Eight press freedom threats to watch ahead of Nicaragua’s presidential elections
On November 7, Nicaraguans are set to go to the polls to vote for president, the culmination of a campaign that has included the detention of opposition candidates, the banning of civil society organizations, and continued suppression of the country’s independent press. Nicaragua’s press freedom environment sharply deteriorated in 2018, when journalists covering protests against…
CPJ joins letter calling for release of Vietnamese journalist Pham Doan Trang
The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined 27 other free speech and human rights organizations in an open letter urging Vietnamese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release journalist Pham Doan Trang. The letter is timed to coincide with the start of her trial on November 4; Trang has been held in pretrial detention for over…
China’s Olympic press freedom pledges: Worthless in 2008, absent in 2022
Prospects for free-wheeling media coverage of the February Beijing Winter Olympics seem increasingly dim, not least because of the attitude of the International Olympic Committee. On October 13, John Coates, vice president of the International Olympic Committee, dismissed out of hand calls from CPJ, human rights groups, and US lawmakers to pressure Beijing over its…
CPJ testifies at Helsinki Commission about press freedom threats in OSCE region
Freedom of the press is under severe threat across the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) region and the OSCE’s 57 participating states must do more to protect the safety of journalists, CPJ Deputy Executive Director Rob Mahoney told a United States Congress commission today. Appearing virtually at a hearing held by the…
Turkey’s government sends a bleak message on press freedom
CPJ’s recent press freedom mission in Turkey got off to a disappointing start. International organizations led by the International Press Institute, and including Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, and Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa, a think tank focused on seven European countries, gathered in Ankara and Istanbul to discuss our concerns about possible updates to…
Partner of journalist missing in Mali says she’ll only be at peace when he returns home
Freelance French journalist Olivier Dubois, 47, did what he would normally do ahead of an assignment. He gave his partner and mother of his children, Deborah Al Hawi Al Marsi, a piece of paper with names and contact numbers in case of an emergency. Each time Olivier returned safely home to the Malian capital, Bamako,…
CPJ joins call for Canada to impose targeted sanctions on Eritrean officials
The Committee to Protect Journalists yesterday joined 15 other rights organizations, journalists, and human rights experts in a statement calling on the government of Canada to impose targeted sanctions on senior Eritrean officials for human rights abuses, including the 20-year imprisonment of newspaper editor Dawit Isaac and other journalists. “After two decades, the devastating mistreatment…
‘It is becoming unbearable:’ Journalists say they have become ‘scapegoats’ at anti-vaccine protests
Journalists covering demonstrations against COVID-19 countermeasures have been called “terrorists,” “pedophiles,” “murderers,” and “scumbags.” Protesters have harassed and assaulted members of the press, and told them that “the nooses are ready.” Threats like these have become increasingly familiar for reporters in Europe and the United States, where the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a CPJ partner,…
CPJ joins call for European Parliament to strengthen Digital Services Act
The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined 13 freedom of expression and digital rights organizations in a letter calling on members of the European Parliament to ensure that the proposed Digital Services Act protects freedom of expression. The draft legislation, which is currently being reviewed, will become binding legislation for all EU member states once…
