Lebanese journalist Mohamad Barakat, Al-Akhbar newspaper receive threatening messages
Beirut, August 24, 2022–Lebanese authorities should immediately investigate threatening messages received by journalist Mohamad Barakat and the Al-Akhbar newspaper, and ensure that members of the press can work without fear of harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Since August 13, Barakat, managing editor of the privately owned news website Asas Media, has received…
Five Guinean journalists attacked by demonstrators while covering protests
Dakar, August 19, 2022 – Guinean authorities should investigate the attacks on five journalists while they covered protests, hold those responsible to account, and ensure the press can work freely and safely while covering civil unrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. In separate incidents on July 7, 27, and 28, demonstrators assaulted and…
‘It made me more determined’: Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad won’t stop reporting after Salman Rushdie stabbing
After novelist Salman Rushdie, the target of an Iranian fatwa, was stabbed in western New York last week, Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad said she saw messages on social media saying she should be punished next. Alinejad, who has extensively covered human rights in Iran and campaigns against the country’s compulsory hijab rule, is no…
Taliban members beat, threaten, Afghan journalist Saboor Raufi
New York, August 18, 2022 – Taliban authorities must investigate the beating and harassment of journalist Saboor Raufi and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Monday, August 15, two armed Taliban members beat Raufi, an anchor and reporter with Afghanistan’s independent Ariana News TV station, while he was…
Keeping hope alive
Afghan journalists in exile continue reporting despite an uncertain future “I lost my family, my job, my identity, and my country,” Afghan journalist Anisa Shaheed told CPJ in a phone interview. A former Kabul-based reporter for TOLONews, Afghanistan’s largest local broadcaster, Shaheed is one of hundreds of journalists who fled Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover…
Inside an Afghan news network’s struggle to survive
Threats, insults, beatings, and censorship: Former Ariana News staffers detail dire challenges during a year under Taliban control For veteran journalist Sharif Hassanyar, the final breaking point came in September last year. The Taliban had ousted the elected government of Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani almost a month earlier, and the last American soldiers had since…
Afghanistan’s media faces crisis—and opportunity
Twelve months after the Taliban takeover, many Afghan journalists are out of work or on the run. Others try, very carefully, to challenge the powerful. The extreme distress that has gripped Afghanistan’s independent media since the Taliban seized power in Kabul on August 15 last year lands in my inbox—and the inboxes of many of…
Iraqi Kurdish authorities detain, raid, harass journalists and media outlets covering protests
Beirut, August 9, 2022 – Iraqi Kurdistan authorities should immediately cease detaining and harassing journalists and media workers and allow them to report on political unrest freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On August 5 and August 6, Asayish security forces in several locations in Iraqi Kurdistan interfered with the work…
DRC journalist Jean Christian Bafwa Kabaseke receives death threat over coverage of militant group
Kinshasa, August 8, 2022 – Congolese authorities should take seriously the threats against journalist Jean Christian Bafwa Kabaseke and ensure his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday On August 4, a person identifying himself as a “general” with the Patriotic Force and Integrationist of Congo (FPIC) armed group sent a message to Bafwa,…
Lebanese photojournalist Hasan Shaaban beaten, threatened with death
Beirut, August 4, 2022 – Lebanese authorities should immediately investigate the assault of journalist Hasan Shaaban and threats made against him, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On the evening of Wednesday, August 3, a group of men in the village of Beit Yahoun, in southern Lebanon, attacked…