Letters

Dear Mr. President: We write to object to the accusations that you and other high-ranking members of your government made this week linking Colombian journalist Hollman Morris to the leftist guerrilla group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). These serious allegations endanger the life of the journalist and jeopardize press freedom in your country.

Dear President Medvedev: CPJ is outraged by the January 19 murder of Anastasiya Baburova, the 25-year-old freelance correspondent for the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta who was gunned down in broad daylight in downtown Moscow, along with human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov.

CPJ wrote to the prime minister of Thailand today to express our grave concern about the country’s fast-deteriorating media climate and to call on him to decisively reaffirm Thailand’s commitment to a free press and open Internet.

Dear Prime Minister Olmert: Since the Israeli military campaign began last month, international journalists have been denied independent access to Gaza. With the declaration of a cease-fire, we urge your government to immediately lift the ban and allow international journalists to independently report on events in Gaza.

Dear President Triet: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by new online content restrictions that appear to be part of a stepped-up official campaign to suppress and intimidate reporters, editors, and commentators.

Dear President Biya: We are writing to express our alarm that four newspaper editors have been jailed in Cameroon for their work since September–making your country the second-worst jailer of journalists in Africa, according to our research.

Dear President-elect Obama: I am writing as chairman of the Committee to Protect Journalists to seek your leadership in reaffirming America’s role as a staunch defender of press freedom throughout the world. Journalists in many countries who risk their lives and liberty upholding the values of free expression look to the United States for support.

Dear Minister Barak: The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on you to explain why you have imposed blanket restrictions on international media entering the Gaza Strip and certain areas inside Israel along the Gaza border.

Dear President Castro: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to you on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution to renew its call for the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists jailed in your country. With 21 reporters and editors unjustly incarcerated, Cuba is one of the leading jailers of journalists in the world, second only to China.

Dear Defense Minister Barak: The Committee to Protect Journalists urgently demands an explanation for the bombing of Al-Aqsa TV headquarter in Gaza City by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday. We are also dismayed by the army’s decision to declare Gaza’s northern boundary with Israel and other parts of the territory “closed military zones.”