Middle East & North Africa

Beirut, January 15, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Wednesday’s reports of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and calls on authorities to grant unconditional access to journalists and independent human rights experts to investigate crimes committed against the media during the 15-month long war.  “Journalists have been paying the highest price…

Washington D.C., January 8, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that Islamic Republic of Iran authorities arrested Iranian journalist Mohammad-Hossein (Mehrdad) Aladin in the capital, Tehran, and have since detained him in Evin prison, according to news reports.  “Iranian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Mehrdad Aladin and cease the practice of arbitrarily jailing members…

Haitian journalist Jean Marc Jean was covering an anti-government protest in Port-au-Prince in February 2024 when he was struck in the face by a gas canister fired by police into the crowd. One of at least five journalists injured while covering civil unrest in the country that month, Jean arrived at the hospital with a…

New York, January 6, 2025—Algerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release freelance journalist and political activist Abdelwakil Blamm, who was arrested December 29, 2024, outside his home in the Chéraga suburb of Algiers, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. “Abdelwakil Blamm’s detention is a troubling escalation of the ongoing crackdown on press freedom in Algeria,” said…

Washington, D.C., January 2, 2025—The Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) announced on Saturday, December 28, 2024, the execution of 11 individuals, including Yemeni journalist Mohamed Al-Maqri, whom they accused of spying and abducted in 2015. “The killing of Mohamed Al-Maqri highlights the extreme dangers Yemeni journalists face while reporting from one of the world’s…

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a decision by the Palestinian Authority to suspend Al Jazeera’s operations in the West Bank. “Governments resort to censoring news outlets when they have something to hide,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “The Palestinian Authority should reverse its decision to suspend Al Jazeera’s operations and allow journalists to report freely without fear…

Editor’s note: Cecilia Sala was freed on January 8, 2025. Press freedom organizations and the organizers of the International Journalism Festival (IJF) called on Iran on Tuesday to release Italian journalist Cecilia Sala with immediate effect. Sala was arrested in Iran on December 19 and is being held in the notorious Evin prison. Iran confirmed…

Editor’s note: Cecilia Sala was freed on January 8, 2025. New York, December 28 2024—CPJ is deeply concerned by the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Iran. Italy’s foreign ministry said Sala was arrested on December 19 and was being held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison, although news of her arrest was only made public on…

Beirut, December 26, 2024—Israeli forces killed five journalists and media workers with Al-Quds Al-Youm TV, a channel affiliated with the Islamic Jihad militant group, in a Thursday strike on their vehicle outside Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. The Associated Press reported that footage showed the van had visible press markings. “CPJ denounces Israel’s killing…

Sulaymaniyah, December 20, 2024 —The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the killing of journalists Jihan Belkin and Nazim Dashdan in northern Syria in a suspected Turkish drone attack on their vehicle and calls for an investigation into whether they were targeted for their work. “Journalists are civilians and must be protected at all…