Islamic State recedes but threats to journalists in Iraq and Syria remain
After three years of fighting in Iraq and Syria, the militant group Islamic State has been forced out of large swathes of territory. But local journalists and press freedom groups with whom CPJ spoke said that the defeat of Islamic State doesn’t necessarily mean that journalists will be any safer.
Iraq’s Al-Anbar Governor orders TV station to close
Beirut, December 18, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Iraqi regional authorities to reverse their decision to close the independent TV satellite channel Al-Sharqiya’s Al-Anbar offices, and allow the channel to operate freely in the area.
Journalists assaulted covering protests in Jerusalem
At least 13 journalists were injured while covering protests and violence that broke out in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem over U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement on December 7, 2017 that the U.S. will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, according to local and regional press freedom groups and news reports. At least…
Record number of journalists jailed as Turkey, China, Egypt pay scant price for repression
For the second year in a row, the number of journalists imprisoned for their work hit a historical high, as the U.S. and other Western powers failed to pressure the world’s worst jailers–Turkey, China, and Egypt–into improving the bleak climate for press freedom. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
CPJ Safety Advisory: Covering protests over Trump’s Jerusalem announcement
Protests and violence have broken out in several cities over President Donald Trump’s announcement on December 7 that the U.S. will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, according to reports. As well as unrest in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, protesters demonstrated in Lebanon, Turkey, Morocco, and Indonesia, reports said. Several journalists covering…
Yemeni TV guards injured, others taken hostage by Houthi forces
New York, December 4, 2017 — Gunmen from the Ansar Allah movement, commonly known as the Houthis, on December 2 stormed the Sanaa headquarters of the television channel Yemen Today and detained the channel’s employees, according to news reports. Mohammed Ghobari, a Reuters correspondent in Sanaa, told CPJ that at least three building guards were…
CPJ joins coalition to establish sports and human rights center
The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined a coalition of international sport organizations, civil society, and governments that are establishing an independent Centre for Sport and Human Rights. In a statement published today, the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights, which CPJ is part of, outlined its commitment to establishing the center in 2018.
CPJ urges Algeria’s Prime Minister to release freelance journalist and fixer Said Chitour
The Committee to Protect Journalists writes to Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia urging him to ask that his government drop the charges against and immediately release freelance journalist and fixer Said Chitour.