieved" it was not given a harsher sentence.^[37][39] The face had been superimposed by RSF with that of a May 1968 CRS anti-riot police agent, and the postcard handed out at Orly Airport in Paris to tourists boarding on flights for Cuba. Korda's daughter declared to Granma that "Reporters Without Borders should call themselves Reporters Without Principles."^[40] Led by Robert Ménard, RWB also burst into the Cuban Tourism Office in Paris on 4 April, 2003, obstructing the running of the office for nearly four hours.^[41][42] On April 24, 2003, RWB organized a demonstration outside the Cuban embassy in Paris.^[41]

RWB in turn has been described as an "ultra-reactionary" organization by the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, Granma.^[37] Tensions between Cuban authorities and RWB are high, particularly after the imprisonment in 2003 of 75 dissidents (27 journalists) by the Cuban Government, including Raúl Rivero and Oscar Elías Biscet.

RWB has denied that its campaigning on Cuba are related to payments it has received from anti-Castro organisations. In 2004, it received $50,000 from the Miami based exile group, the Center for a Free Cuba, which was personally signed by the US State Department's Special Envoy to the Western Hemisphere, Otto Reich.^[28] RWB has also received extensive funding from other institutions long critical of Fidel Castro's government, including the International Republican Institute^[43]

Salim Lamrani, a professor at Paris Descartes University, has accused Reporters Without Borders with making unsupported and contradictory statements regarding Internet connectivity in Cuba.^[44]

[edit] Haiti

Counterpunch reported:

American reporter on human rights, Kevin Pina, who was imprisoned under Gérard Latortue's rule, said of RSF:

[edit] Venezuela

Le Monde diplomatique has criticized RWB's attitude towards Hugo Chávez's government in Venezuela, in particular during the 2002 coup attempt.^[43] In a right of reply, Robert Ménard declared that RWB had also condemned the support of Venezuela media to the coup attempt.^[10]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

Journalism portal

• List of indices of freedom
• List of European countries by press freedom index
• Chilling effect
• Media transparency
• OSCE countries statistics
• Committee to Protect Journalists
• Without Borders

[edit] External links

• Reporters Without Borders
• Reporters Without Borders. Worldwide press freedom index 2002.
• Reporters Without Borders. Worldwide press freedom index 2003.
• Reporters Without Borders. Worldwide press freedom index 2004.
• Reporters Without Borders. Worldwide press freedom index 2005;
• Reporters Without Borders. Worldwide press freedom index 2006.
• Reporters Without Borders. Worldwide press freedom index 2007.
• Reporters Without Borders. Worldwide press freedom index 2008.
• RSF Press Freedom Index: Independent Assessment or EU Propaganda?, John Rosenthal, Nov 6, 2007
• Coups d’Etat sans frontières, Le Monde, August 2002