New York, June 18, 2009--A journalist in
Committee to Protect Journalists
Equatorial Guinea
From a Fatal Fire, Many
Questions in Brazzaville
A mysterious midnight fire engulfs columnist Bruno Jacquet Ossébi's home in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. Mounting questions about the fire and Ossébi's subsequent death remain unresolved. In a special report, CPJ examines the fatal fire that took the life of Ossébi, left, an outspoken online journalist who closely scrutinized the Congolese government.• Version Française
• Audio Report: CPJ's Mohamed Keita
• Reportage Audio: Sarah Turbeaux du CPJ
A French judge on
Tuesday authorized an
anti-corruption group to pursue a complaint that questions how the leaders of three
oil-rich, central African nations amassed their personal assets. One byline was
absent in news media coverage: Bruno Ossébi, an online Congolese columnist and one
of the few local journalists who had covered the sensitive issue. Ossébi died
in February in a mysterious fire that destroyed his home and killed three
others.Bruno Jacquet Ossébi, a Franco-Congolese journalist known for outspoken coverage of government corruption in the
African Union fails to defend press freedom
By Julia Crawford
By Julia Crawford
When African heads of state gathered in July in the Gambia's sleepy seaside capital, Banjul, their host had just shut down a leading private newspaper, jailed journalists, and halted a planned freedom of expression forum on the fringes of the summit. At the summit, the African Union swore in judges for a future pan-African court of justice and human rights, but said nothing about human rights abuses in the Gambia or the lack of due process for its detainees. In a declaration marking the 25th anniversary of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, AU leaders vowed to rededicate themselves "to ensuring respect for human and peoples' rights" as a prerequisite to their common vision of "a united and prosperous Africa." The charter, binding on all AU members, includes freedom of expression as a fundamental human right. Yet the heads of state failed to comment on the Gambia's vicious repression of the independent press and its lackluster effort to solve the 2004 assassination of a leading editor.
Attacks on the Press
| Benin, Burkina Faso, Burma, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, France, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, Zambia
Letters
| Algeria, China, Cuba, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Somalia, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists urges you as chairman of the African Union to discuss with your fellow heads of state and government at your summit in the Gambian capital, Banjul, from July 1, the need to defend press freedom on the continent.
Oped
| Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Georgia, Guinea, Iran, Libya, Russia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Could you pick out Equatorial Guinea on the world map? Or Turkmenistan, or Eritrea? Probably not at the first attempt. These countries are usually below the radar of the international media, and the autocrats who run them like it that way. It helps them crush press freedoms and keep their population in the dark. That is why the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based press freedom group, has drawn up a league table of the world's 10 most censored countries. We hope that the list, issued on World Press Freedom Day, will shine a light into the dark corners of the world where governments and their political cronies decide what people will read, see, and hear.
Impact
| Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
CPJ Update May 22, 2006 News from the Committee to Protect Journalists Return to front page | See previous Updates...
Dangerous Assignments
| Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, France, Guinea, Libya, Spain, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam
North Korea tops CPJ's list of "10 Most Censored Countries"...
Subscribe
Equatorial Guinea Atom Feed
