Journalists covering unrest in the DRC face arrests, assault, and internet shutdowns
On New Year’s Eve, as the world prepared to ring in 2018, Congolese journalist Edmon Izula was being repeatedly hit with a rifle and threatened at gunpoint by a member of the state security forces. Iluza was one of at least three journalists harassed by authorities that day, in a scenario that has become common…
CPJ calls on Niger to stop persecuting journalist Baba Alpha
New York, April 5, 2018–Nigerien authorities should reverse the expulsion of journalist Baba Alpha and ensure his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. After jailing him for a year, authorities on April 3 released Baba Alpha, a journalist with the privately owned radio and television news agency Bonferey, and drove him to Labbezanga,…
DRC journalist Eliezer Ntambwe detained without charge
New York, April 4, 2018–Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should immediately release Eliezer Ntambwe, a journalist and presenter at the privately owned news outlet and YouTube channel Tokomi Wapi, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
CPJ joins call for Ethiopia’s prime minister-designate to ensure journalists’ immediate release
The Committee to Protect Journalists, along with 40 civil society organizations, yesterday sent a joint letter to Ethiopia’s prime minister-designate, Abiy Ahmed, urging him to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of recently arrested journalists, and human rights defenders.
Mozambique journalist abducted, assaulted
New York, March 28, 2018–Mozambican authorities should launch a credible investigation into the abduction and assault of Ericino de Salema, a prominent journalist and human rights lawyer, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Kenyan journalists assaulted by police at Nairobi airport
Nairobi, March 27, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in Kenya to immediately investigate the assault of journalists by police at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi yesterday. According to media reports and journalists who spoke with CPJ, police officers attacked reporters covering an opposition politician’s return to the country, causing…
Ethiopia arrests at least five journalists during state of emergency
Nairobi, March 26, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Ethiopian authorities to release five journalists. Security forces yesterday arrested Eskinder Nega, Temesghen Desalegn, Zone 9 bloggers Befekadu Hailu and Mahlet Fantahun, and Zelalem Workagegnehu, who were gathered at Temesghen’s house in Addis Ababa, according to reports and a statement by the Swiss-based Association…
In DRC at least six journalists detained during anti-government protests
Congolese security forces on November 30, 2017, detained at least six local journalists and confiscated their equipment as they tried to cover countrywide protests over President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to stand down when his second five-year term in office expired in 2016 and his refusal to hold elections, according to a local press freedom group…
DRC authorities cut access to internet and SMS ahead of protests
On December 30, 2017, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Telecommunications Minister, Emery Okundji, ordered the country’s telecommunications providers to shut internet and SMS services across the country, according to a media report and the local press freedom group L’Observatoire de la liberté de la Presse en Afrique, (the Observatory of Press Freedom in Africa or…
DRC security forces harass journalists covering Kabila protests
Security forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on December 31, 2017, harassed at least three journalists who were reporting on protests in the capital, Kinshasa, over President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to stand down when his second five-year term in office expired in 2016 and his refusal to hold elections, according to local journalists…