Mission Journal: As South Sudan conflict continues press still suffers
On December 15 last year, fighting that broke out between supporters of South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar–who had been vice president until Kiir fired the entire Cabinet–escalated into a civil war that has increased pressure on an already fragile independent press.
Two Somali journalists killed and three injured in twin bombings
Nairobi, December 8, 2014–Two journalists were killed and three were wounded in a twin bombing in the south-central Somali town of Baidoa on December 5, which targeted a restaurant where journalists and officials frequently congregate.
Legacy of Rwanda genocide includes media restrictions, self-censorship
Twenty years after massacres, Rwanda stable but its media restricted The Rwandan government has taken great strides in bringing stability to the country since the 1994 genocide that claimed 800,000 lives, but moves to allow greater press freedom have been slow. While government control of the media has loosened, many journalists remain fearful that the…
African Court upholds appeal against criminal defamation
Cape Town, South Africa, December 5, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s ruling by the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights in Addis Ababa that criminal defamation should be used only in restricted circumstances and that imprisonment for defamation violates freedom of expression. The court also upheld the appeal of Issa Lohé Konaté,…
South African court rules that criminal defamation is in line with constitution
Cape Town, South Africa, December 5, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the decision by the Pretoria High Court in South Africa to uphold journalist Cecil Motsepe’s appeal against a conviction of criminal defamation, but disapproves of the court’s ruling that the crime of defamation for journalists falls in line with South Africa’s constitution. Motsepe,…
Authorities order radio stations to be closed in the DRC
Nairobi, November 24, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists today calls on authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo to stop meddling with radio station broadcasts in the country. The Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende has called for the shutdown of several radio stations in recent weeks, and a few have gone off the air.
Accounting for impunity is obligation for all states
This week, members of UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication will meet to discuss the director general’s biannual report, which examines the cases of nearly 600 journalists killed around the world from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2013. The report, and lacklustre response from member states who had been asked to provide…
In Sierra Leone, journalist imprisoned after criticizing president
Abuja, Nigeria, November 4, 2014–A journalist in Sierra Leone has been imprisoned after criticizing President Ernest Bai Koroma’s handling of the Ebola outbreak, according to news reports and local journalists. David Tam Baryoh was arrested on Monday.
Kenyan journalist covering police detained, harassed
Nairobi, November 4, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kenyan police to stop harassing and threatening a journalist in Kisumu city, western Kenya. Last month, police threatened and briefly detained Justus Ochieng, a reporter for the privately owned daily The Star, in connection with a story he wrote that alleged criminal activity by police…