Middle East & North Africa documents by Year:
Prominent Syrian writer Yousph arrested in northeastern Syria, held for five days
October 9, 2018 7:25 AM ET
Syrian writer Souleman Yousph, a contributor to several media outlets, including the Assyrian news website Ankawa, the independent Arabic news website Elaph, and the political and cultural online secular magazine Ahewar, was arrested and detained without charge on September 30, 2018, and held for five days. An eyewitness to...
CPJ calls on Saudi Arabia to account for Jamal Khashoggi's whereabouts
October 6, 2018 9:05 PM ET
New York, October 6, 2018--The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Saudi Arabia to immediately account for the whereabouts of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has not been seen since entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. Multiple news outlets reported today that Turkish authorities,...
CPJ expresses concern for Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
October 3, 2018 11:17 AM ET
Beirut, October 3, 2018--The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who has been living in self-imposed exile in the U.S. since 2017, and urges Saudi authorities to immediately disclose his whereabouts. Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post and a former editor-in-chief...
'New' Saudi Arabia ushers in even more repressive climate for journalists
September 25, 2018 10:04 AM ET
Marwan al-Mureisi knew the rules: even in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's "new" Saudi Arabia, issues touching on politics, religion, or the royal family were out of bounds. So in his reporting for the privately owned website Sabq and other outlets, al-Mureisi wrote about science, technology, and the need...
Saudi airstrike hits Yemeni radio station
September 17, 2018 5:10 PM ET
New York, September 17, 2018--The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition's airstrike on a Yemeni radio station yesterday. The airstrike against the Ansar Allah-controlled Al-Maraweah Radio Broadcasting Center, located in Al-Maraweah District in Hodeida Governorate, killed three employees as well as a civilian in...
Iraqi authorities shut down internet, detain and assault journalists amid protests
September 14, 2018 10:57 AM ET
Between July 14 and September 6, 2018, at least seven Iraqi journalists were assaulted or detained while covering protests over government corruption and the lack of basic services in several cities across Iraq, and the offices of two local media outlets were set on fire, according to news reports,...
Undiscoverable: How Al-Jazeera's Snapchat channel disappeared from three Gulf nations
September 10, 2018 12:35 PM ET
Search for "Al-Jazeera" on Snapchat, and the first result that comes up is a ubiquitous publisher channel in the app's famed vertical layout. That is, unless you are in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), or Bahrain. Users in these counties are instead offered a list of stores...
Journalists in Yemen under attack from all sides as rival forces crack down on critics
September 7, 2018 12:11 PM ET
In its report released late last month, the U.N. Human Rights Council found that all groups involved in the Yemen conflict--from the government-controlled south, with its militias propped up by the UAE-led coalition and loyal to the secessionist Southern Transitional Council, and areas held by the rebel Ansar Allah...
Syrian military intelligence arrests Syrian Kurdish journalist at checkpoint
September 5, 2018 3:45 PM ET
Beirut, September 5, 2018 -- The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Syrian authorities to immediately release Omar Kalo, a news anchor for the Iraqi Kurdish satellite news broadcaster Rudaw....
Iran orders at least 7 journalists jailed and flogged over Dervish protest coverage
August 31, 2018 2:01 PM ET
New York, August 31, 2018--The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the harsh sentences Iranian authorities imposed on at least seven journalists over their coverage of protests by a religious order....