The Committee to Protect Journalists and 18 other organizations are urging Burundi authorities to investigate attacks on journalists and human rights defenders. Since the April announcement that President Pierre Nkurunziza would run for a third term, defying constitutional limitations and sparking months of protests, journalists have been routinely targeted. At least five radio stations were…
CPJ calls Kenya on its “Broken Promises” As U.S. President Barack Obama headed to Kenya and Ethiopia in July, CPJ launched a special report in Nairobi on the climate for press freedom in Kenya. The report, called “Broken promises: How Kenya is failing to uphold its commitment to a free press,” found that a combination…
With the health of jailed journalists Gao Yu fading quickly (see ‘I don’t want to die here’: Gao Yu’s health deteriorates in Beijing prison), 15 media support and human rights groups sent a letter today to Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials calling for the 71-year-old reporter’s unconditional release. Gao suffers from heart disease,…
Abidjan, August 5, 2015–A journalist who was imprisoned for almost a week by authorities in the Ivory Coast has been charged with defamation, among other crimes, according to the journalist and news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the Ivory Coast to drop the charges against Joseph Titi immediately. A judge…
Nairobi, August 5, 2015–Authorities in South Sudan have shut down three independent media outlets in the past five days, according to news reports and the outlets’ editors. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the closures, which come as international mediators seek to arrive at a peace deal between the government and the armed opposition following…
London, August 5, 2015-A new safety resource for Syrian journalists seeks to help those working in or near the country to better protect themselves amid unprecedented threats and a lack of security information in Arabic. The Rory Peck Trust, in collaboration with the Committee to Protect Journalists and a coalition of international journalist assistance organisations,…
Ahlu Sunna Waljama, a formerly government-aligned religious militia based in central Somalia, detained six journalists from July 31, 2015, to August 3, 2015, in the central town of Dhusamareb, according to news reports and local journalists.
Mexico City, August 3, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of Mexican photojournalist Rubén Espinosa and calls on authorities to investigative all motives in the killing and ensure the perpetrators are held to account. Espinosa, who had fled to the capital from Veracruz state after receiving threats, was found murdered in a Mexico…
New York, August 3, 2015–A correspondent who wrote about corruption for a Bengali-language daily has been reported missing in the Indian state of West Bengal, according to news reports. Chayan Sarkar’s disappearance comes as a number of journalists have been attacked after reporting on corruption around India.