Middle East & North Africa

2014

  

Slideshow: Journalists killed in 2014

In 2014, at least 60 journalists and 11 media workers were killed in relation to their work, according to CPJ research. Local and international journalists died covering conflicts, including in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine, while many others were murdered reporting on corruption and organized crime in their own countries. Here, CPJ remembers some of the…

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A vigil for victims of the Syrian conflict is held in Rome as the civil war enters its third year. Since 2011, 79 journalists have been killed while covering the war. (AFP/Tiziana Fabi)

In Syria, fewer journalist deaths but danger has never been greater

For the third year in a row, Syria ranks as the deadliest country in the world for the press, research by the Committee to Protect Journalists shows. At first glance, the research offers good news: less journalists were killed, imprisoned and kidnapped this year in Syria than in 2013. A deeper look at the numbers…

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Accounting for impunity is obligation for all states

This week, members of UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication will meet to discuss the director general’s biannual report, which examines the cases of nearly 600 journalists killed around the world from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2013. The report, and lacklustre response from member states who had been asked to provide…

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CPJ joins call for UN members to push for greater human rights in Iran

The Committee to Protect Journalists has joined 29 other organizations in calling on member states of the U.N. General Assembly to vote in favor of a resolution for the promotion and protection of human rights in Iran. The vote is scheduled to take place on November 18.

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Jason Rezaian and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, who was arrested with him but since freed. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Jason Rezaian’s family appeals for Iran to release him

Last week, Mohammad Javad Larijani, a top adviser to the country’s supreme leader, said in an interview with Euronews television that the case of Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post correspondent who has been imprisoned in Iran since July, might be resolved in “less than a month.”

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CPJ

Rosewater: An Iranian journalist’s journey from prison to silver screen

In 2009, the sketch comedian Jason Jones traveled to Iran to interview Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari for “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart. Shortly after the disputed June 12 elections, the series of reports aired amid a brutal crackdown on Iranian journalists and the opposition. Bahari was among those arrested. Among the “evidence” presented by…

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Egypt’s journalists speak out against repression, self-censorship

When CPJ launched its appeal for discussion under the hashtag #EgyptLastWord, I said I didn’t expect “nationwide acts of solidarity” from within Egypt. I am happy to be wrong.

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A message from a scared Egyptian journalist

Tamer Abuarab’s article today under the title “A message from a scared person” offers strong insight into why we at CPJ decided to produce our upcoming documentary film, “Under Threat,” and make an appeal for journalists to speak out with the hashtag #EgyptLastWord.

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Don’t let al-Sisi’s government have Egypt’s last word

“I want to send a message to the world; there is no need for defending honorable Egyptian journalists.” That’s what Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb said on World Press Freedom Day this year, speaking at Al-Ahram state newspaper. The same day, Al-Jazeera English Bureau Chief Mohamed Fahmy was roaring in an Egyptian court: “I want…

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Egypt's President al-Sisi addresses the U.N. General Assembly on September 24. He promised to guarantee freedom of press, but journalists are still imprisoned. (AFP/Jewel Samad)

As al-Sisi promises freedom of speech, TV host Youssef is put under investigation

The Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was given a great platform for his country last week, with a speech at the United Nation’s General Assembly in which he said that his “new Egypt” would “guarantee freedom of speech,” and his first ever meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama.

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2014