Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that imprisoned journalist Paul Kamara has been denied due process of law. Administrative obstacles have prevented his appeal from being heard, according to his lawyer, and Kamara has now served more than eight months of a two-year prison sentence. His family and friends say he was transferred to solitary confinement four months ago.
In advance of your June 21 meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, the Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to call your attention to the imprisonment of Vietnamese writers Pham Hong Son, Nguyen Khac Toan, and Nguyen Vu Binh for their journalistic work.
Dear Secretary Rumsfeld, We are writing to you as the executive directors of Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists to express our ongoing concern about the U.S. military’s failure to develop and implement adequate procedures at military checkpoints in Iraq. More than two years after the March 2003 invasion, flawed checkpoint procedures continue to unnecessarily endanger the lives of civilians and U.S. service members.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that six months after the assassination of veteran journalist Deyda Hydara, official investigations into his murder have failed to make any significant progress in finding his killers. We are outraged at the recent National Intelligence Agency (NIA) investigation report, which bears more resemblance to a smear campaign against Hydara and his colleagues than an objective report by professionals.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent organization of journalists dedicated to defending press freedom around the world, is writing to express its shock and grave concern about the apparent murder of Libyan journalist Dayf al-Ghazal al-Shuhaibi, a former journalist for the government-owned daily Azahf al-Akhdar and contributor to the London-based Web sites Libya Alyoum and Libya Jeel.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that Jordanian authorities have harassed and censored journalists on several occasions since your government was formed in April. Several journalists interviewed by CPJ in recent weeks said that authorities have pressured printers to delay the publication of newspapers until editors agreed to remove critical articles. Further, editors have received phone calls from security officials instructing them how to cover certain events.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the recent harassment and censorship of journalists who reported on Ethiopia’s May 15 parliamentary elections and their aftermath. CPJ sources say that pressure on the media has increased amid violent post-election clashes between government security forces and opposition supporters.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that Olivier Péguy, a correspondent for Radio France Internationale (RFI) and several other international news organizations, was forced to leave the country on Sunday after the government refused to renew his work permit. Péguy, who had been reporting from Madagascar for four years, told CPJ that no explanation has been given for the non-renewal.