Letters

  
Turkey’s LGBTQ+ community gathers for a pride parade, banned by local authorities, in Istanbul in 2023. A bill currently under consideration could criminalize reporting on LGBTQ+ issues.

CPJ joins call urging Turkey to withdraw anti-LGBTQ+ bill 

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 17 press freedom and human rights groups in urging Turkey to remove a bill that could criminalize reporting on LGBTQ+ issues from its upcoming 11th Judicial Package of legal reforms. According to the draft of the law, anyone who “engages in or publicly encourages, praises, or promotes behavior that contradicts innate biological sex and…

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A coalition of organizations, including CPJ, is asking European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to address what it calls an existential threat to independent journalism in the Balkans.

CPJ, partners call on EU president to address Western Balkans press freedom crisis

The Committee to Protect Journalists and eight partner organizations urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday to raise the issue of the escalating press freedom crisis in the Western Balkans, particularly in Serbia, during her visit to the region this week. The joint statement highlights the severe deterioration of press freedom in…

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People hold photos of killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia during a protest called by Galizia's family and civic movements on November 29, 2019, outside the prime minister’s office in Valletta, Malta. (Photo by AFP)

Call to action in memory of murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia

On the eve of the anniversary of the murder of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, CPJ joins 17 press freedom and journalists’ organizations to call on Malta to set up a national action plan on media freedom and journalist safety.  Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bomb attack on October 16, 2017….

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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth salutes as he welcomes Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 10, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

CPJ urges Pentagon to reconsider new press access restrictions

The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Pentagon to reconsider new restrictions on journalists covering the Department of War in a letter sent Friday to the United States Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs. The Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs announced new policies and…

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Pham Doan Trang Photo for announcement (photo credit_ Paul Mooney)

CPJ, partners urge Vietnam to free Pham Doan Trang on arrest anniversary

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 20 partner organizations in a coalition statement Monday calling on Vietnamese authorities to release 2022 International Press Freedom Award winner Pham Doan Trang, who is serving a nine-year prison sentence on anti-state charges. The joint statement marks the fifth anniversary of Trang’s arrest, highlights the deterioration of her prison conditions,…

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Afghan men use their mobile phones in Kabul on October 1, 2025.

CPJ and #KeepItOn coalition urge Taliban to end internet blackouts in Afghanistan

The Committee to Protect Journalists and the #KeepItOn coalition call on Taliban authorities to pledge no further internet shutdowns in Afghanistan and ensure that citizens have access to information and journalists can continue to do their jobs.  The joint statement issued on October 1 by 66 civil society groups strongly condemned the nationwide internet blackout…

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Kristi Noem, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's secretary of Homeland Security nominee, testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 17, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

CPJ submits comment on Trump administration’s proposed changes to journalist visas

The Committee to Protect Journalists, in a public comment submitted Monday, urges the Trump administration to drop proposed changes to the duration and application for foreign media visas, known as “I visas,” for journalists working in the United States. Currently, such visas can last for the period of a journalist’s employment with a recognized foreign…

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Jimmy Lai

CPJ, partners call for urgent action on systemic abuses in Hong Kong prisons

The Committee to Protect Journalists has joined 52 other civil society groups in calling on United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk to address systemic abuses occurring in Hong Kong’s prisons. The joint letter highlights serious violations documented in a recent report, including the use of solitary confinement lasting far beyond international limits,…

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Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara (Screenshot: Fox 5 Atlanta/YouTube)

CPJ supports over 100 prominent writers, journalists in call for Mario Guevara’s release

The Committee to Protect Journalists supports a letter organized by PEN America, in collaboration with the Free Press, calling for journalist Mario Guevara’s release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.   Guevara, who faces imminent deportation back to his native El Salvador, has been in law enforcement detention for more than 100 days since his June 14 arrest in…

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At least 237 journalists have been killed in the Israel-Gaza war as of the end of September 2025.

CPJ and partners urge key EU member states to suspend EU-Israel Association Agreement

On September 30, 2025, CPJ and 16 partner organizations wrote to leaders in Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic to call for a full or partial suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. The agreement sets out the EU’s legal and institutional framework for political dialogue and economic cooperation with Israel. The European Commission recently proposed suspending “certain…

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