Europe & Central Asia

2012

  
A woman stands next to a banner reading "No more impunity" in Colombia. (AFP/Raul Arboleda)

Will UN plan address impunity, security for journalists?

Here are the facts:A journalist is killed in the line of duty somewhere around the world once every eight days.Nearly three out of four are targeted for murder. The rest are killed in the crossfire of combat, or on dangerous assignments such as street protests.Local journalists constitute the large majority of victims in all groups.The…

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Honoring tenacity and courage

New York, November 13, 2012– Four fearless journalists from Brazil, China, Kyrgyzstan and Liberia who risked their lives and liberty to expose wrongdoings will be awarded the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 2012 International Press Freedom Awards, an annual recognition of courageous reporting.  Harassed, tortured, threatened and imprisoned for their critical investigations, the awardees have endured…

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(Nurbek Toktakunov)

Help free Azimjon Askarov by signing CPJ petition

New York, November 6, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists has created this petition, calling on Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev to release unjustly imprisoned journalist Azimjon Askarov without delay.

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CPJ

Twenty-three days to take action against impunity

Approximately 30 journalists are targeted and murdered every year, and on average, in only three of these crimes are the killers ever brought to justice. Other attacks on freedom of expression occur daily: bloggers are threatened, photographers beaten, writers kidnapped. And in those instances, justice is even more rare. Today, the Committee to Protect Journalists…

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Authorities in Guinea-Bissau have expelled a journalist whose news outlet had covered former prime minister Carlos Gomes Junior, seen here voting in a 2012 election he was favored to win, but lost. (AFP/Issouf Sanogo)

Guinea-Bissau expels journalist; another flees into hiding

New York, November 1, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Monday’s decision by authorities in Guinea-Bissau to expel Portuguese journalist Fernando Teixeira Gomes from the country in connection with his critical coverage of the transitional government.

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Greek government lashes out against unsavory news

New York, October 30, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest and possible imprisonment of Greek journalist Kostas Vaxevanis, a troubling sign of deteriorating press freedom in the country.

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CPJ
Dozens of journalists for leftist Turkish newspaper Tutuklu Gazete have been jailed. The paper's headline reads, 'Resistance Against Censorship.' (Reuters)

Questions about CPJ’s Turkey report? Here, our answers.

Last week’s release of CPJ’s report on Turkey’s press freedom crisis generated widespread domestic media coverage and sparked a robust public debate. The response from Turkish journalists and commentators was largely positive, but there were some negative reactions as well. Turkey’s Justice Ministry has promised a detailed response this week. Here is a summary of…

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A passer-by looks at Turkish newspapers at a kiosk in Istanbul. (AP/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Mission Journal: First of two CPJ delegations visits Turkey

This week I joined CPJ board Chairman Sandra Mims Rowe, Executive Director Joel Simon, and Turkish researcher Özgür Ögret in Istanbul to present CPJ’s latest report, “Turkey’s Press Freedom Crisis,” and convey our main press freedom concerns, including the mass imprisonment of journalists.

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Parliament launched a scrutiny committee in a bid to cool down social debate over its communications data bill. (Luke MacGregor/Reuters)

UK parliamentarians scrutinize digital surveillance plan

“The rules of the game have changed,” then-Prime Minister Tony Blair said after the July 7, 2005, terrorist attacks in London as he announced that the U.K. government would clamp down on terrorists “whatever it takes.” Now, the limits of such bold but vague intentions are on show as the draft Communications Data Bill undergoes…

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Alisher Saipov (Ferghana News)

Five years on, no resolution to Alisher Saipov’s murder

Five years ago today, press freedom in Kyrgyzstan received a deadly blow from which it has never recovered. Alisher Saipov, one of most promising and prominent regional reporters of his time, was murdered in his native city of Osh. Since that October night, authorities have promised to solve his killing, but impunity reigns to this…

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2012