Cuban journalist Carlos Manuel Álvarez harassed, assaulted by security agents
Miami, December 23, 2020 — Cuban authorities must stop harassing and intimidating journalist Carlos Manuel Álvarez, and allow all members of the press to report freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 21, at about 2 p.m., security agents in the Playa municipality of Havana summoned Álvarez to a local police station,…
Honduran radio host Pedro Canelas shot and killed
Los Angeles, December 22, 2020 – Honduran authorities should conduct a swift and transparent investigation into the killing of journalist Pedro Canelas, determine whether his killing was related to his work, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 19, in the southern city of Dulce Nombre de…
Murders of journalists more than double worldwide
Retaliatory killings of journalists worldwide rose significantly in 2020 from the previous year, but deaths covering war dropped sharply. A CPJ special report by Jennifer Dunham December 22, 2020 NEW YORK The number of journalists murdered in retaliation for their work more than doubled in 2020, as criminal gangs and militant groups targeted reporters working…
In Iguala, Mexico, murder and threats by organized crime shut down the news
Just before 1:00 a.m. on August 2, Pablo Morrugares, a journalist and restaurateur, opened the Facebook page for his news site and began a live broadcast from the café he owned in Iguala, in Mexico’s southwestern Guerrero state. A well-known local reporter, Morrugares covered crime and gangs, a beat so dangerous that Mexican authorities had…
CPJ welcomes arrest in case of slain Mexican journalist Miroslava Breach
Mexico City, December 18, 2020 – Mexican authorities yesterday arrested a second suspect in the 2017 killing of La Jornada reporter Miroslava Breach Velducea, according to La Jornada and a statement by the Special Federal Prosecutor for Attention to Crimes Committed Against Freedom of Expression. The prosecutor’s statement named the suspect as Hugo Amed S.,…
Brazilian journalist Arimatéia Azevedo held for 5 months under house arrest, gag order
From June to November 2020, Brazilian authorities held journalist Arimatéia Azevedo under house arrest, placed his news outlet under a gag order, and detained him multiple times, according to news reports, the journalist, and his two daughters, Haidyne and Ana Azevedo, all of whom spoke to CPJ in phone interviews. Azevedo is based in Piauí…
Mexican journalist Jaime Castaño shot dead after photographing crime scene
Mexico City, December 15, 2020 – Mexican authorities must immediately undertake a swift, credible, and transparent investigation into the killing of photojournalist Jaime Castaño, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 10 a.m. on December 9, unidentified gunmen shot and killed Castaño, founder of the news website Prensa Libre MX, while he was…
Guatemalan journalists Marvin del Cid and Sonny Figueroa receive mailed threat
Los Angeles, December 15, 2020 — Guatemalan authorities must quickly and thoroughly investigate the threatening letter sent to journalists Marvin del Cid and Sonny Figueroa, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 7, del Cid, founder of the local press freedom group Artículo 35 and a contributing…
Record number of journalists jailed worldwide
Editor’s note: In 2019, CPJ published a new database of attacks on the press. Numbers for each subsequent prison census are liable to adjust yearly as CPJ learns of arrests, releases, or deaths in prison. For the most recent data, see cpj.org/data/imprisoned/. The number of journalists jailed globally because of their work hit a new high in 2020…
In 2020, U.S. journalists faced unprecedented attacks
As the Committee to Protect Journalists publishes its annual tally of journalists imprisoned around the world, not a single U.S. reporter is behind bars for their work. But that statistic belies the country’s marred press freedom landscape following the summer’s Black Lives Matter protests in which journalists were handcuffed, shoved, and shot at with less-lethal…