Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act passes Senate, with CPJ support
New York, September 28, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the U.S. Senate’s passage on Thursday of the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act. Sponsored and supported by a broad spectrum of human rights and freedom of expression groups and a bi-partisan coalition of 17 U.S. senators, the act was agreed to by unanimous consent as an…
CPJ expresses support for Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act
Dear Sens. Kennedy and Smith, I am writing to you as executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists to express our concern for the safety of Iraqi journalists and others who now may find themselves imperiled for having helped U.S.-based and U.S.-backed media organizations report the news from Iraq. We would therefore like to express our support for the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act Senate Amendment #2872 to H.R. 1585 Department of Defense Authorization, which you recently co-sponsored. CPJ is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide and the rights of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal.
Iraqi producer murdered in Baghdad
New York, September 24, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of an Al-Baghdadia satellite channel producer in Baghdad on Sunday. Several gunmen in a car shot Jawad al-Daami, 40, a line producer for the independent Cairo-based Al-Baghdadia, in the head in Baghdad’s southwestern neighborhood of Al-Qadissiya at around 4 p.m. on Sunday, a…
AP journalist abducted in Iraq’s Diyala province
New York, August 8, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the abduction last month of an Associated Press journalist by masked gunmen in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala. On July 28, gunmen kidnapped Talal Mohammed, 40, a reporter and photographer for The Associated Press, and an unnamed friend near Diyala province’s capital of Baqubah, the AP reported.…
In Iraq, charges dropped against detained media workers
New York, August 7, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Monday’s decision by a criminal court in Baghdad to dismiss the charge of incitement to terror against 11 current and former employees of the independent Iraqi production company Wasan Media. A source at Wasan Media familiar with the case told CPJ that the judge threw…
In Iraq, body of abducted editor found in morgue
New York, June 18, 2007—The body of an Iraqi newspaper editor was found in Baghdad’s main morgue on Sunday, four days after he was abducted by armed men. Filaih Wuday Mijthab, who worked with the government-run daily Al-Sabah, suffered bullet wounds to the head, the independent news agency Aswat al-Iraq reported. There has been no…
CPJ calls for release of detained media workers in Iraq
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned that 11 current and former employees of the independent production company Wasan Media have been held by the Interior Ministry for nearly four months on specious criminal charges and without due process.