Middle East & North Africa

  

With new round of journalist detentions, prosecutions, Iran continues to silence press

New York, January 9, 2015–A new wave of arrests and prosecutions has been carried out by Iranian authorities in the past month, cementing the country’s status as one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Read More ›

Yemeni journalist killed in explosion

New York, January 8, 2015–A television correspondent was killed in the Yemeni city of Dhamar on January 4 when a bomb exploded while he was covering attempts by Houthi militiamen to defuse it, according to news reports. Khaled al-Washli, a correspondent for the Houthi-owned Al-Masirah TV, was one of at least six victims killed by…

Read More ›

Moheeb Alnawaty, author of Hamas From The Inside, was taken into Syrian custody and has not been heard from since January 2011. (Alnawaty family handout)

Family of journalist jailed in Syria await news, four years on

When Ibtisam Alnawaty last spoke to her husband, Moheeb Alnawaty, in January 2011, there was nothing to suggest that he feared for his safety. The Palestinian-Norwegian writer had traveled to Syria in December 2010 to translate his book, Hamas From The Inside, and had even suggested the family should move there from Norway, his wife…

Read More ›

In Mauritania, blogger sentenced to death for apostasy

New York, December 26, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the death sentence handed down Wednesday to Mauritanian blogger Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed on apostasy charges in connection to an article he published a year ago.

Read More ›

International journalists killed at high rate in 2014; Middle East deadliest region

Syria is the world’s deadliest country for journalists for the third year in a row. International journalists were killed at a higher rate in 2014 than in recent years. A CPJ special report by Shazdeh Omari

Read More ›

Slideshow: Journalists killed in 2014

In 2014, at least 60 journalists and 11 media workers were killed in relation to their work, according to CPJ research. Local and international journalists died covering conflicts, including in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine, while many others were murdered reporting on corruption and organized crime in their own countries. Here, CPJ remembers some of the…

Read More ›

A vigil for victims of the Syrian conflict is held in Rome as the civil war enters its third year. Since 2011, 79 journalists have been killed while covering the war. (AFP/Tiziana Fabi)

In Syria, fewer journalist deaths but danger has never been greater

For the third year in a row, Syria ranks as the deadliest country in the world for the press, research by the Committee to Protect Journalists shows. At first glance, the research offers good news: less journalists were killed, imprisoned and kidnapped this year in Syria than in 2013. A deeper look at the numbers…

Read More ›

Two Rudaw journalists reported kidnapped in Syria

New York, December 17, 2014–Two freelance journalists working for the Kurdish media network Rudaw TV were abducted in Syria on Monday, according to a statement released today by the outlet and reports from regional press freedom groups.

Read More ›

China is world’s worst jailer of the press; global tally second worst on record

More than 200 journalists are imprisoned for their work for the third consecutive year, reflecting a global surge in authoritarianism. China is the world’s worst jailer of journalists in 2014. A CPJ special report by Shazdeh Omari

Read More ›

Fourth journalist killed in Syria in three days

New York, December 11, 2014–A correspondent working for Al-Jazeera’s Arabic website, Aljazeera.net, was killed Wednesday night while covering clashes between rebel and government forces in Syria’s Daraa province, the outlet reported today. Mahran al-Deeri is the fourth journalist to die covering fighting in and around the village of Sheikh Miskeen in the past three days.

Read More ›