Africa
2014
Twenty Ethiopia state journalists dismissed, in hiding
“If they cannot indoctrinate you into their thinking, they fire you,” said one former staff member of the state-run Oromia Radio and Television Organization (ORTO), who was dismissed from work last month after six years of service. “Now we are in hiding since we fear they will find excuses to arrest us soon,” the journalist,…
In Zimbabwe, journalist detained for covering demonstration
Police detained for several hours a reporter for the independent Daily News on July 3, 2014, local journalists told CPJ. Helen Kadirire was held in Mutoko, a town 143 kilometres (89 miles) east of the capital, Harare, after she started to cover a demonstration by the Mutoko North Development Trust, a local community organization, according…
Zone 9 blogger urges world to call for freedom in Ethiopia
In April, the Ethiopian government imprisoned nine journalists, including six bloggers from Zone 9, in one of the worst crackdowns against free expression in the country. Ethiopia is the second worst jailer of journalists in Africa, trailing only Eritrea, according to CPJ research.
Reflections on my fallen colleague: Yusuf Keynan
My mother once sarcastically told me she could allow for my death, but couldn’t live with seeing my leg or hand amputated or with a lost eye after reporting from a battlefield. It was when she first learned that I had been secretly studying journalism in May 2005. The news made her distraught. She wanted…
Somali journalist killed by car bomb in Mogadishu
New York, June 23, 2014–Authorities in Somalia must immediately investigate the murder of a Somali journalist in Mogadishu on Saturday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yusuf Ahmed Abukar, who also used the name Yusuf Keynan, was killed when a bomb believed to be attached to his car exploded while he was on his…
Iran, Syria, and Somalia top countries that journalists flee
CPJ releases annual report on journalists in exile to mark World Refugee Day New York, June 18, 2014–Over the past five years, the Committee to Protect Journalists has supported 404 journalists who have been forced to flee their home countries because of their work, according to a new CPJ report on exiled journalists. Journalists cite…
Zimbabwe’s top court strikes down criminal defamation
New York, June 13, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Thursday’s move by Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court to strike down criminal defamation, saying it is not compatible with the country’s new constitution. The court ruled that criminal defamation violated freedom of expression and that civil suits would adequately protect individuals alleging defamation, reports said.