CPJ joins letter calling for release of journalists, others arbitrarily detained in Cameroon
The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday, February 3, joined 26 other civil society organizations in calling on President Paul Biya to release all those arbitrarily detained in Cameroon for acts of free expression, including at least four journalists. The open letter, published during the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, notes that the continent’s…
Opinion: The dilemma facing journalists covering the Beijing Olympics
I don’t envy journalists from around the world who are entering China to cover the Beijing Olympics, held February 4 to 20. Perhaps never in history have the rules of the road for covering the games been so murky and the potential dangers so great for journalists who step over an as-yet-undefined red line that…
Taliban forces detain 2 journalists in undisclosed location
New York, February 1, 2022 — The Taliban must immediately release journalists Waris Hasrat and Aslam Hijab and stop detaining members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Monday, men who identified themselves as members of the Taliban arrested Hijab, a reporter, and Hasrat, manager of political programs and a political…
CPJ joins call for Turkey to release journalist Sedef Kabaş
On February 1, 2022, the Committee to Protect Journalists joined the International Press Institute and 25 other international groups in a joint letter calling for Turkish authorities to release journalist Sedef Kabaş immediately. Authorities detained Kabaş, a freelance journalist and former television anchor, on January 22 for “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during an appearance…
China finds new ways to intimidate foreign press, FCCC survey finds
On January 31, 2022, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) released findings from its annual member survey about press conditions in the country. The report, “Locked Down or Kicked Out,” found that 99% of foreign correspondents said China’s reporting conditions did not meet what they considered “international standards.” The survey also documented ways Chinese…
Opinion: Myanmar’s military junta is killing press freedom
One year since a democracy-suspending coup, press freedom is dying in Myanmar. A military campaign of intimidation, censorship, arrests, and detentions of journalists has more recently graduated to outright killing, an escalation of repression that aims ultimately to stop independent media reporting on the junta’s crimes and abuses. In January, military authorities abducted local news…
Syrian journalist Amer Matar on facing his torturer in court
Syrian journalist Amer Matar was regularly blindfolded, handcuffed, and beaten with cables, whips, and fists during the eight months he was held in a Syrian prison. When a German court sentenced one of his torturers – Syrian army colonel Anwar Raslan – to life in prison earlier this month, Matar finally felt that at least…
Belarusian journalist Aliaksandr Ivulin sentenced to 2 years in prison for protest coverage
New York, January 19, 2022 – In response to the sentencing of Belarusian journalist Aliaksandr Ivulin to two years imprisonment on Wednesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “Belarusian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Aliaksandr Ivulin and let all members of the press work freely and safely,” said…
Exiled Bangladeshi journalist Kanak Sarwar says sister’s detention won’t silence him
For years, exiled Bangladeshi journalist Kanak Sarwar advised his family members not to keep public profiles on Facebook, fearing his critical reporting would lead to harassment by supporters of the Awami League-led government. So he was alarmed when his sister, Nusrat Shahrin Raka, told him in September that someone had created a fake Facebook account…
Why the UN’s push for a cybercrime treaty could imperil journalists simply for using the internet
Cybercrime is on the global agenda as a United Nations committee appointed to develop a treaty on the topic plans for its first meeting amid pandemic-related delays. The process is slated to take at least two years, but experts warn that such a treaty – initially proposed by Russia – could hand new tools to…