Americas

New York, April 7, 2022 – El Salvador lawmakers should repeal new legislation that criminalizes reporting on gangs, and should allow the press to cover issues of public interest freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. “As journalists and press freedom organizations have feared, Salvadoran authorities are using the country’s state of emergency as…

Rio de Janeiro, April 6, 2022 – The Brazil Iron mining company must respect journalists’ right to report on issues of public interest, and should not threaten members of the press with arrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On March 28, an employee of the Brazilian subsidiary of Britain’s Brazil Iron in the…

Guatemala City, April 6, 2022 — Guatemalan authorities should immediately dismiss criminal proceedings against journalist Juan Luis Font, allow him to work freely without fear of reprisal, and stop using lawsuits to harass members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. In late March 2022, the country’s former communications minister Alejandro Sinibaldi…

Guatemala City, April 1, 2022 — Guatemalan authorities should immediately drop criminal charges against journalist Carlos Ernesto Choc, a correspondent for local news outlet Prensa Comunitaria, and stop using the country’s justice system to harass and silence the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On January 14, a criminal court judge in Puerto…

When reporters flee their home countries, many are forced to leave the profession after finding few opportunities in journalism and facing other pressures in exile. CPJ recently spoke with a Pakistani refugee reporter who not only stayed in journalism, but saved a local newspaper in his adopted country, Canada. In 2002, Mohsin Abbas was a…

New York, March 24, 2022 – Nicaraguan authorities should release publisher Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro from prison immediately, and should ensure that members of the press do not face criminal penalties for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Wednesday, March 23, at the end of a three-day closed-door trial, a judge…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 57 other civil society groups in a letter on Wednesday, March 23, calling for the U.S. Congress to reauthorize and strengthen the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. The 2016 law allows the U.S. to place targeted economic and visa sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for serious human…

Guatemala City, March 23, 2022 — Guatemalan authorities should conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of journalist Orlando Villanueva, determine if it was connected to his journalism, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On the afternoon of March 8, an unknown number of unidentified individuals…

Rio de Janeiro, March 18, 2022 – Authorities in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state should promptly investigate the recent attacks on journalists covering a police protest, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On March 9, during a protest held by striking Minas Gerais police officers in Belo Horizonte, the…

Bogotá, March 16, 2022 – Peruvian authorities must investigate the recent attacks on five journalists by supporters of President Pedro Castillo outside Peru’s Congress building and guarantee that the press can cover political demonstrations safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. During a March 8 vote by Peru’s legislature to approve Castillo’s new cabinet,…