Cameroon security forces obstructing journalists
New York, February 25, 2011–Cameroon’s government is obstructing journalists from reporting on issues of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Security forces detained a journalist without charge for six days after he interviewed a jailed former official. They also seized footage from reporters covering the brutal repression of a banned opposition march…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Africa Analysis
Across Continent, Governments Criminalize Investigative Reporting By Mohamed Keita Across the continent, the emergence of in-depth reporting and the absence of effective access-to-information laws have set a collision course in which public officials, intent on shielding their activities, are moving aggressively to unmask confidential sources, criminalize the possession of government documents, and retaliate against probing…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Cameroon
Top Developments • Authorities unleash reprisals when journalists question oil company deal. • Nation mourns the death of pioneering journalist Pius Njawé. Key Statistic 4: Journalists jailed for leaked document. One dies in custody, a second alleges he was tortured. When four newspaper journalists jointly sent questions to a top presidential adviser in late 2009,…
Press fuels democracy in Cameroon, across continent
On January 1, 1960, during the proclamation of independence of the French speaking part of Cameroon, I was forced, with comrades from Leclerc high school in Yaoundé, to take part in the big parade organized by President Ahmadou Ahidjo. At that time, I would occasionally write articles for the school magazine, but also for Les…
Remembering Pius: The devastation of his death
It’s 7:50 a.m. I’m up early—lots of work to finish today. I check my e-mail. There’s a message from CPJ’s Lauren Wolfe, who I don’t know. The opening line reads: “I’m not sure if you heard that Pius Njawé was killed in a car crash yesterday in Virginia. Anne Nelson told us you worked closely with him when he was chosen…
50 years on, Francophone Africa strives for media freedom
CPJ has joined with African press freedom groups to urge African leaders to end repression of the media as they celebrate 50 years since the end of colonial rule. We will publish a series of blogs this week by African journalists reflecting on the checkered history of press freedom over that period.This year is the 50th anniversary of…
CPJ mourns death of Cameroon’s Pius Njawé
New York, July 13, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists extends its deep condolences to the family and colleagues of Pius Njawé, a pioneering Cameroonian journalist and a press freedom advocate, who was killed in a car accident in the United States on Monday.