CPJ joins call for US to investigate Egypt’s alleged role in Khashoggi murder
The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined seven other civil society groups in a joint statement calling on the United States government to transparently investigate any role Egyptian officials may have played in the killing of Saudi journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi, and to publicly disclose any findings from that investigation. On June 21,…
CPJ joins call urging Ethiopia to maintain internet access during elections
The Committee to Protect Journalists recently joined 46 other human rights, free expression, and technology organizations in a letter calling on Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to guarantee secure and reliable internet access during and following the country’s elections. In the letter, sent on June 18, members of the #KeepItOn Coalition against internet shutdowns also…
CPJ, rights groups call on EU to uphold Burundi human rights commitments, including press freedom
The Committee to Protect Journalists and other human rights groups today called on European Union High Representative Josep Borrell and EU foreign ministers in a letter to uphold benchmarks set in 2016 when the EU suspended direct financial support to the Burundian government over its failure to protect human rights, democratic principles, and the rule…
A ‘slow death’ for Yemen’s media: the country’s journalists report through displacement and exile
March 2018 was a low point for Akhbar al-Youm, an independent daily newspaper in Yemen. Three weeks after the newspaper’s Aden office was set ablaze by unidentified arsonists, seven of its employees were abducted for a month by forces under the secessionist Southern Transitional Council, which controls the southern port city. The attacks forced the publication to relocate from Aden to…
Israeli lawyer Eitay Mack on bringing transparency to surveillance exports that threaten press freedom
“Many countries are using these technologies to put people in jail,” Israeli lawyer Eitay Mack told CPJ in a recent video interview. He was describing advanced surveillance capabilities, such as those that CPJ has documented being used to target journalists like Omar Radi and Maati Monjib, who were both jailed in Morocco in 2020. Israeli companies like NSO Group and Cellebrite market equipment to…
At-risk journalists who must flee home countries often find few quick and safe options
In 2018, journalist Mohammad Shubaat was in Daraa, Syria, caught between advancing forces aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the closed borders of Israel and Jordan. Despite the dire threat to Shubaat and many of his colleagues, it would take over a year of intense negotiations with some 20 countries by the Committee to…
Why authoritarian governments force journalists like Belarus’s Raman Pratasevich into public confessions
Forced confessions—sometimes tied to public humiliation—have a long and inglorious history, and were a fundamental component of ancient judicial systems in the East and West. Obtaining a confession, by any means, for centuries was often a key part of achieving a conviction and meting out punishment. At the Salem witch trials, the accused could escape…
Turkish presidency reintroduces press card controls that court found restrictive
On April 1 this year, press freedom groups in Turkey chalked up a small win when the nation’s top administrative court, the Council of State, suspended 2018 rules that made it easier for the authorities to cancel or refuse press cards. The changes had transferred authority over press cards to the presidency and barred them…
“The camera attracts violence”: Israeli right-wing groups attack local journalists
Israel’s May 15 bombing of The Associated Press and Al-Jazeera offices in Gaza made international headlines, as did the death of a Palestinian journalist in an air strike that may have been a deliberate attack on his home. There were many other press freedom violations during the recent flare-up, which included unusual levels of street violence between Arabs and Jews in Israeli…
In Belarus, Pratasevich’s arrest highlights risks facing journalists covering protests
The May 23 arrest of Belarusian journalist and blogger Raman Pratasevich off a diverted commercial passenger flight was a shattering blow to press freedom in Belarus. Pratasevich is the co-founder of NEXTA and chief editor of Belarus of the Brain, two Telegram channels that covered protests against President Aleksandr Lukashenko, a dangerous beat in the country where demonstrations are…