Africa

2016

  
A photo taken on February 11, 2016 shows election posters of incumbent President Yoweri Museveni and opposition leader Kizza Besigye in Kampala. (Isaac Kasamani/AFP)

Uganda elections approach amid hostile environment for media

Demonstrations against the government are a routine affair in the Ugandan capital Kampala, and Andrew Lwanga thought it would be just another day at work when he was assigned to cover a protest march by a few dozen unemployed youth on January 12, 2015.

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Nigerian journalists barred from covering deputy governor’s inauguration

Armed security guards on Tuesday, February 9, 2016, prevented journalists from covering the inauguration of Simon Achuba to the post of deputy governor of Nigeria’s central Kogi State, according to news reports and local journalists.

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Guinea journalist shot dead during clash at political meeting

New York, February 5, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the shooting in Guinea today of El-Hadj Mohamed Diallo, a reporter for the news websites Guinée7 and Afrik, and calls on authorities to ensure justice is served.

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Two TV stations ordered off the air in DRC

New York, February 5, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government to close two privately owned news channels, and urges officials to allow the channels to resume broadcasting immediately.

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Zimbabwe Constitutional Court Strikes Criminal Defamation Laws

New York, February 3, 2016–Today’s ruling by Zimbabwe’s Supreme Constitutional Court that the country’s criminal defamation laws are unconstitutional is a welcome step toward safeguarding press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

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CPJ condemns Equatorial Guinea’s decision to ban state media coverage of Gbagbo trial

New York, February 2, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the decision of the government in Equatorial Guinea to ban state television from covering the trial of former Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo, which opened at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on January 28. “We’ve been forbidden from airing Laurent Gbagbo’s…

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Jean-Philippe Remy and Philip Edward Moore are pictured soon after their release from police custody in Bujumbura, Burundi, January 29, 2016 (AFP)

Burundi arrests two foreign correspondents in wider crackdown

New York, January 29, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in Burundi to stop harassing journalists and allow them to freely report on events in the country. At least three journalists have been briefly detained in the past two days.

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A man listens to the news on the radio in Kampala, August 16, 2003 (Reuters).

Uganda forces radio station off the air ahead of elections

New York, January 28, 2016 — Ugandan regulators should immediately allow the privately owned radio station Endigyito FM to resume broadcasts, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Kenya detains blogger for two days

Kenyan police arrested freelance journalist and blogger Yassin Juma on January 23, after he used social media to post photos of the aftermath of a deadly, January 15, Al-Shabaab attack on an African Union military base in Somalia, according to press reports.

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Three journalists face military trial in Cameroon

New York, January 21, 2016– The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Cameroonian authorities to drop all charges against three journalists for failing to disclose information to the state. The three are scheduled to stand trial before a military court on Friday.

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2016