Bolivian officials threaten journalists with jail
Bogotá, June 16, 2016 – Enraged over press coverage of a government influence-peddling scandal that helped crush President Evo Morales’s reelection hopes, high-ranking Bolivian officials are lashing out at the country’s independent media and demanding that journalists be sent to prison.
Journalist Jay Torres murdered in Garland, Texas
New York, June 16, 2016–The Committee to Protect journalists is alarmed by the killing of Texas journalist Jacinto Hernández Torres, whose body was found on Monday night in Garland, a northeast suburb in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. The journalist, who went by the name Jay Torres, was a freelance contributor for nearly 20 years…
In Mexico, covering state elections brings risk of threats and violence
As the June 5 elections approached, the anonymous phone calls to Mexican journalist Pedro Canché became more frequent and more ominous. “The Caribbean is a big sea, you’ll never be found,” one said. “I hope you’ve written a will,” said another. A third caller told Canché, “Remember what happened to Rubén Espinosa,” referring to the…
Journalists attacked, equipment stolen during protests in Caracas
New York, June 3, 2016–Several journalists were attacked and some had equipment stolen while covering protests in Caracas Thursday, according to news outlets and a local freedom of expression group. Some of the journalists who were attacked said that the Venezuelan National Guard did not intervene to prevent the attacks and in one case, forced…
Court orders Brazilian blogger to delete posts
Two judges in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná ordered blogger Marcelo Auler to remove 10 articles from his website on the grounds that they offend police officers taking part in a federal investigation into corruption, Auler told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Criminal defamation suits in Peru and Chile could have chilling effect
New York, June 3, 2016 — Two criminal defamation suits filed against journalists by the president of Chile and a Peruvian governor could have a chilling effect on the press in both South American countries, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Time for justice in the killing of Vietnamese-American journalists
New York, May 27, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists will call for the cases of five Vietnamese-American journalists who were killed between 1981 and 1990 to be reopened, based on information uncovered by ProPublica and Frontline. The suspected assassinations were the subject of CPJ’s 1994 report, “Silenced, The Unsolved Murders of Immigrant Journalists in the…
CPJ reacts to reports that Peter Thiel has funded lawsuits against Gawker
New York, May 25, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists today released the following statement from Executive Director Joel Simon regarding reports that entrepreneur Peter Thiel has been secretly covering the expenses for Hulk Hogan’s lawsuits against online news organization Gawker Media:
Two journalists disappear in Colombia while covering story of missing reporter
Bogotá, Colombia, May 24, 2016– Two Colombian TV journalists may have been kidnapped in Colombia’s dangerous northeast Catatumbo region, their employer said today. Reporter Diego D’Pablos and camera operator Carlos Melo, of Bogotá’s RCN TV station, were investigating the disappearance of Salud Hernández-Mora, a Spanish-Colombian journalist who was last seen Saturday afternoon in the village…
Global Magnitsky Act could be powerful weapon against impunity in journalist murders
Last week, the proposed Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act emerged from the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee with approval. The bill was passed by the Senate last year. If passed by the full House of Representatives and signed into law by the president, it has the potential to offer partial redress to one of…