New York, December 8, 2009—In its annual census of imprisoned journalists, released today, The Committee to Protect Journalists found a total of 136 reporters, editors, and photojournalists behind bars on December 1, an increase of 11 from the 2008 tally. A massive crackdown in Iran, where 23 journalists are now in jail, fueled the worldwide increase.

A total of 25 journalists were imprisoned in Sub-Saharan Africa in retaliation for their journalism, and nearly 90 percent of these journalists were detained without charges in secret detention facilities, according to an annual census of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Countries as wide ranging as Eritrea, Iran, and the United States were on the list of nations who had imprisoned journalists without charge.

Eritrea by far leads the list of shame of African nations that imprison journalists, with at least 19 members of the media held incommunicado in its secret prisons. Eritrea was the fourth leading jailer of journalists worldwide, trailing only China, Iran and Cuba. Eritrea’s neighbor, Ethiopia ranked second among African nations whose prisons held the most journalists.

Early this year, to take one example, the following Radio Bana journalists were banned in Eritrea:
Bereket Misguina, Radio Bana
Mulubruhan Weldegebriel, Radio Bana
Ghirmai Abraham, Radio Bana
Issak Abraham, Radio Bana
Meles Nguse, Radio Bana
Yirgalem Fesseha, Radio Bana

Detailed accounts of all imprisoned journalists and a statistical breakdown are at http://www.cpj.org/imprisoned/2009.php

Thanks to CPJ’s Mohamed Keita for forwarding this post.