Afghanistan / Asia

  

Attacks on the Press 2002: Middle East and North Africa Analysis

The Arab world continues to lag behind the rest of the globe in civil and political rights, including press freedom. Despotic regimes of varying political shades regularly limit news that they think will undermine their power. Hopes that a new generation of leaders would tolerate criticism in the press have proved illusory, with many reforms…

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Attacks on the Press 2002: Afghanistan

In many obvious ways, press conditions in Afghanistan in 2002 were far better than the year before, when virtually no local independent media outlets operated, and eight journalists were killed covering the U.S.-led military offensive that ended the repressive rule of the Taliban regime. During 2002, Afghan journalists produced some 150 publications in the capital,…

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Attacks on the Press 2002: North Korea

Shortly after U.S. president George W. Bush arrived in South Korea’s capital, Seoul, in February 2002 for a state visit, the North Korean state news agency, KCNA, reported a miracle: that a cloud in the shape of a Kimjongilia, the flower named after the country’s leader, Kim Jong Il, had appeared over North Korea. “Even…

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Attacks on the Press 2002: United States

The U.S. government took aggressive measures in 2002 to shield some of its activities from press scrutiny. These steps not only reduced access for U.S. reporters but had a global ripple effect, with autocratic leaders citing U.S. government actions to justify repressive policies.

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CPJ concerned about assault, detention, and expulsion of reporter

Dear Governor Ismail Khan: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the recent assault, detention, and expulsion from Herat of Ahmad Behzad, a reporter for the U.S.- funded Radio Free Afghanistan. On March 19, security agents in the western city of Herat assaulted and detained Behzad after the journalist raised questions about…

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On Assignment: Covering Conflicts Safely

Guide for reporting in hazardous situations.

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On Assignment: Covering Conflicts Safely

CPJ RELEASES JOURNALIST SECURITY HANDBOOK New York, February 27, 2003–In an effort to prepare journalists for potentially hazardous reporting duties in conflict zones, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today released an online journalist security handbook, titled “On Assignment: Covering Conflict Safely” (click here). The handbook, which is geared toward editors and journalists covering conflict,…

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Uzbekistan, or Back in the U.S.S.R.

Although Uzbekistan’s president, Islam Karimov, has told the United States that he supports press freedom, old, repressive habits die hard.

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CPJ sends letter to Pentagon about detained journalist

Dear Secretary Rumsfeld: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to express concern about the reported detention without charge of Sami Muhieddine Muhammad al-Haj, a 33-year-old assistant cameraman for the Qatar-based satellite television network Al-Jazeera.

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CPJ encouraged by interim administration’s pledge to promote press freedom

Our plan for the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan’s media is rooted in the vision of a social and political future that our people deserve and aspire to, and has been promised by our government – a free, independent and united Afghanistan, where government is the servant of the people and accountable to them; where there is peace, justice and the rule of law; and where people can build a modern society in accordance with the principles of Islam, democracy and human rights.

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