Censored

New York, April 10, 2009–Authorities in Republic of Congo should immediately lift their ban on private TV station Canal Bénédiction Plus (CB Plus), the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The ban was enacted in February in response to political coverage in the lead-up to presidential elections in July.

Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu: The Committee to Protect Journalists urges your government to examine the deeply disturbing press restrictions and military strikes on media facilities that occurred during the prior government’s Gaza offensive in late 2008 and early 2009, and to take corrective action that brings official policies and practices in line with international standards.

New York, March 31, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the southeastern Congolese city of Likasi to allow two private stations to return to the air. 

New York, March 25, 2009–The Chinese government should disclose the legal basis for the sudden, widespread inaccessibility of the video-sharing Web site YouTube, or it should restore access to the site immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

The blocking of YouTube in China is “inconsistent with the rule of law and the right to freedom of expression,” the Global Network Initiative said in a statement today. CPJ is a member of the Initiative, a coalition of information and communications companies, human rights organizations, academics, and investors that resists government censorship worldwide.

New York, March 18, 2009–Chinese public security officials in northwest Gansu province should release two Tibetan journalists detained in the past month or charge them with an offense, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

Dear Mr. Michel: Your planned trip to Havana this week coincides with the sixth anniversary of Cuba’s massive crackdown on independent journalists and dissidents. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on you to urge Raúl Castro’s government to release the 21 journalists still jailed in Cuban prisons and extend the internationally guaranteed right of free expression to all Cubans.

New York, March 13, 2009–Amid widespread civil demonstrations and a growing political crisis, Pakistan’s largest independent news broadcaster, Geo TV, was removed today from cable carriers in five major cities, Managing News Editor Azhar Abbas told CPJ. 

Has the Chinese government learned a public relations lesson from its handling of the unrest in Tibet last year? 

New York, March 10, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Saturday’s ransacking of a TV and radio broadcaster by security forces in the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar. The raid was part of ongoing government efforts to censor independent media coverage of political unrest, stemming from a bitter power struggle between opposition leader Andry Rajoelina…