At Attacks launch: What if governments are perpetrators?
When we launched the new edition of Attacks on the Press at the United Nations today, I was hit with questions about Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Both dealt with what amounts to the same problem: What do you do when you’re asking a government to investigate a crime in which it might have been the…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Americas Analysis
In Latin America, A Return of Censorship By Carlos Lauría As the preeminent political family in the northeastern state of Maranhão for more than 40 years, the Sarneys are used to getting their way in Brazilian civic life. So when the leading national daily O Estado de S. Paulo published allegations in June 2009 that linked José…
Broadcast offices attacked in Mexico; engineer killed
New York, February 11, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Wednesday’s violent attack against two media companies in the Mexican city of Torreón, Coahuila state, during which a TV engineer was shot to death and equipment was destroyed and stolen.
Nepal’s leadership vacuum threatens press freedom
Nepal’s new Prime Minister Jhalnath Khanal should be setting a new tone. Law and order–and with it, journalists’ security–have suffered in the seven months since Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned and has been filling in as interim leader. Khanal could be making public commitments to reversing the atmosphere of impunity that is promoting media attacks. Instead,…
Cairo attacks continue; reporter dies from earlier shooting
New York, February 4, 2011–Journalists in Cairo faced assaults, detentions, and threats again today as supporters of President Hosni Mubarak continued their efforts to obstruct news coverage of protests demanding the Egyptian leader’s ouster. While the extent of attacks lessened after a peak on Thursday, ongoing anti-press activities remain at an alarming level that must…
Mubarak intensifies press attacks with assaults, detentions
New York, February 3, 2011–Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak unleashed an unprecedented and systematic attack on international media today as his supporters assaulted reporters in the streets while security forces began obstructing and detaining journalists covering the unrest that threatens to topple his government.
Journalists under physical assault in Egypt
New York, February 2, 2011–Supporters of President Hosni Mubarak have begun violently attacking journalists reporting on the streets of Cairo today, a shift in tactics from recent media censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. CPJ calls on the Egyptian military to provide protection for journalists.”The Egyptian government is employing a strategy of eliminating witnesses to their…
Dominican police, firing pellets, wound reporter
New York, February 2, 2011–Dominican police wounded journalist Francisco Frías Morel on Friday as he was covering a funeral procession for a youth killed in a police shooting in the northeastern city of Nagua, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on local authorities to conduct a thorough investigation…
United Nations must intervene to protect Sri Lanka’s media
New York, January 31, 2011–Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon must press the United Nations to address the string of uninvestigated and unprosecuted attacks on journalists and media houses under the government of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ responded after an early Monday morning arson attack on the offices of…