Middle East & North Africa

  
The Kurdistan flag at the castle of Erbil, Iraq on July 29, 2017. Kurdish authorities blocked the independent media outlet Nalia Radio and Television from broadcasting ahead of a regional referendum on Kurdish independence next month. (Reuters/Khalid Al-Mousily)

Kurdish authorities temporarily block regional broadcaster

Beirut, August 30, 2017–The Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq should allow the independent media outlet Nalia Radio and Television (NRT) to resume broadcasting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Read More ›

A man sits on a cliff overlooking Greater Cairo in August. An Egyptian news website says it believes one of its journalists is detained by police in the region. (AP/Nariman El-Mofty)

Egyptian crime reporter disappears on way home from work

New York, August 28, 2017– The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the disappearance of Egyptian journalist Abdulla Rashad, and today called on authorities to disclose whether they have him in custody and why. Rashad, who reports on crime for al-Bawaba News, was last seen leaving the news website’s office on August 17, according…

Read More ›

A soldier holds a rifle with photos of Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, right, and his son, Ahmed, during a rally in Sanaa, Yemen on August 24, 2017. (Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)

Unidentified armed group abducts local journalist in Yemen

New York, August 24, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called for the immediate release of freelance journalist Abdel-Raheem Mohsin who was abducted on August 22 in southwestern Yemen near the city of Taiz.

Read More ›

Journalist for Syrian Media Organization killed in roadside bombing

Beirut, August 23, 2017–The regional director of the rebel-affiliated Syrian Media Organization was killed August 21 in a roadside bombing in the southwestern province of Daraa, according to the group’s executive director Abu al-Majd al-Zoabi.

Read More ›

Photographers take cover during clashes between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants in Mosul in May 2017. Journalists covering the fighting are advised to take safety precautions. (Reuters/Danish Siddiqui)

CPJ Safety Advisory: Shifting security situation in Iraq

Threats to journalists in Iraq have changed after government forces regained control over the city of Mosul and significantly reduced the territory controlled by the militant group Islamic State. CPJ’s Emergencies Response Team (ERT) has issued the following advisory for journalists who plan to continue working in Iraq.

Read More ›

A newspaper street vendor outside the capital, Khartoum, in 2015. Sudan has fined a journalist over her critical column on the police. (AFP/Ashraf Shazly)

Sudanese journalist fined over column criticizing police

New York, August 22, 2017–Sudanese authorities yesterday fined Suheir Abdelrahim, a columnist for the daily Al-Tayyar, for a column criticizing the police, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the sentence and called on authorities not to contest the journalist’s appeal.

Read More ›

Dozens of Egyptians shout slogans during a protest in Cairo against an accord to hand over control of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. Journalist Hany Salah el-Deen is arrested on accusations of 'inciting protests.' (AP/Amr Nabil)

Egyptian journalist arrested months after acquittal on terrorism charges

New York, August 22, 2017–Egyptian authorities should immediately release Hany Salah el-Deen, the former managing editor at the pro-government news website Youm Sabea, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Read More ›

CPJ calls on Israel to reverse decision over Al-Jazeera reporter’s press card

The Committee to Protect Journalists requests that at a hearing scheduled for August 21, the Government Press Office reverses its decision to revoke the press card of Elias Karram, an Israeli journalist and Al-Jazeera Jerusalem correspondent.

Read More ›

A computer in an internet cafe in Cairo displays an error message in this December 2, 2008, file photo. (Reuters/Amr Dalsh)

Egypt should stop blocking access to rights organizations’ websites

Washington, D.C., August 18, 2017 – Egyptian authorities should immediately stop blocking access to the website of the international press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF, for its French acronym) and the Egyptian group the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Internet users in Egypt have been…

Read More ›

Children play in an inflatable castle in the rebel-held city of Douma, Syria, June 26, 2017. (Reuters/Bassem Khabieh)

Court sentences two Syrian journalists for blasphemy, shutters magazine

The Court of First Instance of the Second Criminal Court of the Syrian city of Douma, which is under the control of the rebel group the Army of Islam, on July 11, 2017, sentenced Shawkat Gharz al-Din, a journalist for Rising for Freedom, and Laila Safadi, the editor of the magazine, to two months in…

Read More ›