Americas

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) joined eight human rights and digital rights organizations on October 15 to provide comments to the U.S. Commerce Department in response to its proposed rules to strengthen surveillance technology export regulations. The joint comments assess and offer recommendations for the Commerce Department to help curb the proliferation of such surveillance…

Nearly 80,000 people have been detained, and up to 200 may have died in state custody, since El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s declared a state of emergency in March 2022, temporarily suspending constitutional rights and civil liberties in the country in the name of fighting gang violence. Local journalists and human rights organizations have raised concerns that Bukele, who…

Miami, October 11, 2024—CPJ is alarmed by reports that since mid-September, Cuban state security agents questioned at least eight journalists and media workers from non-state media outlets, many in connection to alleged crimes against the state, leading several to flee the country.  “The Cuban government appears to be engaged in a campaign of harassment and…

São Paulo, October 10, 2024—CPJ welcomes the civil complaint filed in a U.S. court against Mario Adalberto Reyes Mena, one of several Salvadoran military officers alleged to be connected to the March 17, 1982 ambush and killing of Dutch TV journalists Jan Kuiper, Koos Koster, Joop Willemsen, and Hans ter Laag in Chalatenango, El Salvador, during their coverage of…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined eight other press freedom organizations in calling for the release of Guatemalan journalist José Ruben Zamora, who has spent 800 days in detention since his July 29, 2022 arrest on charges of money laundering charges—which international organizations describe as arbitrary and politically motivated. The statement urged the Guatemalan government, especially President…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined more than 100 news outlets and press rights organizations in a letter on Tuesday, October 8, asking U.S. Congressional members to support the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act (PRESS Act). The bill would create a federal shield safeguarding reporter-source confidentiality and prevent government access to unreported source…

São Paulo, 4 October, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office to immediately close the illicit enrichment case against investigative journalist Paola Ugaz and reverse its order to her phone company to disclose her phone records and geolocation data from 2013 to 2020. On September 26, Ugaz appealed to the court…

Miami, October 3, 2024—Cuban authorities should re-examine the case of journalist Yeris Curbelo Aguilera, who was sentenced to two years in prison on September 24, and consider dropping all charges against him, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday. “The Cuban government continues to be nothing short of draconian in its efforts to squash independent…

Miami, September 30, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by threats made against journalist Widlore Mérancourt by Haitian gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier over his article about a Reuters journalist giving Cherizier gifts of balaclavas, alcohol, and cigarettes. “We are very concerned about the threats made against AyiboPost’s editor-in-chief Widlore Mérancourt by the Haitian…

Ahead of the United Nations’ Summit of the Future that began Sunday, the Committee to Protect Journalists and 123 other signatories released a statement September 19, 2024, welcoming the final revision of the Pact for the Future and urging strong action to safeguard media freedom, freedom of expression, and access to information. The Pact for…