A record 182 journalists were in prison in 22 countries at the end of 1995, with more than a quarter held in Turkey, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
"Turkey has the dubious honor of imprisoning more journalists than any other country for the second consecutive year," the report said.Overall, the committee documented 720 cases of imprisonment, assault and legal harassment of reporters around the globe. In January, CPJ reported that 51 journalists were killed last year, including 45 political assassinations.
The clash between the Turkish government and the press is mostly over coverage of Turkey's 10-year-old war against insurgent Kurds in the southeastern region of the country.
According to CPJ, any account that differs from official government statements opens reporters up to prosecution. At the end of last year, 51 journalists were in Turkish jails.
"No line was drawn between commentary and news reports in the application of this law. In other words," the report said, "plain reporting about a battle between the insurgents and the government was considered separatist propaganda if it did not conform to the government's account."
The 182 imprisoned reporters topped the record of 173 set in 1994. CPJ attributed the increase to crackdowns on independent journalism in Ethiopia and Nigeria.
After Turkey, Ethiopia had the next worst record, with 31 journalists in jail. China held 20 and Kuwait 18. Vietnam, Peru, Myanmar and Nigeria each held eight journalists.
CPJ said all the imprisoned reporters were punished for their reporting.
"Imprisonment is a very effective form of censorship," William A. Orme Jr., the committee's executive director, said in a statement accompanying the report.
As a vote on Turkey's admission to the European Union neared, the government refrained from enforcing a law commonly used to muzzle reporters, CPJ said.
"With Turkey's admission in December, advocates of press freedom and human rights have lost leverage," the report said. "It is too early to tell if the recent pattern of liberalization will survive into the new year."
A report issued by another group Thursday criticized the Clinton administration for "its distrust of the press, stepping up its attempts to intimidate and uncover leakers and to monitor and control media content."