Africa

Lusaka, May 31, 2024—Lesotho authorities should withdraw statements equating media interviews with outlawed music groups to criminal offenses and provide guarantees that journalists will not face arrest for doing their jobs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.   During a May 21 press briefing, deputy police commissioner and then-acting head of the police force…

Abuja, May 31, 2024—Nigerian police authorities should immediately drop their criminal investigation into journalist Nurudeen Akewushola and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), and allow them to work free of harassment and fear of arrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.  On May 20, officers with the Nigeria Police Force-National Cybercrime Center (NPF-NCCC)…

Dakar, May 29, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is highly concerned by a Cameroonian administrator’s use of a law granting him the ability to indefinitely detain journalist Engelbert Mfomo in what he said was retribution for his critical reporting. Cameroonian authorities must reform the country’s laws to ensure journalists cannot be detained for…

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday joined 30 other non-governmental organizations in urging member and observer states of the United Nations Human Rights Council to extend the mandate of the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea. The special rapporteur reports on and assesses the human rights situation in Eritrea, and…

On May 15, 2024, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s media regulator, the Superior Audiovisual and Communications Council, known by its French acronym CSAC, ordered the privately owned Bosolo TV station to suspend its “Bosolo Na Politik Officielle” program for a month, according to a CSAC video statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, and media reports. According to…

New York, May 24, 2024 — Nigerian authorities should drop their investigation into journalist Madu Onuorah and cease arresting journalists in connection with their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Armed police officers from Nigeria’s eastern Enugu and Ebonyi states arrested Onuorah, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Global Upfront Newspapers, at his home…

Lusaka, May 24, 2024 — South African authorities must investigate and hold to account  those responsible for sexually assaulting a woman journalist as well as physically assaulting and harassing other members of the media during an uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party political rally on May 18, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday. Men…

Dakar, May 23, 2023—Guinean authorities should immediately reinstate the media licenses for six blocked outlets and allow them to resume broadcasting freely after months of censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On May 21 and 22, Guinea’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology revoked the broadcasting licenses of the private radio stations FIM, Espace, Sweet,…

Kampala, May 22, 2024—Ugandan authorities should thoroughly investigate and hold to account those responsible for attacking journalists Zainab Namusaazi, Gertrude Mutyaba, and Magaret Kayondo, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On May 18, the private bodyguards of opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, also known as Bobi Wine, harassed and assaulted the three journalists who…

Abuja, May 20, 2024—Nigerian authorities should swiftly and comprehensively investigate the detention of freelance journalist Jamil Mabai by religious police in northern Katsina State and hold them to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.  Mabai, who was on assignment for the privately owned Trust TV, had been invited to the offices of the Hisbah,…