New York, March 25, 2003— As part of a continuing crackdown on the independent press and political dissent in Cuba that begun on March 18, Cuban police detained prominent journalist and poet Raúl Rivero last Thursday, March 20, bringing the total number of journalists arrested to 20. As head of the Cuba Press news agency,…
New York, March 25, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is disappointed by the indictment issued in Haiti on Friday, March 21, which failed to charge the masterminds behind the murder of prominent Haitian journalist Jean Leópold Dominique. The long-awaited indictment charged six men, who have already been imprisoned for more than two years, with…
New York, March 20, 2003— In the second day of a sweeping crackdown on the political opposition and the independent press in Cuba, police arrested nine more independent journalists last night, bringing the total detained to 19. The nine journalists—Manuel Vázquez Portal, Héctor Maseda, Oscar Espinosa Chepe, Adolfo Fernández Saínz, Mario Enrique Mayo, Fabio Prieto…
New York, March 19, 2003— In a harsh crackdown on the political opposition and independent media, Cuban authorities have arrested at least 10 independent journalists and 20 political activists throughout the country. The government has vowed to prosecute the detainees but has not yet specified under what charges. The arrests, which began on Tuesday, March…
Bogotá, Colombia, March 18, 2003—Gunmen shot and killed a radio news host early this morning in a volatile northeastern region of the country. The journalist, who had been threatened previously by members of a right-wing paramilitary army, was also a free-lance reporter for Colombia’s most widely read daily. Luis Eduardo Alfonso Parada, 33, was shot…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned about threats made against Belize journalist Melvin Flores, who fled to the United States. Flores began receiving threats and menacing telephone calls following the publication of an exposé about corruption in Belize City, the country’s largest metropolis. Flores, 33, is a prominent investigative journalist who…
Dear Mr. Martínez: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly protests the detention of Mexican journalist Isabel Arvide, who was charged with criminal defamation on December 23, 2002, by Chihuahua State attorney general, Jesús Solís Silva. Arvide, a Mexico Citybased journalist and author who has written many exposés about drug traffickers, corruption, and violence, as…
Dear Secretary Rumsfeld: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is encouraged that the administration is making efforts to accommodate journalists who are seeking to cover a possible U.S. military action in the Gulf. We welcome the Pentagon’s plan to embed as many as 500 journalists with U.S. forces as a positive step that will improve…
New York, February 28, 2003—Three Argentine journalists were attacked by police in two separate incidents earlier this week while covering street protests in the city of Buenos Aires, according to CPJ sources. At around noon on Tuesday, February 25, Federal Police agents attacked producer Maximiliano García Solla and cameraman Julián Sequeira, of the biweekly television…
New York, February 28, 2003—Offended by allegations of corruption, a Panamanian judge has ordered investigative journalist Carlos Zavala to serve six days in jail. Zavala, who hosts the weekly talk show “Cuentas Claras” (Clear Accounts) on RCM Televisión in Panama City, told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that the order stems from his criticisms…