2012

Abuja, June 15, 2012--Authorities in Ghana must investigate the assault on a journalist by police while covering a police raid in Ho, the capital of Ghana's Volta region, and bring the perpetrators to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Victor Kwawukume, who reports for the state-owned Daily Graphic and is the regional chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association, was attacked by four unidentified police officers on June 10 as he covered a raid in Ho in which police arrested suspected criminals and drug peddlers, according to news reports. Kwawukume said he verbally identified himself as a journalist, but the officers attacked him, violently hitting him on the head and seizing his camera, the reports said.

By Mohamed Keita/CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator

On Wednesday, the same day the White House announced a strategic plan committing the United States to elevating its efforts in "challenging leaders whose actions threaten the credibility of democratic processes" in sub-Saharan Africa, a senior member of the U.S. Congress challenged the erosion of press freedom in a key U.S. strategic partner in the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia.

By Magnus Ag/CPJ Advocacy and Communications Associate

Video streaming by Ustream

On the frontlines of global reporting, knowledge is safety. CPJ's event series to promote our new Journalist Security Guide continued Wednesday in Washington, D.C. where we teamed up with Internews for a panel discussion on journalist security on-site and online. 

Dear President Ahmed Mohamoud Silyano: We are writing to express our alarm over deteriorating conditions for independent journalists in Somaliland. The Committee to Protect Journalists has monitored 58 cases of journalist detentions by authorities since the beginning of the year. We urge you to use your office to reverse this trend of harassment and uphold your 2010 election campaign pledge to respect and improve freedom of the press.

By Tom Rhodes/CPJ East Africa Consultant

"I'm free but I don't feel free," said Mohamed Abdi Urad, chief editor of Yool, a critical weekly published in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland. Mohamed had just been released on May 22 after a week in detention at Hargeisa Central Police Station. His crime? "I have no idea," he said. Mohamed had attempted to cover a deadly skirmish between civilians and a military unit over a land dispute in the eastern part of the capital, Hargeisa. "The Interior Minister just saw me walking towards the scene and ordered his men to arrest me," he said. A few days later, police released Mohamed unconditionally and without charge.

Abuja, June 13, 2012--A Nigerian journalist was assaulted by an immigration officer in the capital, Abuja, Tuesday, according to local journalists and news reports. Joshua Uma, a journalist with the daily Leadership, was on assignment covering a protest by retirees over non-payment of pensions.

New York, June 13, 2012--Authorities in Angola's enclave of Cabinda must immediately launch an investigation into the robbery at the home of an independent journalist on Sunday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Unidentified assailants ransacked the house of José Manuel Gimbi, a correspondent of the U.S. government-funded broadcaster Voice of America and a human rights lawyer, at around 4 p.m., when no one was at home, the station reported. The assailants stole items related to the journalist's work, including two computers, an external hard drive, a voice recorder, two USB sticks, and a bag containing important documents related to his work, Arão Tempo, a lawyer and Gimbi's mentor, told CPJ. VOA reported that the assailants also stole some personal items, including books and jewelry belonging to Gimbi's wife.

New York, June 12, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Ivorian police's assault on a journalist on June 5 and calls on authorities to ensure the officers are brought to justice.

Two officers attacked Cybèle Athangba, a reporter with the daily La Nouvelle, while she was covering a protest of about 100 police officers in front of the police headquarters in the economic capital, Abidjan, according to local journalists and news reports. Athangba was among three journalists who were interviewing officers protesting the alleged embezzlement of funds that had been deducted from their salaries since 2006 to pay for their housing.

Nairobi, June 11, 2012--A Somali radio journalist was shot by two gunmen in Mogadishu on Friday, according to news reports. Mohamed Nur Mohamed, who was hit twice in the abdomen, survived the attack, the reports said.

Mohamed, a correspondent for Radio Bar-Kulan, a U.N.-sponsored radio broadcaster with headquarters in Nairobi, was walking home in the Hamarjajab neighborhood of the capital when the gunmen attacked him and then fled the scene, local journalists told CPJ. Mohamed's colleagues took him to a local hospital, where he is in stable condition, according to news reports. It is unclear if the attack was related to his work.

Addis Ababa, June 11, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists and the Africa Media Initiative (AMI) called for the release of journalists being held under Ethiopia's anti-terrorism laws and requested a review of those laws as they affect freedom of speech.