New York, February 26, 2003—The Inter-American Court of Human Rights said last week that it will hear the case of Costa Rican journalist Mauricio Herrera Ulloa, who was convicted of criminal defamation in 1999. A ruling could set a precedent to determine whether criminal defamation is permissible under international law. On February 3, the Washington,…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply troubled by a recent attack against Radio Métropole political reporter Jean-Numa Goudou, the latest in a series of attacks against Haitian journalists that remain unpunished. On February 14, a group of people went to Goudou’s house in Carrefour, a southwestern suburb of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince,…
New York, February 14, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the violent attacks against Bolivian journalists that occurred while they were covering two days of deadly street protests in the capital, La Paz. The violence erupted when a crowd of civilians, angry over an attempt by President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada to introduce a…
New York, February 14, 2003—Cuban authorities detained Argentine journalism professor Fernando Ruiz Parra, who was researching a book about Cuba’s independent journalism movement, on February 11 and held him incommunicado. He was released on February 12 and was deported the following day. Ruiz Parra, who arrived in Cuba on February 3 on a tourist visa,…
February 13, 2003 TO: Fausto Alvarado Dodero Minister of Justice of the Republic of Peru Scipión Llona 350, Miraflores Lima, Peru Via facsimile: + 51-1-422-3577 Dear Mr. Alvarado Dodero: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to inquire about the status of journalist Juan de Mata Jara Berrospi, who was sentenced in 1994 to…
New York, February 13, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) sent separate letters today to Peru’s minister of justice, Fausto Alvarado Dodero, requesting information about the status of journalist Juan de Mata Jara Berrospi, who was sentenced in 1994 to 20 years in prison on charges of collaborating with terrorists.…
New York, February 6, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed that Venezuela’s Infrastructure Ministry has opened an investigation into the private, Caracas-based television stations Televén and Venevisión to determine if they have violated media broadcast regulations. The ministry could fine the stations or suspend or even revoke their licenses. On January 30 and…
Dear Secretary Rumsfeld: A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today delivered more than 600 petitions to the Eritrean ambassador to the United States. The petitions, signed by prominent U.S. journalists who attended the CPJ benefit dinner in November, urge Eritrea’s president Isaias Afewerki to immediately and unconditionally release Eritrean editor Fesshaye Yohannes,…
New York, February 5, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed by a Chilean judge’s decision to impose a two-months suspended prison sentence on television commentator Eduardo Yáñez. On Friday January 31, Judge Juan Manuel Muñoz convicted Yáñez, a panelist on Chilevisión’s debate show “El Termómetro,” of “disrespect” under Article 263 of the…