Middle East & North Africa

  
(AP)

Libya: Release body of South African photojournalist

New York, May 20, 2011–The Libyan government should immediately release the body of South African photographer Anton Hammerl, at left, and investigate the role of the armed forces in his death, Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Hammerl, 41, was shot and killed by government forces near Brega in eastern Libya…

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Rebels outside the city of Ajdabiya. (AP/Anja Niedringhaus)

Journalists under attack in Libya: The tally

CPJ has documented more than 80 attacks on the press since political unrest erupted in Libya last month. They include five fatalities, at least three serious injuries, at least 50 detentions, 11 assaults, two attacks on news facilities, the jamming of Al-Jazeera and Al-Hurra transmissions, at least four instances of obstruction, the expulsion of two international…

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Parvaz says Syria detained her for Al-Jazeera work

Al-Jazeera has interviewed Dorothy Parvaz, the network journalist who was held for 19 days in Syria and Iran. Parvaz describes how the Syrian government told her at first that she was believed to be a U.S. spy, but later it became clear, she said, that she was being held because she worked for the network.…

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Video: ‘Living in silence: Journalists in exile’

We write a lot at CPJ about the terrible things that happen to journalists because of their reporting, but we don’t often get a chance to show you what happens to them after they are forced to flee their homes and land abroad. This video, about three such journalists, is worth watching.

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Men carry wounded photojournalist Mohammed Othman. (Mazen al-Breem/Demotix)

Israeli soldier seriously injures Palestinian photojournalist

New York, May 18, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Israel today to investigate the shooting of Palestinian photographer Mohammed Othman. Othman was shot and seriously wounded by an Israeli soldier on May 15 near the Erez Crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, while on assignment for the U.K.-based citizen journalism site and…

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CPJ voices concern as journalists are released

New York, May 18, 2011–The release of foreign journalists held in Iran and Libya today is a very positive development in a region where the press has been under attack since social upheaval began in Tunisia early this year, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Parvaz (Ben Piven)

Five Bahraini journalists detained; Parvaz still missing

New York, May 17, 2011–Bahrain’s crackdown against journalists continues unabated with five new detentions in less than a week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Syria and Iran, one of which is holding Al-Jazeera English journalist Dorothy Parvaz, continue to make intentionally vague or misleading remarks about her whereabouts and physical condition. Meanwhile, Libya…

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Tim Hetherington at the World Press Photo Award exhibition in Zurich in 2008. He won for his photo "American Soldier." (AP/Keystone/Eddy Risch)

After the prelude: Remembering Tim Hetherington

On Friday, May 13, some 500 people gathered at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Mayfair, London, to remember, celebrate, and lay to rest photojournalist and filmmaker Tim Hetherington.  

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Parvaz (Ben Piven)

Iran must release Dorothy Parvaz

New York, May 11, 2011–Al-Jazeera reported today that Syria has deported Dorothy Parvaz, a journalist working for the channel’s English-language service, to Iran.  The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling for her immediate release.”Syria’s apparent deportation of Dorothy Parvaz to Iran when she is also a citizen of the U.S. and Canada, is an irresponsible…

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Syrians carry banners during an anti-government protest in the coastal town of Banias, Syria. (AP)

Syria holds at least five journalists in custody

New York, May 10, 2011–Syria is holding at least five local and foreign journalists as part of its ongoing repression of the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ also called on the Syrian government to make public the names of all journalists currently in detention and to release them without delay.  

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