Central African Republic

Syria is the world’s deadliest country for journalists for the third year in a row. International journalists were killed at a higher rate in 2014 than in recent years. A CPJ special report by Shazdeh Omari

By Samantha Libby/CPJ Advocacy Officer

In 2014, at least 60 journalists and 11 media workers were killed in relation to their work, according to CPJ research. Local and international journalists died covering conflicts, including in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine, while many others were murdered reporting on corruption and organized crime in their own countries.

Here, CPJ remembers some of the journalists who gave their lives to bring us this year's headlines.

By Tom Rhodes/CPJ East Africa Representative

"Not sure I can talk about my 'career' just yet--I'm still just getting started!" freelance photographer Camille Lepage told the photography site Petapixel in October 2013.

Less than a year later, Lepage's body was found in a car in the Central African Republic, according to news reports citing the French government. She had been traveling with fighters of the anti-Balaka Christian militia and was killed in an ambush, the reports said. 

New York, May 13, 2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for an immediate investigation into the death of French freelance photojournalist Camille Lepage, 26, in the Central African Republic. In a statement issued today, the French government said that French troops had discovered Lepage's body in a vehicle driven by fighters of the anti-Balaka Christian militia, according to news reports. 

New York, March 26, 2013--At least two news outlets were raided in the Central African Republic on Sunday when rebel groups ousted the president from power, according to news reports and local press freedom groups.

New York, January 31, 2012--The convictions of two journalists in the Central African Republic over their critical coverage of a top official constitute political censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

New York, January 25, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the Central African Republic to immediately release a newspaper editor imprisoned since January 16 and to drop a politicized prosecution that stems from the paper's critical coverage of a presidential relative who also serves as the government's finance minister. 

New York, July 12, 2011-- Two Central African Republic journalists were fined and released from custody Monday after being jailed for weeks in connection with their coverage of public protests by retired military officers who say the government failed to direct European Union funds to them as intended, according to news reports and local journalists.

New York, June 7, 2011--Central African Republic authorities have charged the director of the independent weekly The Hills of Bangui, Faustin Bambou, with inciting hatred and disorder among the military forces and insulting the government, Bambou told CPJ. The director was sent directly to Ngaragba Prison in the capital, Bangui. Four military policemen arrested Bambou at his office on May 27 and detained him at their Research and Investigations Department for 10 days before they presented him with any official charges, according to local journalists.   

Your Excellencies: As you gather in Paris for festivities that celebrate your nations’ 50 years of independence, we, the undersigned African press freedom advocates petition for your public commitment to a free, vibrant, and self-sustaining press as a cornerstone of the development of francophone Africa in the next five decades.