Middle East & North Africa

2013

  
Sunni Muslims chant during an anti-government protest in Samarra. (Reuters/Bakr al-Azzawi)

Iraqi government bans 10 satellite channels

New York, April 29, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Iraqi government’s decision on Sunday to suspend the licenses of 10 mostly pro-Sunni satellite channels accused of sectarian incitement.

Read More ›

Censorship and power In Iran

Film screening & discussion with Jon Stewart New York, April 26, 2013–As Iran nears elections in June, the government has renewed its assault on the local press with arrests, prosecutions, and harassment, according to research by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Read More ›

Separate attacks injure 5 Yemeni journalists, relatives

New York, April 26, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a series of serious assaults on the Yemeni press that have left at least five journalists or their family members injured.

Read More ›

Libya must let journalist travel for medical care

New York, April 26, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the health of editor Amara al-Khatabi and calls on Libyan authorities to allow him to travel in order to receive urgent medical assistance abroad. 

Read More ›

Kuwaiti prime minister delays draft media law

In a welcome move Wednesday, Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah offered to shelve Kuwait’s controversial draft media law, according to news reports. The announcement came in what the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) called a “candid, frank, and expanded meeting with chief editors of Kuwaiti press.” 

Read More ›

So your Twitter account is hacked? Reset, tweet, pray.

That is a bogus @ap tweet.– AP CorpComm (@AP_CorpComm) April 23, 2013 More than a quarter million Twitter accounts have been hacked worldwide, the social media company disclosed in February, but Tuesday’s attack on The Associated Press’s verified account, @AP, had unusual effect. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 143 points after someone hijacked the…

Read More ›

Supporters of Kuwaiti opposition politician Musallam al-Barrak pray in the yard of his house in Andulos, after he was sentenced to jail for insulting the emir, April 15. (Reuters/Stephanie McGehee)

Kuwait should abandon repressive draft media law

On April 8, the Kuwaiti cabinet approved a draft media law that would severely undermine press freedom in the country. But it is not too late to prevent a bad bill from becoming a bad law.

Read More ›

Muslim Brotherhood members shout slogans during a protest in front of the Supreme Judicial Council in Cairo on Friday. Arabic on the T-shirt reads, 'clean judiciary.' (AP/Amr Nabil)

More journalists attacked in Cairo, Alexandria clashes

New York, April 23, 2013–At least 13 journalists were attacked amid clashes between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the opposition Friday in Cairo and Alexandria. Demonstrators supporting the Muslim Brotherhood were calling for reform of Egypt’s judiciary, while opposition groups were protesting the Brotherhood and the government it leads. 

Read More ›

Three international journalists asked to leave Bahrain

New York, April 19, 2013–The Bahraini government ordered three journalists from the British television network ITV to leave the country today, according to news reports citing an ITV spokesman. The journalists, who were also briefly detained on Thursday, are in the process of leaving the country.

Read More ›

Tim Hetherington, center, is the subject of a new documentary. (HBO)

Two years after his death, Hetherington studied, celebrated

Two years ago this week, on the central boulevard of the Western Libyan city of Misurata, freelance photographers Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros were killed by mortar rounds from government forces. Hondros lost consciousness almost immediately. Hetherington bled out in the back of a pick-up truck as he clutched the hand of a Spanish photographer. 

Read More ›

2013