Paraguayan soldiers assault, detain journalist Roberto Esquivel
Miami, July 23, 2020 – Paraguayan authorities must thoroughly investigate the detention and assault of journalist Roberto Esquivel and ensure those responsible are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 18, Paraguayan soldiers detained Esquivel, a local freelance journalist, in the city of Bella Vista Norte, near the Brazilian border,…
Christiane Amanpour ‘deeply troubled’ by US press freedom developments, she tells Helsinki Commission
New York, July 23, 2020— Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international anchor and a senior adviser to CPJ, today called on Congress to protect independent media and press freedom in the United States, saying, “Your democratic legitimacy depends on it.” In prepared remarks for a hearing of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, better…
Journalist Julia Gavarrete’s home robbed, laptop stolen in El Salvador
On July 2, 2020, between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m., unidentified individuals broke into journalist Julia Gavarrete’s home in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, and stole her laptop, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview. Gavarrete, a reporter for the independent news website Gato Encerrado, told…
Canadian private investigative firm compiled reports on journalists
Information and Systems Networks Corporation (ISN), a Canadian private investigative firm, conducted background checks on two journalists at the behest of a law firm, according to one of the journalists, Jesse Brown, the publisher of the Canadaland news website and podcast, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview and shared one page of the…
Venezuelan authorities charge 2 journalists, imprison 1, under ‘anti-hate’ law
Miami, July 21, 2020 – Venezuelan authorities should immediately drop all charges against journalists Otilio Rodríguez and Nicmer Evans, release Evans immediately, and stop using the country’s anti-hate law to persecute the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 13, at about 2 p.m., police and counterintelligence agents raided Evans’ Caracas home…
Prospects bleak for recovery of US media presence in China
The slugfest between China and the U.S. over the treatment of media workers in each country appears to have paused. Rather than expel each other’s journalists, as they did a few months ago, each side in early July imposed registration and reporting requirements on those remaining—still many more Chinese in the U.S. than Americans in…
Honduran journalist David Romero dies after contracting COVID-19 in jail
Managua, Nicaragua, July 19, 2020–Honduran journalist David Romero Ellner died yesterday around 7 a.m. of respiratory failure after contracting COVID-19 while imprisoned at the Támara National Penitentiary, according to newspaper La Prensa. Authorities had transferred Romero to the National Cardiopulmonary Institute on July 5, according to newspaper El Heraldo. “We are shocked and saddened by…
Reporters Committee, NPPA, CPJ to host training series for journalists covering 2020 political conventions
New York, July 17, 2020–The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the National Press Photographers Association, and the Committee to Protect Journalists will lead a series of training sessions from July 28–August 7 for journalists covering the 2020 national political conventions. The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for Aug. 17–20, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,…
Brazilian Minister of Justice calls for criminal investigations of 2 journalists, cartoonist
Rio de Janeiro, July 16, 2020 — Brazilian authorities should refrain from investigating or prosecuting cartoonist Renato Aroeira and journalists Ricardo Noblat and Helio Schwartsman, and should not threaten journalists with criminal investigations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 15, Brazilian Minister of Justice André Mendonça published a series of tweets saying…
Reported press freedom violations in Black Lives Matter protests near 500
New York, July 15, 2020—The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is investigating nearly 500 reported press freedom incidents since May 26, representing the unprecedented nature of attacks on journalists during recent nationwide Black Lives Matter protests. The incidents include journalists arrested, assaulted, hit with rubber bullets, pepper sprayed, tear gassed and threatened with weapons. A vast…