Lee, Ling supporters hold vigil to keep case in spotlight
Last night, about 300 people gathered at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University for a vigil for U.S. television journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling. Today marks the 100th day of captivity in North Korea for the women, who were arrested in March by North Korean guards while filming a story about refugees for the…
CPJ testimony focuses on Russian impunity
Nina Ognianova, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, provided testimony to the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe on the pressing issue of impunity in journalist murders in Russia. The commission held a hearing this week on Russia’s human rights record. A transcript of the testimony follows:
An Iraqi in America: How I became a refugee (Part I)
On a cold winter evening–Jan. 29, 2004–I was getting ready to start my first night shift as an interpreter for the U.S. Army in Baghdad. It wasn’t really that cold, but my whole body was chilled. It was around 6 p.m. but already dark. I was an 18-year-old freshman in the College of Arts studying…
In summit, Obama should address Russian impunity
Dear President Obama: In advance of your July 6-8 summit in Moscow with President Dmitry Medvedev, we’d like to draw your attention to the pressing issue of impunity in violent crimes against journalists in Russia. We ask you to place this issue on the agenda for your talks. Seventeen journalists have been murdered for their work or have died under suspicious circumstances since 2000. In only one case have the killers been convicted. In every case, the masterminds remain unpunished.
In a limbo between Baghdad and the U.S.
Before the war, I was an artist, a sculptor, and an art teacher in Baghdad. Life wasn’t so easy back then and I had to find another job in order to make a better living for myself and my wife and two kids, but even so, life was sweeter than it is now–I didn’t have…
CPJ, JFO cite press freedom abuses in Iraq
Dear Prime Minister al-Maliki: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory (JFO) would like to bring to your attention several issues that harm press freedom in Iraq. In recent months, our organizations have documented a number of assaults and instances of harassment committed by government officials against journalists in various parts of the country under the control of Iraq’s central government.
Saberi to Lee and Ling: ‘You are not alone’
Roxana Saberi, who was imprisoned in Iran for nearly four months, offers her thoughts on the detentions of U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee in North Korea. In this interview with CPJ, Saberi, left, said she was “amazed and very moved at the support I received” while in prison. “You are not alone,” she…
Saberi voices support for colleagues held in North Korea
Journalist Roxana Saberi, recently detained in Iran, asked us to release this statement on her behalf in response to the convictions of Laura Ling and Euna Lee in North Korea: “As a fellow journalist, I am shocked and saddened to hear about the heavy sentence handed to Laura Ling and Euna Lee. I hope that…