Cambodia suppresses question on ’97 grenade attack
Bangkok, January 24, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that Cambodian officials deleted digital recordings and confiscated recording equipment from a number of journalists who covered a January 21 government press conference in Phnom Penh.
Vietnamese journalist critically injured in fiery attack
Bangkok, January 21, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned about a Wednesday morning attack on Vietnamese reporter Le Hoang Hung, who was doused with chemicals and set on fire by an unknown assailant while sleeping in his house in Tan An town, according to local and international press reports.
Photojournalists face deportation in Thailand
Bangkok, January 21, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the charges and threatened deportation of Thailand-based freelance photojournalists John Sanlin, a Burmese passport holder, and Pascal Schatterman, a Belgian national.
In Chinese media, ‘a lot to be done’ is left unsaid
It is fair to report, as Agence France-Presse and others did today, that Chinese media largely avoided President Hu Jintao’s comments on human rights during a Washington press conference on Wednesday. But the nature of the omission is significant. Chinese reports acknowledged that a discussion of human rights took place between Hu and U.S. President…
Washington reporters press China’s Hu on human rights
Thanks to Ben Feller and Hans Nichols for raising questions about China’s human rights and press freedom record. A lot of Chinese journalists are grateful, too. When we urged U.S. President Barack Obama last week to raise press freedom concerns in his meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao, we received no response. But when Feller of…
Flawed, but important: The Danny Pearl case revisited
It’s good to see that not everyone has forgotten about the Danny Pearl case. The Pearl Project, a three-year investigation carried out by a team of American journalists and students at Georgetown University says that the Pakistani government’s conviction of the four men it claimed beheaded Pearl sometime in February 2002, were convicted on conflicting…
Lasantha–journalist, activist, citizen–deserves justice
On January 13, President Mahinda Rajapaksa told Sri Lankan media his government had no evidence to continue an investigation into the murder of Sri Lankan editor Lasantha Wickramatunga. Rajapaksa made this comment in response to a question raised by Lasantha’s brother Lal in the presence of about 60 media personnel, including editors, publishers and government…
In Sri Lanka, press marks a bitter anniversary
In recent years, January has emerged as Sri Lanka’s cruelest month for journalists. To commemorate that ugly fact, 100 journalists and press freedom activists gathered Tuesday outside the Fort Railway Station in the capital, Colombo, demanding that the government expedite investigations into a series of attacks and January killings that occurred in both 2009 and…
Prominent Afghan reporter attacked with acid
New York, January 19, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned about the acid attack on Afghan journalist and author Razaq Mamoon, which left him disfigured. Local and international media reports say Mamoon was attacked as he was walking outside his apartment in Kabul on Tuesday evening.