2011
Only some Chinese writers allowed to attend PEN Festival
The stage was full of empty chairs on Thursday at “China in Two Acts,” part of the five-day PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York, which ended on Sunday. A two-part program featured writer Zha Jianying speaking for the first part followed by a panel discussion in the second. The chairs, a…
Pakistan vows to pursue justice in journalist murders
Islamabad, Pakistan, May 3, 2011–Pakistan’s president committed to pursue justice for journalists killed in the line of duty, pledging to take steps to reverse the country’s rising record of impunity. A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists met with President Asif Ali Zardari today to discuss the growing number of targeted attacks on journalists…
Ecuadoran provincial reporter jailed on defamation charges
New York, May 2, 2011–Provincial Ecuadoran radio journalist Walter Vite Benítez was sentenced Wednesday to one year imprisonment on criminal defamation charges stemming from a critical comment about the local mayor made three years ago. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Ecuadoran authorities to release Vite and bring the country’s press law into compliance…
Burmese exile news site endures hacking, DDoS attacks
Like other Burmese exile-run media, the Irrawaddy has been plagued by numerous denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in recent years that have forced its website to be shut down. Now, Aung Zaw, the publication’s founder and editor, believes Burma’s military-backed regime has adopted a new cyber-attack strategy that aims to undermine the exile media’s credibility among readers.
Blogging in Egypt: Virtual network, virtual oppression
I have been blogging in various platforms since 2006, focusing on human rights conditions and police abuses in Egypt. During this time, the Egyptian regime was widely described as one of the most “liberal-moderate” and sometimes “semi-democratic” regimes in the region, but meanwhile, hundreds of young people were hijacked, jailed, fined, and intimidated. Egypt has…
CPJ Impact
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
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.