Middle East & North Africa

  
Flames from a battle between rival armed groups are seen from a distance in Tripoli, Libya, August 24, 2014. (Reuters/Ismail Zetouni)

Libyan TV channel attacked, burned

New York, March 17, 2017–Armed men attacked the Tripoli office of the Libyan TV channel Al-Nabaa and set the building on fire, according to journalists for the station, news reports, and the Libyan Center for Freedom of the Press, an advocacy group. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in Tripoli to investigate…

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, left, at the opening of the Human Rights Council in Geneva in February. The council is due to vote on renewing the mandate of a special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran. (AFP/Fabrice Coffrini)

CPJ joins call to renew mandate of Iran human rights rapporteur

The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined 40 human rights groups calling on the U.N. Human Rights Council to support the resolution to renew the mandate of the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. A vote on the resolution is scheduled to take place during the…

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A guard stands in a hallway in the women's section of Tehran's Evin Prison, June 13, 2006. Journalist and activist Hengameh Shahidi was transferred to the prison last week. (Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazi)

Iranian journalists arrested ahead of elections

New York, March 15, 2017–Iranian authorities should immediately release Ehsan Mazandarani, Hengameh Shahidi, and all journalists jailed for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The arrests come ahead of presidential elections scheduled for May.

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Smoke rises over the southwestern Syrian city of Daraa, March 10, 2017. (Reuters/Alaa Faqir)

Syrian journalist killed by airstrike in Daraa

Washington, D.C, March 13, 2017–Yesterday’s death of freelance journalist Mohamed Abazied in an airstrike on the southwestern Syrian city of Daraa highlights the dangers that journalists and all civilians face in Syria’s long-running conflict, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Abazied was killed while reporting on Russian and Syrian military airstrikes on the city…

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An activist holds an Iranian flag in a protest in Berlin, September 3, 2016. (Reuters/Stefanie Loos)

Iranian editor held months without access to lawyer

Iranian security forces raided the home of Tahereh Riahi, social affairs editor at Iran’s government-funded Borna News Agency, and detained her on December 27, 2016, according to media reports and human rights groups. Two months after her arrest, the journalist was still held in Evin Prison near Tehran.

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A boy celebrates the sixth anniversary of the Libyan revolution in Benghazi on February 17, 2017. Libya is divided between two rival governments. (Reuters/Esam Omran Al-Fetori)

Libyan authorities in Tobruk knock radio station off the air

New York, March 6, 2017–Libyan authorities in Tobruk should immediately allow privately-owned Al-Wasat radio to resume broadcasting and should allow all news media to operate freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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CPJ safety advisory: use of chemical agents in the 2016-2017 Mosul offensive

A dozen civilians, including women and children, have been treated for suspected exposure to a blistering chemical agent following an Islamic State (IS) attack on East Mosul, Iraq, last week, according to news reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) said over the weekend that they are…

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Ibrahim Eissa, editor of Al-Maqal newspaper, gestures in his office in Cairo, November 10, 2016. (AP/Amr Nabil)

Egyptian parliamentary leaders file criminal complaint against editor

New York, March 1, 2017–Egyptian lawmakers should immediately withdraw their criminal complaint against Ibrahim Eissa, editor of Al-Maqal newspaper, and should stop harassing and threatening journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A guard looks through a small window in Algiers' El Harrach Prison, July 14, 2010. (Reuters/Louafi Larbi)

Algerian journalist faces treason charges

Washington, D.C., February 27, 2017–Algerian authorities should immediately drop all criminal charges against Marzoug Touati, an editor of the news website Al-Hogra, and release him without condition or delay, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Algerian security forces arrested Touati from his home in the coastal city of Béjaïa on January 18 and have…

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Iraqi Kurdish journalist killed by roadside bomb in Mosul

New York, February 25, 2017–Iraqi Kurdish reporter Shifa Zikri Ibrahim, known professionally as Shifa Gardi, was killed today by a roadside bomb while covering the Iraqi Army’s offensive against the Islamic State group in western Mosul for the Kurdish TV station Rudaw, the network said. A cameraman for the network, Younis Mustafa, was also injured…

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