Four years since murder of Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela, Ghana’s journalists still attacked with impunity
The January 16, 2019, murder of Ghanaian journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela, who was gunned down by unidentified men months after threats by a local politician, sent shockwaves through the country’s press corps and yielded promises from leaders to find the killers and bring them to justice. But four years later – despite police assurances of progress and two arrests – nobody has been…
CPJ joins RSF and 76 journalists, press freedom orgs in calling for release of Senegalese journalist Pape Alé Niang
CPJ joined Reporters Without Borders and 76 press freedom organizations and journalists on Friday, January 6, in calling on Senegalese authorities to drop the charges against and immediately release journalist Pape Alé Niang, who is on a protracted hunger strike deteriorating his health. Niang was refused provisional release this week by a judge, his lawyer…
Forensic tools open new front for using phone data to prosecute journalists
On April 13, police in Russia’s Khakassiya republic arrested Mikhail Afanasyev and seized his digital devices. Afanasyev, chief editor of the online magazine Novy Fokus, was detained based on an article about riot police in southern Siberia refusing to serve in Ukraine. He faces a possible 10-year prison sentence for spreading “false” information. It’s not surprising for…
CPJ joins call for Somali authorities to drop all charges against journalist Abdalle Ahmed Mumin
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined six other press freedom and human rights groups in a letter Monday calling on Somali authorities to drop the criminal charges filed against Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, a press freedom advocate and freelance journalist. Authorities arrested Abdalle, secretary-general of the Somali Journalists Syndicate press freedom group, on October 11, after…
Journalists face growing hostility as Ethiopia’s civil war persists
Ethiopia’s 21-month-old civil war is accelerating the deterioration of press freedom in the Horn of Africa nation. The conflict between the federal government and the rebel forces led by the Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front (TPLF) has prompted a media crackdown that extinguished the glimmer of hope sparked by the initial reforms of Prime Minister Abiy…
Six Kenyan journalists and press freedom advocates on their fears ahead of general elections
Kenyans are preparing to head to the polls August 9 for a national election that is predicted to be tightly contested. Deputy President William Ruto is vying for the presidency against main contender Raila Odinga, a veteran opposition figure who nonetheless has the backing of the current President Uhuru Kenyatta. In 2017, Kenyan journalists were harassed and detained while covering…
CPJ joins UN complaint on behalf of jailed Eritrean journalists
On July 21, 2022, the Committee to Protect Journalists joined the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights in partnership with seven other rights organizations and lawyers in a complaint filed to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention calling for accountability in the cases of Dawit Isaak and fifteen other journalists held behind bars…
‘Permanent fear’: Togolese journalists on their lives 1 year after Pegasus Project revelations
One year after news broke about a list of over 50,000 phone numbers allegedly selected for surveillance with Pegasus spyware, journalists around the world continue to live and work with the fear that their phones can be used to track their conversations and penetrate all the personal and professional data stored on their devices. The…
CPJ joins letter calling on Kenya to ensure internet access is maintained throughout election
In a joint letter addressed to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday, June 21, the Committee to Protect Journalists joined 51 other organizations calling on authorities to ensure free and secure internet access during the country’s upcoming general elections, scheduled for August 9. The organizations, all members of the #KeepItOn Coalition against internet shutdowns, note…
CPJ joins call for Commonwealth leaders to urge Rwanda to respect human rights
On June 10, the Committee to Protect Journalists joined 23 other civil society organizations in a letter expressing “grave concerns” about the human rights situation in Rwanda ahead of the June 20 start of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where leaders of Commonwealth nations will meet in the country. The organizations note that there…