Freedom of the Press - Guinea-Bissau (2003)

Status: Partly Free
Legal Environment: 15
Political Influences: 27
Economic Pressures: 18
Total Score: 60

Population: n/a
GNI/capita: n/a
Life Expectancy: 45
Religious Groups: Indigenous beliefs (50 percent), Muslim (45 percent), Christian (5 percent)
Ethnic Groups: Balanta (30 percent), Fula (20 percent), Manjaca (14 percent), Mandinga (13 percent), Papel (7 percent), other (16 percent)
Capital: Bissau

Although freedom of speech and of the press is constitutionally guaranteed, the government imposes some limitations on the press. Officials encourage journalists to practice self-censorship, and reporters are also subjected to occasional harassment and arbitrary arrest. The editor of the independent daily Correio de Bissau was detained for two days in June and was accused of criticizing President Kumba Yala on the private radio station Radio Bombolom. In December, a Portuguese television station was barred from broadcasting for an unspecified period. However, two private newspapers that had been indefinitely closed in late 2001 on the grounds that they threatened national security were allowed to resume publishing in 2002. The state-run print and broadcast media rarely question or criticize government policies. Few private newspapers publish regularly, largely because of financial constraints and their dependence on the state-owned printing press.