Dear Mr. President, As an independent, nonpartisan organization defending press freedom worldwide, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on you to veto a severely restrictive draft media law, which will further curb press freedom conditions in Belarus. The bill was adopted by the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament on June 28 and now awaits your consideration.
Dear Mr. Kappelhoff: The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about a series of disturbing letters and notes written in a consistently personal, racist, and violent tone to Michelle Ferrier, a columnist with the Daytona Beach News-Journal in Florida and managing editor of MyTopiaCafe, aWeb site sponsored by the News-Journal.
Dear Mr. President, Following the brutal beating of two Senegalese journalists by police after a soccer match on Saturday, we are writing to express our alarm at an increasing pattern of physical attacks and threats against independent journalists in the line of duty in recent weeks and months. Thorough, transparent police investigations or prosecutions of these abuses have seldom taken place. We are deeply concerned about an ongoing culture of impunity for crimes against journalists.
Dear Mr. Michel: In light of the European Union’s recent decision to lift 2003 diplomatic sanctions on Cuba, the Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to ensure that President Raúl Castro’s government will effectively improve human rights conditions on the island by unconditionally releasing all imprisoned journalists and by granting freedom of information and expression to all Cubans.
Dear Mr. Nsenda, We are deeply alarmed by the ongoing imprisonment of newspaper editor Nsimba Ponte and his assistant Davin Tondo. A government prosecutor said this week that their months-long pre-trial detention was illegal, and yet the two have been denied bail and were not charged until June 6, according to local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED). In addition, Ponte is in poor health.
Dear President Rajapaksa, The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by your government’s policies toward journalists who write critically about the conflict between Sri Lanka’s military forces and Tamil secessionists. We have seen an increase in harassment, intimidation, and detention of reporters, many of whom are columnists in senior positions with well-established careers. Police have failed to investigate threats to journalists who cover elections or expose alleged corruption or misdeeds. They have also never investigated the death of a television journalist.
Dear President Karzai, News reports have described your plan to present a $50 billion, long-term development strategy to international donors in Paris on Thursday. Those reports have also noted the concerns of international donors about allegations of widespread corruption in Afghanistan.
Dear President Karzai, News reports have described your plan to present a $50 billion, long-term development strategy to international donors in Paris on Thursday. Those reports have also noted the concerns of international donors about allegations of widespread corruption in Afghanistan.