A recent report by Freedom House, an organization founded by the U.S. government and private groups, reveals that freedom of expression and the right of expression continue to decline throughout the world for the seventh consecutive year. Out of the 125 journalists imprisoned in 2008, half of them are behind bars in China and Cuba.

The study by Freedom House further shows that the decline occurred in all continents of the globe, with particular severity in Eastern Europe, Middle East, North Africa, and South American nations such as Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.

Of the 195 countries surveyed, 70 have a free press (36 percent), 61 have ‘partially free’ press (31 percent), and 64 do not have a free press (33 percent). Reporters are said to encounter more problems in China, Cuba, Eritrea, Burma, Iran, Syria, Equatorial Guinea, Belarus, Libya, Vietnam, Laos, North Korea, the Palestinian territories, Tunisia, Rwanda, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe.

Moreover, freedom of information is threatened not only in totalitarian states, but also in democratic nations such as Italy and Israel. Hong Kong is likewise affected by the censorship of the Beijing regime.

China remains the biggest prison in the world for thought because it keeps in its prisons and psychiatric facilities more than 60 journalists, dissidents, human rights activists, and bloggers.

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Via CPJ