Censorship, surveillance, and harassment: China cracks down on critics
Hours after the Chinese Communist Party proposed a constitutional change last month to lift presidential term limits, any words or phrases that remotely suggested President Xi Jingping was seeking a life term were blocked from social media. Censors targeted everything from “Emperor Xi,” “The Emperor’s Dream,” and “Dream of Returning to the Great Qing,” to…
Bangladesh’s press say they are losing the courage to report amid threats from all sides
Nazmul Huda pointed his TV camera at garment workers demonstrating for higher wages in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, and at the police firing tear gas and rubber bullets at them. It took a while for police to notice the ETV reporter, and they were furious. After all, they had ordered him to leave…
Wife of critical Chinese-American journalist disappears in China
Washington, D.C., January 18, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the disappearance of the wife of a critical American-Chinese journalist and today called on police in China to disclose whether they have her in custody. Chen Xiaoping told CPJ that his wife, Li Huaiping, disappeared on September 18 after he carried out a…
In Houthi-controlled Yemen, silence, exile, or detention; at least 13 journalists held
Torture. Denial of medical care. Repeated interrogations and accusations of collaborating with enemies: Yemeni journalist Youssef Ajlan’s story of his detention, which lasted over a year, hews closely to those of many journalists imprisoned for their work.
Islamic State recedes but threats to journalists in Iraq and Syria remain
After three years of fighting in Iraq and Syria, the militant group Islamic State has been forced out of large swathes of territory. But local journalists and press freedom groups with whom CPJ spoke said that the defeat of Islamic State doesn’t necessarily mean that journalists will be any safer.
Egyptian crime reporter disappears on way home from work
New York, August 28, 2017– The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the disappearance of Egyptian journalist Abdulla Rashad, and today called on authorities to disclose whether they have him in custody and why. Rashad, who reports on crime for al-Bawaba News, was last seen leaving the news website’s office on August 17, according…
Kim Wall’s death in Denmark calls attention to risks reporters take daily
New York, August 23, 2017–Danish police today confirmed that a body found off Copenhagen is that of Kim Wall, the Swedish freelance journalist who went missing earlier this month while reporting on an amateur-built submarine, according to media reports.
Mexican journalist abducted in Michoacán state
Mexico City, May 22, 2017–Mexican authorities must undertake every effort to secure the safe release of journalist Salvador Adame Pardo, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Gunmen abducted Adame, director of the television station 6TV, on May 18 from the central Mexican town of Nueva Italia.
Ethiopian newspaper editor, bloggers caught in worsening crackdown
Nairobi, November 17, 2016–Ethiopia should immediately release all journalists detained amid an intensifying crackdown on the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In recent weeks, Ethiopian authorities have jailed a newspaper editor and detained two members of the award-winning Zone 9 bloggers’ collective, which has faced continuous legal harassment on terrorism and incitement…