CPJ joins call for US to investigate Egypt’s alleged role in Khashoggi murder
The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined seven other civil society groups in a joint statement calling on the United States government to transparently investigate any role Egyptian officials may have played in the killing of Saudi journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi, and to publicly disclose any findings from that investigation. On June 21,…
Iraqi Kurdish court sentences freelance journalist Omed Baroshky to one year in prison
New York, June 22, 2021 — In response to today’s sentencing of Iraqi Kurdish journalist Omed Baroshky to one year in prison, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “With today’s sentencing of freelance journalist Omed Baroshky, Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq have again displayed their unhindered determination to shrink the space in…
Arab Israeli journalist Hassan Shelan’s home bombed
New York, June 22, 2021 – Israeli authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the bombing of journalist Hassan Shelan’s home and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 11 p.m. on June 17, a bomb exploded on the second floor of Shelan’s home in the…
Kurdish authorities in Syria revoke Kurdistan 24 license, close offices
New York, June 21, 2021 — Authorities in north and east Syria should reverse their decision to revoke Kurdistan 24’s broadcasting license and should allow it to work freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, the Media Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, the Kurdish-led de facto…
A ‘slow death’ for Yemen’s media: the country’s journalists report through displacement and exile
March 2018 was a low point for Akhbar al-Youm, an independent daily newspaper in Yemen. Three weeks after the newspaper’s Aden office was set ablaze by unidentified arsonists, seven of its employees were abducted for a month by forces under the secessionist Southern Transitional Council, which controls the southern port city. The attacks forced the publication to relocate from Aden to…
Israeli lawyer Eitay Mack on bringing transparency to surveillance exports that threaten press freedom
“Many countries are using these technologies to put people in jail,” Israeli lawyer Eitay Mack told CPJ in a recent video interview. He was describing advanced surveillance capabilities, such as those that CPJ has documented being used to target journalists like Omar Radi and Maati Monjib, who were both jailed in Morocco in 2020. Israeli companies like NSO Group and Cellebrite market equipment to…
At-risk journalists who must flee home countries often find few quick and safe options
In 2018, journalist Mohammad Shubaat was in Daraa, Syria, caught between advancing forces aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the closed borders of Israel and Jordan. Despite the dire threat to Shubaat and many of his colleagues, it would take over a year of intense negotiations with some 20 countries by the Committee to…
Journalist Nidal Ikhbaria survives shooting attempt at home in Arab Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm
New York, June 15, 2021 – Israeli authorities should conduct a swift and transparent investigation into the shooting attack on journalist Nidal Ikhbaria’s home, and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 9, unidentified people in the Arab-majority Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm fired more than 50 bullets…
Why authoritarian governments force journalists like Belarus’s Raman Pratasevich into public confessions
Forced confessions—sometimes tied to public humiliation—have a long and inglorious history, and were a fundamental component of ancient judicial systems in the East and West. Obtaining a confession, by any means, for centuries was often a key part of achieving a conviction and meting out punishment. At the Salem witch trials, the accused could escape…
Algerian authorities revoke accreditation of France 24
New York, June 15, 2021 – In response to Algerian authorities’ recent decision to revoke the accreditation of French public broadcaster France 24, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Instead of responding Algerian citizens’ demands, authorities are instead resorting to petty retaliation against the messengers,” said CPJ Senior Middle East and North…