Peruvian authorities threaten to seize documents from Ojo Público on corruption reporting
Bogotá, May 5, 2021 – Peruvian authorities should cease their attempts to seize documents from Ojo Público, and should respect the right of the press to have confidential sources, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On April 5, Peruvian public prosecutor Yovana Mori García sent 13 petitions to Ojo Público, an independent investigative news…
CPJ calls on Colombian security forces to ensure safety of journalists covering demonstrations
New York, May 5, 2021 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Colombian security forces to ensure that journalists can freely and safely cover demonstrations across the country. “We are deeply concerned by widespread reports of human rights abuses by Colombian security forces responding to protests, including dozens of reported press freedom violations,”…
Cuban journalist Mary Karla Ares detained over protest coverage
Miami, May 3, 2021 — Cuban authorities must immediately release journalist Mary Karla Ares, drop the criminal investigation into her work, and allow the press to report freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On April 30, at about 2 p.m., agents with the Cuban Revolutionary Police and the Political Police arrested Ares, a…
‘Trauma makes its way back to you’: Four US journalists on covering mass shootings
In the photograph published in The Washington Post, a woman kneels on the ground, her hands in her lap, her body bathed in red neon light. She is mourning outside of the Aromatherapy Spa in Atlanta, Georgia, one scene of a mass shooting in March 2021 that killed eight people. Behind every photograph and news report of a…
Venezuelan National Union of Journalists office destroyed in arson attack
Miami, April 28, 2021 — Venezuelan authorities should thoroughly investigate the arson attack on the regional headquarters of the National Union of Journalists, and ensure those responsible are prosecuted, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On April 19, at around 4 a.m., unidentified individuals set fire to the regional headquarters of the National Union…
Mexican state authorities order website to remove articles critical of political candidate
Mexico City, April 27, 2021 – Authorities in the Mexican states of Baja California and Sonora should immediately rescind letters ordering the news website Yo Rechazo la Corrupción y la Impunidad to take down articles covering alleged corruption by a political candidate, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On March 23, Dianeth Pérez Arreola,…
April 2021: The ‘voice of the people’: Anastasia Mejía vows to keep reporting after Guatemala arrest
On August 24, 2020, Anastasia Mejía prepared herself for yet another day of reporting in Joyabaj in central Guatemala. At 49 years old, she had spent the previous 11 years covering the city’s Indigenous Maya K’iche’ community, to which she belongs. Her subject that day was a protest of mostly Maya K’iche’ merchants who wanted…
Colombian journalist Luis Carlos Ayala survives shooting
Bogotá, April 26, 2021 – Colombian authorities must thoroughly investigate the shooting of journalist Luis Carlos Ayala and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 8:30 p.m. on April 20, an unidentified man aboard a motorcycle shot and slightly injured Ayala, who works as a freelance photojournalist and…
Argentine court charges journalist Daniel Santoro with attempted extortion
Miami, April 22, 2021 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Argentine authorities to drop the latest criminal charge against investigative journalist Daniel Santoro, who has been subject to repeated legal harassment for at least two years. On April 19, Judge Luis Rodríguez from the Ninth Federal Criminal and Correctional Court charged Santoro,…
Brazilian media outlet that covers women’s rights targeted with DDoS attack
Between March 26 and April 2, 2021, unidentified internet users orchestrated distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on Portal Catarinas, an online media outlet specializing in gender, feminism, and human rights, according to Paula Guimarães, the portal’s executive director and a report by the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (ABRAJI). The attacks flooded the site with traffic…