Africa
2013
In Togo, police attack journalists protesting media law
Lagos, Nigeria, March 18, 2013–Togolese police on Thursday fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse journalists protesting new censorship authority granted to the government media regulator, according to news reports and local journalists.
In Mali, one journalist’s detention ignites press revolution
Mali’s press has endured one attack too many. Since the coup d’état of March 22, 2012, CPJ has documented a staggering 62 anti-press violations across Mali. Journalists and media houses have become ready targets of attacks, threats, intimidation, assassination attempts, arbitrary arrests, detentions, and censorship by separatist and Islamist militant groups and government security forces…
Police beat journalists attending court case in Mogadishu
Nairobi, March 12, 2013–Somali police attacked and obstructed more than a half-dozen journalists who were seeking to cover a rape trial in Mogadishu on Saturday, as authorities continue to struggle in meeting law enforcement and free expression demands in sexual assault cases. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the attacks and calls on authorities to…
In Mali, a journalist stabbed for his critical reporting
Lagos, Nigeria, March 11, 2013–Authorities in Mali must investigate an attack on a critical radio journalist that came two weeks after he received threats warning him to resign from the station, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
In tense climate, Kenyan press can draw on solidarity
Amid a tense presidential election, Kenyans have avoided a repeat of the deadly violence that followed the vote in 2007, when half a million people were uprooted and more than 1,000 people were killed. Still, the situation today is fraught. Ethnic identity dominates the nation’s political divisions–and those same loyalties can undermine solidarity in the…
Jail for reporting on women in Mangalore, Mogadishu
Today marks International Women’s Day. Hashtags like #IWD and #InternationalWomensDay have been trending on Twitter. Among the twitterati who voiced their support for women’s rights was Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He tweeted: PM: Let me reiterate in this House the commitment of our govt. to ensuring the dignity, safety and security of every woman…
Journalist detained by security agents in Mali
New York, March 6, 2013–State security agents in Mali detained an editor today in connection with his newspaper’s publication of an open letter criticizing a financial package awarded to a former coup leader, according to news reports and local journalists. Six agents of State Security, Mali’s intelligence agency, arrested Boukary Daou, a top editor for…
Burundi journalist Ruvakuki freed from jail
Nairobi, March 6, 2013–Burundian authorities today released Hassan Ruvakuki, a reporter who has been imprisoned for 16 months on charges related to his interview with a rebel leader. The circumstances of the release were not immediately clear, and the Committee to Protect Journalists called on authorities to vacate Ruvakuki’s conviction and prison sentence.