Letters

New York, May 14, 2025—CPJ and 58 other press freedom and human rights groups condemned the Chinese government’s ongoing arbitrary detention of independent journalist Zhang Zhan and called for her immediate release on the fifth anniversary of her arrest. Zhang was first detained on May 14, 2020, while reporting on the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China. Zhang completed a four-year prison sentence for…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined six other international press freedom organizations in a statement urging the Nicaraguan government to reverse its May 4 decision to withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), saying the move further erodes freedom of expression in the country. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay confirmed Nicaragua formally…

The Committee to Protect Journalists, in partnership with the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)—an independent, nonprofit civil society organization—has submitted a report on the state of human rights in Kuwait to the United Nations Human Rights Council ahead of Kuwait’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session on May 7, 2025. The UPR, a United Nations…

The Committee to Protect Journalists and 40 other press freedom and human rights organizations have condemned the worsening repression of journalists in Yemen. Journalists continue to face grave threats in areas controlled by both the Houthis and the internationally recognized government. Violations — ranging from arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance to unfair trials — are…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined PEN America and other partner organizations in a joint letter Tuesday urging U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to pressure Vietnam to release all imprisoned journalists in the country, including 2022 International Press Freedom Award winner Pham Doan Trang.   The joint action specifically requests Rubio to call on Vietnam…

The Committee to Protect Journalists and a group of Southeast Asian lawmakers have called for the “active engagement” of the regional bloc ASEAN in protecting press freedom and the formation of an inter-parliamentary alliance to safeguard media rights in the region, which includes some of the worst offenders of press freedom. As governments escalate efforts…

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) joined a coalition of press freedom and media organizations in an April 28 letter urging the U.S. Congress to oppose proposed rescissions to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s (CPB) funding. The coalition warns Congress that cutting funding for public broadcasting would irreparably harm Americans’ access to independent, reliable, non-commercial…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined six other international and local press freedom organizations in a joint report warning the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of systematic freedom of expression and press freedom violations in Honduras ahead of the country’s human rights record review. The report, sent to the UPR on April…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined Peru’s independent media in a joint statement condemning a law enacted by President Dina Boluarte on April 14 that could negatively impact nonprofit media organizations and journalism operations funded by international cooperation. The law requires such outlets to register their journalistic plans, projects and programs in a state-run registry,…

On his 100th day in office, the Committee to Protect Journalists urged Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama to ensure swift and conclusive investigations into cases of attacks against the press, to reform laws that criminalize journalism, and to protect journalists’ privacy. In its April 17 letter, CPJ requested Mahama to take steps to deliver justice…