Syria detains, reportedly tortures videographer
New York, April 2, 2012–A prominent Syrian videographer who ran the media center in Baba Amr where two foreign journalists were killed in February has been detained since Wednesday, according to news reports. Ali Mahmoud Othman was initially held at a military intelligence unit in Aleppo and is believed to have been tortured, Paul Conroy, a…
In Syria, killing the messenger hasn’t killed the message
A report on the first anniversary of the Syrian uprisingWeeks of sporadic protests seeking government reform burst into full-fledged unrest on March 15, 2011, when thousands of demonstrators gathered in four Syrian cities. Within days, authorities had cut off news media access to Daraa, a center of the unrest, beginning a sustained effort to shut…
Relief greets evacuation, but concern over fallen
New York, March, 1, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the news that two French journalists injured in Homs last week have reached safety in Lebanon. “We are relieved that Edith Bouvier and William Daniels are now safe but are concerned that the Syrian government’s assault on Homs has made it impossible to retrieve the…
Recalling Rémi Ochlik, ‘a man of great value’
I liked Rémi a lot. Rémi was fragile, yet he didn’t really try to conceal the fact. His fragility was his strength, a formidable one at that. Unlike so many journalists of today, Rémi was a true idealist, a rare mix of innocence and panache, compassion and bravery.
Caveat utilitor: Satellite phones can always be tracked
The Telegraph in London was the first to report that Syrian government forces could have “locked on” to satellite phone signals to launch the rocket attacks that killed journalists Marie Colvin and Rémi Ochlik, as well as many Syrian civilians, besides wounding dozens more including two more international journalists. Working out of a makeshift press…
CPJ calls on Syrian authorities to halt violence
New York, February 24, 2012–Syrian authorities must heed the call issued by more than 60 countries today to stop the ongoing shelling in Syria, and allow medical access and safe passage to the wounded and dead journalists trapped in Homs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
High-tech security information needs better dissemination
After the London launch of CPJ’s Attacks on the Press at the Frontline Club this week, I had an opportunity to talk to a number of young journalists setting out to regions where reporters are frequently at risk. As CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon noted, these discussions took on an extra poignancy the next day,…
CPJ supports calls for immediate cease-fire in Syria
New York, February, 24, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists supports efforts by the international community to impose an immediate cease-fire in Syria to allow for the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and a cessation of hostilities. Two journalists injured in Wednesday’s Homs attack require urgent medical attention and evacuation. The bodies of two more journalists…