Americas

  
Former Gambia President Yahya Jammeh, pictured in November 2016, is among the suspected human rights abusers to be penalized under the U.S. Magnitsky Act. (Reuters/Thierry Gouegnon)

Mixed first year, but Global Magnitsky Act could be strong tool in fight for justice

In December, the U.S. government announced the names of those it will penalize under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights and Accountability Act.

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An activist puts on a window pictures of journalists who have been killed in Mexico during a demonstration against the murder of journalists in Mexico, outside the building of Attention to Crimes against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) in Mexico City, Mexico on June 15, 2017. (Reuters/Edgard Garrido)

Mexican journalist attacked by police in Guerrero state

Mexico City, January 10, 2018–Authorities in Mexico’s Guerrero state should thoroughly and credibly investigate alleged police violence against a reporter in the town of La Concepción on January 7, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. According to statements five reporters gave to local media after the alleged violence, state policemen attacked a journalist covering…

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A presidential guard walks past a window that allows a view into the Planalto presidential palace's main lounge, decorated with an image of a Brazilian national flag, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, April 13, 2017. (AP/Eraldo Peres)

Attackers run Brazilian freelance reporter off road and shoot at him

São Paulo, January 9, 2018–Brazilian authorities should swiftly and credibly investigate an attack on Gabriel Barbosa da Silva, a part-time freelance reporter, cartoonist, and photographer for the São Paulo publication VerboOnline, and bring his attackers to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Press freedom oppressors, clockwise from left: Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, and Donald Trump of the U.S. (Reuters/AFP/AFP/AP)

In response to Trump’s fake news awards, CPJ announces Press Oppressors awards

Amid the public discourse of fake news and President Trump’s announcement via Twitter about his planned “fake news” awards ceremony, CPJ is recognizing world leaders who have gone out of their way to attack the press and undermine the norms that support freedom of the media. From an unparalleled fear of their critics and the…

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A taxi drives past the Cuauhtemoc Housing Unit and a municipal sign with a message that reads in Spanish "Building the new Acapulco" in Acapulco, Mexico on May 11, 2016. Antonio Julián Chepe said he was driving his vehicle on the highway between his hometown in Marquelia and Acapulco in Mexico's southern Guerrero state when at least six men carrying automatic rifles attacked him. (AP/ Enric Marti)

Mexican newspaper editor abducted, robbed, and beaten in Guerrero state

Unidentified gunman on December 23, 2017, robbed Antonio Julián Chepe, the editorial director of regional newspaper Diario Alternativo, stripped him naked, and threatened to kill him, the journalist told CPJ.

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Residents in a Valencia apartment block watch a rally on the street below in March 2014. Several of the city's critical newspapers have been forced out of circulation amid Venezuela's economic crisis and newsprint shortage. (AP/Fernando Llano)

End of the print run for Venezuela’s regional press as supplies dry up for critical outlets

The lobby of El Carabobeño includes a display of vintage cameras, engraving plates and paper cutters from the 1930s when the newspaper was founded in Valencia, Venezuela’s third-largest city. But now El Carabobeño’s modern printing press could be added to the exhibit.

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A colleague of Iraqi reporter Shifa Gardi lights a candle at a vigil for her in the Rudaw TV office in Erbil. Iraq is the deadliest country for journalists in 2017. (AFP/Safin Hamed)

In absence of fresh military conflict, journalist killings decline again

At least 42 journalists were killed in the line of duty in 2017, representing the second consecutive decline from record highs early this decade. Fewer journalists died covering Middle East conflicts and the number of journalists murdered in reprisal for reporting eased, except in Mexico. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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A view of Bogota, Colombia's capital, on September 3, 2017. The mayor of a small town in Colombia threatened a local reporter and fired shots at him, the reporter told CPJ. (Reuters/Henry Romero)

Colombian mayor threatens, shoots at local journalist

Bogotá, Colombia, December 19, 2017 – Colombian authorities should immediately suspend the mayor of a town in northern Colombia, and undertake a swift and credible investigation into reports that he threatened and shot at a local radio journalist, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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CPJ calls on Guatemala’s attorney general to release immediately and drop all charges against Jerson Antonio Xitumul Morales

CPJ calls on Guatemala’s attorney general to release immediately and drop all charges against Jerson Antonio Xitumul Morales, a journalist currently detained in the province of Izabal.

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Journalists and protesters hold placards outside an Istanbul court on October 31, 2017, calling for the release of jailed colleagues, including Turkish reporter Ahmet Şık. Turkey is the worst jailer of journalists in 2017. (AP/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Record number of journalists jailed as Turkey, China, Egypt pay scant price for repression

For the second year in a row, the number of journalists imprisoned for their work hit a historical high, as the U.S. and other Western powers failed to pressure the world’s worst jailers–Turkey, China, and Egypt–into improving the bleak climate for press freedom. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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