The enemies of press freedom 2013
Every year, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) publishes a press freedom index. Most enemies of press freedom have been on the list for years, but in 2013, some rankings have changed.
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood
Last year, the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohammed Morsi replaced Egypt's Military Council - and have now taken the Council's place on the RWB's list of predators of press freedom. RWB accuses the brotherhood of appointing supporters to state media positions. Journalists have been attacked and killed by Islamist groups. Public prosecutor Talaat Abdallah ordered the indictment of opponents.
Syrian Opposition
Syria's al-Nusra front is new on the list. The rebel group said to be linked to Al-Qaeda is accused of systematically attacking reporters of state media, kidnapping foreign journalists and threatening to kill critical reporters. As in previous years, the group's worst enemy is also on the list: Syrian President Baschar al-Assad.
Xi Jinping
In the fall of 2012, Xi Jinping was elected General Secretary of the Communist Party of China. He assumed the presidency in March 2013. He inherited one of the world's strictest and most elaborate censorship mechanisms - and a permanent ranking on the RWB index.
Raul Castro
Raúl Castro is also not new on the list. Prison sentences for critical journalists, harrassment of bloggers, Internet censorship - the careful reforms initiated by Fidel Castro's brother over the past months fell short on freedom of expression. The photo shows Castro during a visit in Vietnam, whose leadership is also on RWB's list.
Mexican drug cartels
Mexico is regarded as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. Since 2000, 86 journalists have been killed and 17 have disappearedin in the Latin American country. Drug cartels, including the notorious Zetas gangs, present a major threat.
Putin and Lukashenko
On a political level, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko are no longer as close as this 2006 photo would suggest. Both find themselves on the index of enemies of press freedom.
Ahmadinejad and Khamenei
The same is true for these two men. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, and President Mahmud Ahmadinejad are said to be at odds. They are united, however, in their harsh approach toward dissidents and reformers. More than 200 newspapers have been shut down and 300 journalists and bloggers arrested since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005.
Kim Jong-un
The North Korean leader is on the index again, too.
Robert Mugabe
Zimbabwe's aging dictator has been under criticism for years - and he has been on the RWB's list for years, too. The journalists' advocacy group accuses Mugabe of keeping strict tabs on the state broadcaster, harassing private newspapers and ordering the arrest of reporters.
Paul Kagame
Unlike Robert Mugabe, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame is highly respected by many western governmentsand, mainly for his economic policies. But he does not tolerate oppostion. He views critical journalists in the same category as those responsible for the genocide in 1994 - they risk prison sentences. Reporters have been killed over the past few years.
The Israeli Army
RWB accuses Israeli soldiers of having shot at photographers in several incidents. The army's leadership has refused to investigate the allegations.
Off the list: Palestine
Palestinian security authorities in the West Bank and Hamas are no longer among the leading predators of press freedom. "Attacks on reporters have decreased," a RWB spokesman said. However, the group does not want to give an all-clear signal. Harassment of journalists continues to exist in both parts of the Palestinian territories.
Deleted:Thein Sein
Myanmar's President has also been taken off the list of enemies of press freedom. He freed many journalists from prison last year and relaxed censorship. Furthermore: Private daily newspapers have returned to Myanmar as of April 2013.