Middle East & North Africa

  
Rockets are fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.

CPJ calls for investigation into killing of Palestinian journalist Mohammad El-Salhi in Gaza

New York, October 7, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Israel to investigate the killing on Saturday of Palestinian journalist Mohammad El-Salhi, make its findings public, and take immediate action to ensure the safety of media workers reporting on the biggest attack on Israel in years by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. In Saturday’s assault, Hamas…

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Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

On fifth anniversary of Khashoggi murder, CPJ joins call for Biden administration to prioritize human rights in Saudi Arabia

Five years have passed since the heinous murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the country’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, in an operation that US intelligence found to have been approved by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).

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Morocco expels French journalists Quentin Müller and Thérèse Di Campo

Around 3 a.m. on September 20, about 10 plainclothes police officers arrested French journalists Quentin Müller and Thérèse Di Campo in their hotel in Morocco’s largest city, Casablanca, and expelled them for their reporting on the rule of King Mohamed VI – a topic considered taboo in the country. Müller, a staff reporter with the…

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Graffiti that reads "Derna is gone" is seen on a damaged shop wall in Derna on September 21, 2023, after a deadly storm hit Libya. (Reuters/Zohra Bensemra)

CPJ Safety Advisory: Covering Libya’s 2023 floods

Days after September floods killed thousands in the coastal Libyan city of Derna, protesters took to the streets to blame local authorities for failing to maintain the local dams. On September 19, Libya’s eastern administration ordered local and foreign journalists to leave the city of Derna by noon that day on the grounds that the…

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‘Breathtakingly hard’: Iranian journalist Saeede Fathi on 2 months in Evin Prison

Saeede Fathabadi, who goes professionally by Saeede Fathi, was living in Vienna last year when she took a reporting trip to her native Iran to gather footage for a documentary about female athletes in the country. The topic is close to her heart; she used to be a professional basketball player but quit after she was unable…

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Iran’s journalists in dire straits one year after protest crackdown 

When Mahsa (Jina) Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, died in custody last September after morality police detained her for alleged “improper” wearing of her headscarf, Iran’s already embattled press corps paid a heavy price for reporting on her death and the nationwide protests that followed. Scores of journalists were among those arrested as Iranian authorities cracked…

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CPJ joins statement urging United Nations to mobilize to address crisis in Sudan

The heads of over 50 human rights and humanitarian organizations come together to sound the alarm about Sudan, where a disaster is unfolding before our eyes.

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Iran blocks Entekhab’s website and social media over report criticizing foreign policy

Washington, D.C., September 5, 2023—Iranian authorities must reverse their decision to shut down the moderate Tehran-based state-run news website Entekhab and allow media outlets to report the news freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Monday, September 4, the Press Supervisory Board of Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance revoked Entekhab’s operating…

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Tunisian authorities jail journalist Khalifa Guesmi over national security charge

New York, September 5, 2023—CPJ has called on Tunisian authorities to release journalist Khalifa Guesmi, who was taken into custody on Sunday to serve his five-year prison sentence on charges of disclosing national security information.  “The September 3 arrest of journalist Khalifa Guesmi is a clear attack on journalists and the freedom of the press…

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Algerian journalist Mustapha Bendjama sentenced to 2 years in prison

New York, August 29, 2023—The Committee to Protect journalists condemns the two-year prison sentence issued to Algerian journalist Mustapha Bendjama on Tuesday, August 29. “An Algerian court’s decision to sentence journalist and press freedom advocate Mustapha Bendjama to two years in prison is deeply cruel and constitutes an attack on free speech throughout the country,”…

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