Letters

  
Frenchie Mae Cumpio has been held in prison for more than five years.

CPJ, partners urge Philippine president to end Frenchie Mae Cumpio’s prolonged detention as trial enters key stage

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday joined four press freedom organizations in urging Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and its Department of Justice to end the detention of community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, who has been behind bars for more than five years. The groups said in a joint statement, led by CPJ, that the 26-year-old…

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A view of the Voice of America building in Washington, D.C. on March 16, 2025 , a day after more than 1,300 employees of the U.S. Agency for Global Media's broadcaster were placed on leave. (Photo: Reuters/Annabelle Gordon)

Media rights, journalist groups call on US to protect press freedom after USAGM gutted

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 27 other press freedom and journalist groups on March 19 in voicing support for a free press, and called on the United States to protect reporters and media workers employed by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). The letter, organized by CPJ, said that eliminating the agency’s outlets,…

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CPJ, partners urge Peruvian lawmakers to reject bill that could harm press freedom

The Committee to Protect Journalists and four other international organizations in a joint statement called on the Peruvian Congress to reject a bill that could severely harm press freedom in the country. The bill proposes to increase the penalties for slander and defamation related to ongoing investigations into the alleged commission of crimes by officials and public servants, decreasing…

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Alaa Abdelfattah

CPJ, others urge UK prime minister to secure writer Alaa Abdelfattah’s release

In a joint letter, the Committee to Protect Journalists and 16 other press freedom and human rights organizations called on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to ramp up efforts to secure Egyptian-British writer Alaa Abdelfattah’s release. Abdelfattah has spent nearly a decade behind bars and now faces an additional two years in detention—despite Egyptian legal provisions that should have ensured his…

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CPJ, partners call for Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora’s release

The Committee to Protect Journalists and eight other international organizations call for the immediate and unconditional release of Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora and urgent guarantees of due process. Judge Erick García ordered Zamora’s return to prison on March 10, executing a appeals court order that revoked the journalist’s house arrest. At the hearing, García reported threats…

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Brendan Carr

CPJ, partners urge FCC to stop threatening press freedom and free speech

The Committee to Protect Journalists and 16 other organizations, led by the nonprofit group Public Knowledge, sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr on March 7, expressing concern about recent developments that threaten to erode long-established safeguards for editorial independence and free expression. The agency recently launched investigations into public broadcasting…

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Nepal's Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli waves alongside his wife Radhika Shakya before their departure from the airport in Kathmandu on December 2, 2024. (Photo: AFP/Aryan Dhimal)

CPJ joins call for Nepal to revise new media council, social media bill

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined more than two dozen media and civil society groups in a joint statement on March 5, urging the Nepalese government and parliament to revise a recently proposed social media bill and the newly established Media Council. The statement noted that the bill granted the government “overreaching powers” that could…

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Alaa Abdelfattah

CPJ leads joint letter to Egyptian president urging release of writer Alaa Abdelfattah

In a joint letter led by the Committee to Protect Journalists, 50 prominent human rights leaders, Nobel Prize laureates, writers, and public figures have called on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to grant a presidential pardon to Egyptian-British writer Alaa Abdelfattah. The letter, sent Tuesday, highlights that Abdelfattah has spent nearly a decade behind bars…

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U.K. Foreign Minister David Lammy attends the G20 Foreign Minister Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, on February 20, 2025. CPJ joined 24 organizations in writing a letter to Lammy, urging the U.K. government to lead on a joint statement to address Egypt’s human rights crisis. (Photo: AFP/Emmanuel Crosetafp)

CPJ: UK must lead joint statement on Egypt at UN Human Rights Council

The U.K. government must lead on a joint statement addressing Egypt’s human rights crisis, according to a February 19 letter sent by the Committee to Protect Journalists and 24 other press freedom and human rights organizations to U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy ahead of the 58th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council. The letter…

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Mzia Amaglobeli

CPJ joins call for immediate release of Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli

The Committee to Protect Journalists on February 20 joined dozens of press freedom and journalists’ organizations in calling on Georgian authorities to immediately release jailed media manager Mzia Amaglobeli. Police arrested Amaglobeli, director of the independent media outlets Netgazeti and Batumelebi, on January 12 following an altercation with a local police chief. She was charged…

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