Africa

On July 22, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh once again went after journalists in an interview on the country's only state-run television station. The president made a thinly veiled threat toward six independent journalists currently facing "seditious publication" and "criminal defamation" charges in the country: "So they think they can hide behind so-called press freedom and violate the law and get away with it. They got it wrong this time. We are going to prosecute them to the letter," Jammeh said. 

New York, July 30, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists called on authorities today in the Democratic Republic of Congo to lift a ban on the FM broadcasts of Radio France Internationale (RFI) across the Central African country. The government silenced the station in response to its coverage of the ongoing conflict in the east, RFI said.

"Are you sure about coming back here now?" My cousin in Antananarivo was a bit hesitant about the wisdom of my plan to visit the family while the political crisis was still weighing on the daily lives of Malagasy citizens. I had not been back to my home country in nine years until this summer. Prior to that, I went back every year since I left Madagascar after high school. It may have seemed like a peculiar decision to go back when the situation was less than ideal but it was the one time when my work would allow me to stay for almost a full month.

New York, July 22, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalist condemns the government's growing crackdown on the independent press in the northern breakaway republic of Somaliland as September presidential elections near. 

Walter Cronkite had such a profound impact in so many ways that one might overlook an important part of his legacy--his long efforts on behalf of international press freedom and his advocacy on behalf of local journalists around the world. Cronkite was a vital participant in the launch of the Committee to Protect Journalists 28 years ago and, though his title here may have been honorary co-chairman, he was an active force throughout the years.

July marks the start of seal hunting season in Namibia, where hunters will be allowed to kill more than 90,000 seals. British journalist Jim Wickens and South African cameraman Bart Smithers filmed the event near Cape Cross Colony on Thursday morning for a British advocacy organization, Ecostorm. That is, until the journalists became the hunted.

New York, July 17, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the attack on reporter Aweys Sheikh Nur on Wednesday by security guards during a court session in Bosaso, in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia. 

New York, July 17, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the harassment of international journalists covering this week's disputed presidential elections in Republic of Congo.

New York, July 15, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest of Zambian journalist Chansa Kabwela on bogus charges of circulating obscene materials.