Asia

This week, CPJ’s Shawn W. Crispin examined the incredible risks and challenges confronting witnesses to journalist murders in the Philippines. Crispin’s report, “Under Oath, Under Threat,” featured Bob Flores, a man who has demonstrated extraordinary courage in identifying a gunman in the slaying of radio journalist Dennis Cuesta. Crispin and I had met Flores earlier…

New York, August 20, 2009–Security forces obstructed, assaulted, and detained Afghan and foreign journalists in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan today, enforcing an official gag order on news of violent incidents during the presidential election. A spokesman for President Hamid Karzai told the press that information about attacks would discourage voter turnout. 

CPJ spoke with three Kabul-based journalists to learn how they and their colleagues around the country responded to the government’s request to mute coverage of violence during polling hours today.

“When we were in that car and he was pointing that gun at us … I thought, ‘We’re done. We’re not getting out of here alive.'”

The shooting death last year of Radio Mindanao Network broadcaster Dennis Cuesta raised the realization among journalists here that the profession we know and love could cost us life and limb. 

In response to news that Pakistani Voice of America reporter Rahman Bunairee was released after 10 days in U.S. immigrant detention, we issued this statement…

New York, August 19, 2009–The Afghan government should lift orders issued Tuesday for a media blackout on election-related violence during Thursday’s presidential polls, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

In the Philippines, witnesses to journalist murders face extreme pressures and grave risk. The government’s protection program, while valuable, falls short of ensuring justice. By Shawn W. Crispin

In our special report “Under Oath, Under Threat,” CPJ’s Shawn Crispin examines the culture of impunity in the killings of journalists in the Philippines. Here, Crispin describes how intimidation and fear have stopped witnesses from coming forward to help put the murderers behind bars. Listen to the mp3 on the player above, or right click…