Middle East & North Africa

  

US FBI-led investigation of Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing a welcome first step

New York, November 15, 2022—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday welcomed reports that the FBI plans to investigate the May 11 killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as an important first step toward potentially achieving justice in her case. The U.S. Department of Justice notified the Israeli Ministry of Justice of the…

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Egyptian authorities arrest journalist Ahmed Fayez for reporting on Alaa Abdelfattah

New York, November 14, 2022 – Egyptian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Ahmed Fayez and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On November 10, state security forces arrested Fayez, editor-in-chief of state-run newspaper Akhbar El-Barlman, from his home in Cairo, according to news reports and a local…

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Egyptian authorities detain 3 journalists since September

New York, November 9, 2022 – Egyptian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalists Mohamed Mostafa Moussa, Amr Shnin, and Mahmoud Saad Diab and cease detaining journalists for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Monday, state security officers arrested Moussa, a freelance journalist who contributes to independent news websites Masr al-Arabia…

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CPJ Safety Advisory: Covering the 2022 World Cup

The 2022 FIFA World Cup takes place in Qatar from November 20 to December 18, the first World Cup to be held in the Arab world, and said to be the biggest sporting event held in the Middle East. Journalists working in the small nation bordering Saudi Arabia have faced digital security threats, legal issues,…

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CPJ joins call for release of Egyptian journalist Alaa Abdelfattah as he escalates hunger strike

CPJ has joined more than 60 civil society organizations in a letter calling Egyptian authorities to immediately release British-Egyptian blogger and activist Alaa Abdelfattah after he announced that he will escalate his hunger strike in prison.  Abdelfattah, imprisoned since 2019, began a hunger strike in April of no more than 100 calories per day, which resulted in the severe…

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CPJ renews call for Iran to release all jailed journalists amid anti-government protests

New York, November 1, 2022 – The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday renewed its call for Iran to release all journalists behind bars in the country, at least 37 of whom were detained over the past six weeks of anti-government protests, and urged the U.N. Security Council to hold Iran accountable by implementing investigation…

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Killing with impunity: Vast majority of journalists’ murderers go free

By Jennifer Dunham/CPJ Deputy Editorial Director No one has been held to account in nearly 80% of journalist murders during the last 10 years, CPJ’s 2022 Global Impunity Index found, and governments show little interest in tackling the issue. Published November 1, 2022 Statistical table | Methodology | Database: All journalists murdered for their work…

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CPJ condemns harassment, bomb threat against Iranian American journalist Negar Mortazavi

New York, October 20, 2022 — In response to news reports that the University of Chicago received an anonymous bomb threat on Tuesday for hosting an event featuring Iranian American journalist Negar Mortazavi, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:    “The bomb threat against journalist Negar Mortazavi was a crude attempt at censorship….

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CPJ submits reports on Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco to United Nations Universal Periodic Review

The human rights records of Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco are under review by the United Nations Human Rights Council through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This U.N. mechanism is a peer-review process that surveys the human rights performance of member states, monitoring progress from previous review cycles, and presents a list of recommendations on how a…

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Algerian journalist Nadir Kerri briefly detained and placed under judiciary control

On October 11, 2022 Algerian authorities arrested journalist Nadir Kerri, editor-in-chief of local independent news website Autojazair, specializing in automotive news in Algiers, after he responded to a summons for questioning, according to news reports, and a local journalist and press freedom advocate familiar with the case, Zaki Hannache, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.  On October 12,…

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