April 2011 - Committee to Protect Journalists

CPJ Impact

April 29, 2011 7:40 PM EDT

News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, April 2011 Digital frontiers and beyond To mark World Press Freedom Day 2011, CPJ will publish “The 10 Tools of Online Oppressors,” a special report on the most threatening tactics to suppress online journalists and bloggers as well as the countries making exemplary use of these censorship tools.…

Online commentator receives harsh sentence in Vietnam

April 29, 2011 4:43 PM EDT

Bangkok, April 29, 2011–Vietnamese authorities should release democracy activist and online commentator Vi Duc Hoi, who was given a five-year prison term Tuesday for critical essays posted on the Internet, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Two suspects found guilty in Baburova murder in Russia

April 29, 2011 4:37 PM EDT

New York, April 29, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the guilty verdict in the 2009 murder of Anastasiya Baburova, freelance reporter with the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, who was shot and killed in Moscow along with human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov. Markelov had represented Novaya Gazeta journalists in various legal cases.

Suspicious break-in at Zimbabwe newspaper

April 29, 2011 4:35 PM EDT

New York, April 29, 2011–The Zimbabwe Republic Police should consider all possible leads, including a political motive, in investigating a break-in at the offices of leading independent daily NewsDay on Monday in which computer hard drives of senior editorial staff were stolen, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Honduran radio director ambushed by gunmen

April 29, 2011 4:27 PM EDT

New York, April 29, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Honduran authorities today to offer full protection to Radio Uno Director Arnulfo Aguilar after a group of gunman attempted to enter his home in the northwestern city of San Pedro Sula. The police delayed an hour in responding to Aguilar’s distress call, according to…

Two newspapers threatened with closure in Belarus

April 29, 2011 3:30 PM EDT

New York, April 29, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns attempts by the Belarusian Information Ministry to close down the opposition newspaper Narodnaya Volya and the independent newspaper Nasha Niva, and called on the ministry to stop its harassment of both publications.

Michael Posner said he does not feel comforted from the response or lack of response on the recent detention of Ai Weiwei, seen here. (AP/Andy Wong)

U.S. rights message falls on deaf ears in China

April 29, 2011 11:22 AM EDT

As predicted by CPJ and many other commentators, results of the U.S.-China human rights dialogue this week are less than satisfactory. The U.S. side was more critical than it has been, but China remained defiantly deaf to foreign pressure.

Dawit Kebede: The need to publish

April 28, 2011 8:14 PM EDT

The video journalism website VJ Movement featured CPJ International Press Freedom Award winner Dawit Kebede on April 28 in a piece that portrays the challenges of working in Ethiopia. Click here to watch the video

Sri Lankan authorities ban Lanka eNews

April 28, 2011 4:40 PM EDT

New York, April 28, 2011–Sri Lankan authorities should immediately rescind the temporary suspension of pro-opposition news website Lanka eNews, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The ban is the latest in a series of attacks against the website.

CPJ responds to readers’ comments on Italy letter

April 28, 2011 3:19 PM EDT

In the past week, CPJ has received a number of emails in reaction to our April 19 letter, signed by Executive Director Joel Simon, to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, which details cases of harassment by Perugia authorities against journalists, writers, and bloggers who have critically covered high-profile local murder cases. Some of the emails we…