Americas

  
A man stands in a suit.

UN group says detention of Guatemalan journalist Zamora violates international law

Mexico City, July 2, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s Monday declaration that the continued imprisonment of Guatemalan investigative journalist José Rubén Zamora is arbitrary and in violation of international law. CPJ echoes the group’s call for Zamora’s immediate release. “The U.N. Working Group’s acknowledgment of José…

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CPJ welcomes investigation of prosecutor linked to murder case of journalist Garry Tesse

New York, July 1, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the Thursday decision by Carlos Hercule, Haiti’s Minister of Justice and Public Security, to place Ronald Richemond, the federal prosecutor of the city of Les Cayes, on leave until further notice. CPJ has reported on allegations linking Richemond to the murder of Haitian radio journalist…

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Guide to legal rights in the U.S.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is responding to the needs of journalists in the United States as they face a range of challenges, from confrontations with law enforcement at demonstrations to raids on newspaper offices, and learn to navigate what has become an increasingly hostile environment for many in the media. The following advice and recommendations are intended to give the…

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US journalist Evan Gershkovich faces 20-year sentence as trial begins in Russia

New York, June 26, 2024—As the closed-door trial of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich opened in a Russian court on Wednesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists denounced it as a travesty of justice and renewed its call for the journalist’s immediate release. “U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich goes on trial today after nearly 15 months of unjust…

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, pictured in a prison van in the U.K. on May 1, 2019. The U.S. has disclosed charges under the Espionage Act against Assange. (Photo: AFP/Daniel Leal-Olivas)

CPJ welcomes reports that Assange will be released in plea deal

New York, June 24, 2024— The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes reports that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be freed from prison in a plea deal with the United States Justice Department. “Julian Assange faced a prosecution that had grave implications for journalists and press freedom worldwide,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “While we welcome the…

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Oaxaca police

CPJ welcomes public apology to family of killed Mexican reporter Gustavo Sánchez

Mexico City, June 18, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the public apology issued by the government of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca and the federal government to the family of journalist Gustavo Sánchez Cabrera, three years after he was murdered. With the apology, issued on Monday in Oaxaca’s state capital of Oaxaca de…

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Drug-related violence fuels an exodus of Ecuador’s press

On the only radio station in the remote Ecuadorian town of Baeza, morning show host Juan Carlos Tito updates listeners on the weather, recent power outages, and repairs to a bridge spanning a nearby river. For the last 24 years, Tito, 53, has been the trusted voice of Radio Selva, broadcasting important community news to…

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Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, seen here in 2020, sued the publication Mississippi Today for defamation based on its Pulitzer Prize-winning report on a welfare scandal that implicated the governor. Mississippi Today has appealed a court decison asking it to turn over privileged information. (Photo: AP/Rogelio V. Solis)

Pulitzer-winning Mississippi Today appeals order to turn over confidential source material

Washington, D.C., June 11, 2024—A county judge’s order to Mississippi Today newspaper to turn over privileged documents in relation to a defamation lawsuit by the state’s former governor, Phil Bryant, against the nonprofit and three of its employees is a threat to press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Mississippi Today appealed on…

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CPJ joins letter calling for US Senate to push forward on PRESS Act

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined over 50 news and press freedom organizations in urging United States senators to support the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act (PRESS Act). The bill would create a federal shield safeguarding reporter-source confidentiality and prevent government access to unreported source material.  The letter, authored by the Reporters Committee for…

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Journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca left Cuba for exile in the United States on June 5 after serving nearly three years in prison. (Photo: Noticias Cubanet Cuba/YouTube)

Cuban journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca released, forced into exile

Miami, June 6, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Cuban journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca, but is deeply concerned he was forced into exile, and calls on Cuban authorities to allow reporters to work freely in the country without fear of reprisal.  Valle left Cuba for the United States on Wednesday, June…

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