New York, January 2, 2004—A total of 36 journalists were killed worldwide as a direct result of their work in 2003, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). This is a sharp increase from 2002, when 19 journalists were killed. The war in Iraq was the primary reason for the increase, as 13 journalists,…
New York, December 11, 2003—Two journalists working with the U.S. newsmagazine Time were wounded today in a grenade attack in Baghdad while accompanying U.S. troops. Senior correspondent Michael Weisskopf and photographer James Nachtwey suffered undisclosed injuries when unidentified assailants threw a grenade into a Humvee the men were traveling in, Time managing editor Jim Kelly…
New York, December 11, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the letter bomb attack against the offices of the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassah. At around 12 p.m. today, a secretary for Al-Siyassah editor Ahmed Jarallah was wounded when he opened a large envelope addressed to Jarallah containing explosives. The secretary, Walid Dahdouh, suffered cuts on…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned about a proposed bill governing the Yemeni press syndicate, or journalists’ union. The bill, which Parliament is scheduled to debate within the next few days, contains several articles that run counter to internationally accepted norms of free speech.
November 24, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns today’s closure of the Iraq offices of the Dubai-based satellite news channel Al-Arabiyya. The U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council announced today that the station’s Baghdad-based news operations were banned from working in Iraq for an indefinite period, according to press reports. The move came after the station…
New York, November 19, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the release yesterday of Tunisian Internet journalist Zouhair Yahyaoui, who had been imprisoned since his June 4, 2002, arrest. Yahyaoui, editor of the online publication TUNEZINE.com, was sentenced to 28 months in prison on June 20, 2002, after a Tunis court convicted him of…
November 14, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed that unidentified Iraqi gunmen opened fire on a convoy of Portuguese journalists and abducted one reporter today in southern Iraq. According to news reports and Portuguese editors who spoke with CPJ, the gunmen—who were armed with Kalashnikov rifles and other small arms—attempted to intercept a…
New York, November 6, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply troubled by the Israeli Government Press Office’s (GPO) new administrative guidelines for press accreditation, which were announced on Sunday, November 2. The guidelines, set to take effect on January 1, 2004, include a provision requiring the country’s internal security service, or Shin Bet,…
New York, November 3, 2003—Coalition forces in Iraq have released two Iranian journalists who had been held for four months on suspicion of spying. Said Abu Taleb and Soheil Kareemi, two journalists with Iranian State Television, were released today and returned to Iran. According to their colleagues, the journalists were in Iraq working on a…
New York, October 29, 2003–The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today released an updated version of its journalist security handbook, titled “On Assignment: A Guide to Reporting in Dangerous Situations.” This new edition, which is available in hard copy and online (read or download PDF), draws on lessons learned in the most recent war in…