CPJ monitoring Yemen ‘with concern’ after Saudi airstrikes kill dozens and shut down internet
New York, January 21, 2022 – The Committee to Protect Journalists is monitoring with concern the aftermath of a series of Saudi-led coalition airstrikes that killed at least 70 people and cut off nearly all of Yemen’s internet access after hitting a telecommunication facility in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida on Friday. “Journalists…
In Middle East and North Africa, a drop in attacks on journalists belies dire state of press freedom
The Middle East and North Africa region has long been especially dangerous for journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists’ research has found that one out of every three reporters killed worldwide in retaliation for their work since 1992 — 477 out of 1,422, or 33.5% – were located in the region. That proportion rose to…
Number of journalists behind bars reaches global high
Editor’s note: Numbers for each prison census are adjusted yearly as CPJ learns of arrests, releases, or deaths in prison. The numbers for CPJ’s 2021 census have been revised from 293 to 302 in accordance with this policy. For the most recent data, see cpj.org/data/imprisoned/ The number of journalists jailed around the world set another record…
CPJ calls on UN to renew Yemen human rights investigatory body
New York, October 6, 2021 – The United Nations Human Rights Council should renew the mandate of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen and support the group’s work investigating human rights abuses in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. “The U.N.’s Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen has played a critical…
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan must advocate for press freedom in meetings with Saudi Arabia and UAE
New York, September 27, 2021 – U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan should advocate for an end to press freedom violations in Yemen and throughout the Persian Gulf region as he meets with leaders from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Sullivan is traveling to the region…
CPJ disappointed by U.S. appeals court ruling in Jamal Khashoggi lawsuit
Washington, D.C., August 27, 2021–In response to today’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in the Committee to Protect Journalists’ lawsuit asking the U.S. intelligence community to confirm or deny the existence of documents providing information on its duty to warn Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi of threats to…
Investigative reporter Bradley Hope: Pegasus spyware revelations a ‘wake-up call for journalists’
Bradley Hope was in Abu Dhabi in 2009, the year the BlackBerry devices overheated. “If you put it next to your face it would almost burn,” he told CPJ in a phone interview. The BBC that year reported that a UAE telecom company had prompted local BlackBerry owners to install a rogue surveillance update disguised…
CPJ joins letter urging NSO to act on commitments to curb spyware abuse
The Committee to Protect Journalists and eight other civil society groups today co-signed an open letter asking the Israel-based NSO Group company to deliver on its commitments to improve transparency about sales of its advanced spyware, and due diligence to protect human rights. Research by CPJ and other organizations indicates that the company’s Pegasus product…
Journalist Reem Abdellatif on the risks facing female reporters who cover the Gulf
The trolling started after Reem Abdellatif, a prominent Egyptian-American journalist now based in The Netherlands, published her first column in December for the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz. Titled “How I escaped Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom that terrorizes women,” it described the challenges she faced as a female journalist who had previously worked in Saudi Arabia and denounced Saudi…
Three takeaways from the US intelligence report blaming Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman for Khashoggi’s murder
On Friday, the United States laid the blame for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi squarely at the feet of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a long-awaited report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The release of the report, which is just three pages long, signaled a change from the previous…