Middle East & North Africa

2011

  
Noha Atef

Blogging in Egypt: Virtual network, virtual oppression

I have been blogging in various platforms since 2006, focusing on human rights conditions and police abuses in Egypt. During this time, the Egyptian regime was widely described as one of the most “liberal-moderate” and sometimes “semi-democratic” regimes in the region, but meanwhile, hundreds of young people were hijacked, jailed, fined, and intimidated. Egypt has…

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The 10 Tools of Online Oppressors

The world’s worst online oppressors are using an array of tactics, some reflecting astonishing levels of sophistication, others reminiscent of old-school techniques. From China’s high-level malware attacks to Syria’s brute-force imprisonments, this may be only the dawn of online oppression. A CPJ special report by Danny O’Brien

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Audio Report: The 10 Tools of Online Oppressors

In our special report, “The 10 Tools of Online Oppressors,” CPJ examines the 10 prevailing strategies of online oppression worldwide and the countries that have taken the lead in their use. In this accompanying podcast, CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney notes that these strategies range from sophisticated cyber-attacks to traditional brute-force techniques. Listen to the…

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Syrian authorities told Al-Jazeera's Syria-based staff not to communicate with the station's headquarters in Doha, seen here. (Reuters/Fadi Al-Assaad)

Al-Jazeera suspends Syria bureau; attacks on Lebanon crew

New York, April 27, 2011–Responding to restrictions and attacks on its staff, Al-Jazeera has suspended its operations inside Syria indefinitely, the Qatar-based news network told the Committee to Protect Journalists today. 

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Bahrain detains columnist; 4 located in Libya

New York, April 25, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Bahraini authorities to disclose the whereabouts of Haidar Mohammed al-Nuaimi, a columnist for daily newspaper Al-Wasat. Roughly 30 uniformed and plainclothes police raided al-Nuaimi’s family home in Manama today, dragging him into the street and beating him, local journalists told CPJ. 

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Chris Hondros: Images of life and death

Photojournalist Chris Hondros, who was killed in Libyaon April 20, captured humanity at its worst and its best, in times of war and despair and at moments of kindness and hope. Here are some of his photos, from some of the world’s most treacherous spots, courtesy of Getty Images. « Previous Image | Next Image…

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Chris Hondros, Carolyn Cole, a rebel fighter, and the author in Liberia. (Courtesy Nic Bothma)

Tribute to Chris Hondros, who ventured far with his torch

My dear friend Chris. In the silence, I hear the symphony of memories that was your life as I knew it. I see your waving hand gestures and wry smile as you recount stories whilst we sit together in the tropical Liberian heat discussing everything from classical music to aperture priority. My heart and mind…

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Clare Morgana Gillis (Atlantic)

Journalists Hammerl, Morgana Gillis in Libyan custody

New York, April 22 2011–Anton Hammerl, a freelance South African photographer who was detained in early April, has appeared in government custody in Libya and is apparently in good health.

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Protesters denounce anti-press violence in Iraqi Kurdisatn in this 2010 demonstration. (AP/Yahya Ahmed)

Anti-press violence in Iraqi Kurdistan, past and present

Kurdistan is different, as nearly every Iraqi Kurd I have ever met has said. Far less violent than the rest of Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, the parts of the north controlled by the Kurdish Regional Government have escaped the kind of sectarian unrest that continues to flare in the south. But in…

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Hetherington at the opening night of the World Press Photo Award exhibition in Zurich, Switzerland, on May 7, 2008. (AP/Keystone/Eddy Risch)

Tim Hetherington: A star inexorably, humbly rising

I first met Tim Hetherington in Monrovia in 2005, in the run-up to Liberia’s then historic elections, which officially drew the line under the country’s 14-year civil war. Tim had already reported from Liberia in the chaotic final stages of that war in 2003, marching for days on end through dense and unforgiving tropical bush…

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2011