2021

Editor’s note: Numbers for each prison census are adjusted yearly as CPJ learns of arrests, releases, or deaths in prison. The numbers for CPJ’s 2021 census have been revised from 293 to 302 in accordance with this policy. For the most recent data, see cpj.org/data/imprisoned/ The number of journalists jailed around the world set another record…

As the number of journalists imprisoned globally for their work climbs to record highs, cases of those behind bars in Latin America remained relatively low. A total of six – three in Cuba, two in Nicaragua and one in Brazil – were in custody for their work as of December 1, according to the Committee…

On November 7, Nicaraguans are set to go to the polls to vote for president, the culmination of a campaign that has included the detention of opposition candidates, the banning of civil society organizations, and continued suppression of the country’s independent press. Nicaragua’s press freedom environment sharply deteriorated in 2018, when journalists covering protests against…

New York, Oct 25, 2021–Ahead of the November 7 Nicaraguan general election, which is taking place amid increasingly dire circumstances for press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists will host a press briefing with the Foreign Press Association (FPA) on threats to journalists in the country. The need for timely and reliable information is heightened…

Guatemala City, August 27, 2021 — Nicaraguan authorities should immediately drop criminal charges against journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro and stop using the country’s justice system to harass and silence the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 24, the Nicaraguan attorney general’s office published an official statement announcing criminal charges against Chamorro,…

The Committee to Protect Journalists yesterday joined five other organizations in a joint statement calling on international policymakers and human rights institutions to condemn human rights violations in Nicaragua and pressure authorities to protect press freedom and freedom of expression in the country. The statement documents Nicaraguan authorities’ most recent acts of censorship and harassment…

Guatemala City, August 16, 2021 – Nicaraguan authorities must stop harassing the La Prensa newspaper, allow its staff to enter their offices and report freely, and unconditionally release publisher Juan Lorenzo Holmann, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 11 a.m. on August 13, riot police officers raided the independent newspaper’s office in…

New York, June 23, 2021 — Nicaraguan authorities should immediately release journalist Miguel Mendoza, drop the criminal investigation into him, and halt the escalating campaign of harassment against the independent press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 9 p.m. on June 21, officers with the Nicaraguan National Police detained Mendoza and raided…

Guatemala City, June 1, 2021 — Nicaraguan authorities must refrain from opening criminal investigations into the work of journalist María Lilly Delgado and any other members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Since late May, authorities have summoned at least 16 journalists to give witness testimony relating to a money laundering…

Guatemala City, May 21, 2021 — Nicaraguan authorities must return confiscated equipment to Confidencial, allow its staff to enter their offices, and refrain from harassing independent media outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At 9 a.m. yesterday, riot police officers surrounded the independent news website Confidencial’s office in Managua, and about 90 minutes…