The Torch is a weekly newsletter from the Committee to Protect Journalists that brings you the latest press freedom and journalist safety news from around the world. Subscribe here.
Today is the one-year anniversary of the killing of Al-Jazeera Arabic correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, who was fatally shot while reporting on an Israeli military raid in the West Bank. Ahead of this anniversary, CPJ released a new special report, “Deadly Pattern: 20 journalists died by Israeli military fire in 22 years. No one has been held accountable.”
Over 22 years, CPJ has documented at least 20 journalist killings by members of the Israel Defense Forces. Despite numerous IDF probes, no one has ever been charged or held responsible for these deaths. The impunity in these cases has severely undermined the freedom of the press, leaving the rights of journalists in precarity and undermining coverage of the region.
“The killing of Shireen Abu Akleh and the failure of the army’s investigative process to hold anyone responsible is not a one-off event,” said CPJ Director of Special Projects Robert Mahoney, who also wrote a column in Israeli newspaper Haaretz about the report.
A CPJ delegation launched the report at a press conference in Tel Aviv on May 9, and hosted a panel discussion on the report in Ramallah the following day.
🔖 Dive deeper: How Israel probes journalist killings and A deadly reporting field for Palestinian journalists
🔎 Explore the faces of the killed journalists and our interactive map
📌 Consider CPJ’s recommendations to Israel, the United States, and the international community
🎥 Watch the Tel Aviv report launch
Separately, on May 10, CPJ published a look into how Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party are facing one of the toughest challenges of their two decades in office. Turkey Representative Özgür Öğret spoke with journalists in the country about how the elections could affect the press freedom environment.
- AFP journalist Arman Soldin killed while covering war in Ukraine
- Turkish courts find four journalists guilty on criminal charges ahead of elections
- Cameroonian journalist Aye Nde Nsoh shot and killed by separatists
- Togolese authorities detain, threaten journalist Edouard Kamboissoa Samboe
- CPJ calls on NYPD to drop any charges against photojournalist Stephanie Keith
- Indian journalist Sakshi Joshi assaulted, detained while covering women-led protest
- Chinese journalist Shangguan Yunkai detained over corruption coverage
- Iranian radio journalist Sajjad Shahrabi arrested, transferred to prison
- Taliban detains four Afghan journalists in Khost province
- Nicaraguan journalist Hazel Zamora arrested, charged with spreading false news; police detain journalist William Aragón overnight on false news charge;
- Peruvian outlet IDL-Reporteros targeted by protests, death threats from right-wing group
Spotlight
The New York Human Rights Watch Film Festival is taking place from May 31 to June 11. The 2023 festival focuses on the determination and courage of individuals to stand up for their freedom and rights, and films will be available to watch with live discussions in person or online as part of the digital festival from June 5 to 11.
CPJ is a presenting partner for two films:
➡️ The Etilaat Roz—A firsthand account of the experience of the staff at The Etilaat Roz, the most widely read newspaper in Kabul, as they decide between staying to report on the 2021 takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban or fleeing the country. The film will be screened in person at Film at Lincoln Center on June 1, with a live Q&A.
- Watch the trailer
- Buy tickets with the discount code RESIST23 for $2 off digital and in-person tickets
➡️ Draw Me Egypt—This film mixes documentary filmmaking with animated cartoons to follow Doaa el-Adl, one of the most prominent female cartoonists in the Arab world, as she advocates for women’s rights in Egypt and globally. The film will be screened in person at Film at Lincoln Center on June 3, with a live Q&A.
- Weaponizing the law against journalists is killing our democracies — Joel Simon, Antonio Zappulla, World Economic Forum
- Abusive spyware ban: No press freedom without journalist safety — Rand Hammoud, Tech Policy Press
- Jailed, exiled and harassed, journalists defy authoritarian leaders in Central America — Gretel Kahn, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
- The independent journalists risking their freedom to keep reporting from Russia — Matthew Luxmoore, The Wall Street Journal
- The state of press freedom in southern Africa 2022 — Media Institute of Southern Africa
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