Imprisoned

Considerable international press coverage arose from U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin’s statements on the Senate floor last week, calling on the Gambian government to release imprisoned journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh. But Durbin’s request has not drawn a response from the Gambian Embassy in Washington. Ambassador Abdul R. Cole told CPJ today that his government would not…

CPJ wrote an open letter to President Bush today, calling on him to raise the issue of China’s jailed journalists when he gets to Beijing. We put the current number of journalists behind bars at 26, which makes China the largest jailer of journalists in the world, the dubious distinction it has held since 1999.…

On July 18, Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta went on a hunger strike to demand better prison conditions. Three days later, he sewed his mouth shut to intensify his protest. This is not the first time that Herrera Acosta has self-mutilated in order to garner attention for his plight.

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said he wanted to focus his colleagues’ attention on a tragic story in a small West African nation. Chief Ebrima Manneh is a reporter in the Gambia for the state-controlled Daily Observer newspaper. He was arrested by two plainclothes officers from the country’s National Intelligence Agency at the newspaper’s office building…

Dear Secretary Rumsfeld: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to express concern about the reported detention without charge of Sami Muhieddine Muhammad al-Haj, a 33-year-old assistant cameraman for the Qatar-based satellite television network Al-Jazeera.

Algeria (2) Please send appeals to: His Excellency Abdel Aziz Bouteflika President of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria c/o His Excellency Ambassador Driss Djazairi Embassy of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria 2118 Kalorama Road N.W. Washington, DC 20008 Fax: 202-667-2174