Americas

[Editors’ note: On June 17, Brazilian Federal Police said a forensic analysis had confirmed that remains found in the Amazon belonged to British journalist Dom Phillips.] Rio de Janeiro, June 15, 2022 – The Committee to Protect Journalists Wednesday expressed its deep distress over reports that human remains were found in the Brazilian Amazon during…

Rio de Janeiro, June 15, 2022 – The Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday condemned a recent civil court ruling against journalist Juliana Dal Piva, and expressed concern that the ruling could set a dangerous precedent. On June 9, São Paulo state Sixth Civil Court Judge Fabio Coimbra Junqueira ruled that Dal Piva’s 2021 publication…

False narratives, threats of arrest, and a biker group blocking access. These are just a few of the challenges journalists have faced while covering the aftermath of the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Threats to press freedom are hardly the main story in Uvalde, where police failed to stop the…

Rio de Janeiro, June 9, 2022 – Brazilian authorities must expand their efforts to search for missing journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Phillips and Pereira went missing the morning of Sunday, June 5. Phillips, a freelance British journalist based in Brazil who has reported for…

Rio de Janeiro, June 7, 2022 – Authorities in Brazil’s São Paulo state must thoroughly investigate the threats of local residents against freelance photojournalist Caio Castor and ensure he can continue to report safely and without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Around 6:30 p.m. on May 28, a group of…

Rio de Janeiro, June 6, 2022 – Brazilian authorities must conduct a swift and thorough search for journalist Dom Phillips and ensure he is found as soon as possible, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Phillips, a freelance British reporter, was on a reporting trip in the Indigenous territory of the Javari Valley with…

Guatemala City, June 2, 2022 — Honduran authorities must conduct a credible and exhaustive investigation into the killing of camera operator and TV host Ricardo Alcides Ávila in southwest Honduras and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Around 5 a.m. on May 26, an unidentified person shot Ávila in…

Mabel Quinto Salas is a reporter for Radio Pa’yumat, a station in the Northern Cauca region of Colombia. But she doesn’t identify as a journalist. Instead, she calls herself a “community communicator,” a category that is common among Colombia’s Indigenous communities.   “Communication is seen as a tool for visibility, for denunciation of human rights violations, but also for…

Rio de Janeiro, May 20, 2022 – Authorities in Minas Gerais state must thoroughly investigate the attack on journalist Alexandre Megale and hold the perpetrator to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. In the early afternoon of May 16, journalist Alexandre Megale said he was assaulted and hit with rocks by Paulo Luiz…

Guatemala City, May 18, 2022 — Guatemalan authorities should drop all charges against three journalists from the independent newspaper elPeriódico and stop using laws intended to protect women from violence to target and intimidate reporters, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On May 13, Judge Anaelsee Ramírez formally notified elPeriódico publisher José Rubén Zamora,…