Arab Israeli journalist Hassan Shelan’s home bombed
New York, June 22, 2021 – Israeli authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the bombing of journalist Hassan Shelan’s home and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 11 p.m. on June 17, a bomb exploded on the second floor of Shelan’s home in the…
Kurdish authorities in Syria revoke Kurdistan 24 license, close offices
New York, June 21, 2021 — Authorities in north and east Syria should reverse their decision to revoke Kurdistan 24’s broadcasting license and should allow it to work freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, the Media Department of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, the Kurdish-led de facto…
A ‘slow death’ for Yemen’s media: the country’s journalists report through displacement and exile
March 2018 was a low point for Akhbar al-Youm, an independent daily newspaper in Yemen. Three weeks after the newspaper’s Aden office was set ablaze by unidentified arsonists, seven of its employees were abducted for a month by forces under the secessionist Southern Transitional Council, which controls the southern port city. The attacks forced the publication to relocate from Aden to…
Israeli lawyer Eitay Mack on bringing transparency to surveillance exports that threaten press freedom
“Many countries are using these technologies to put people in jail,” Israeli lawyer Eitay Mack told CPJ in a recent video interview. He was describing advanced surveillance capabilities, such as those that CPJ has documented being used to target journalists like Omar Radi and Maati Monjib, who were both jailed in Morocco in 2020. Israeli companies like NSO Group and Cellebrite market equipment to…
At-risk journalists who must flee home countries often find few quick and safe options
In 2018, journalist Mohammad Shubaat was in Daraa, Syria, caught between advancing forces aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the closed borders of Israel and Jordan. Despite the dire threat to Shubaat and many of his colleagues, it would take over a year of intense negotiations with some 20 countries by the Committee to…
Journalist Nidal Ikhbaria survives shooting attempt at home in Arab Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm
New York, June 15, 2021 – Israeli authorities should conduct a swift and transparent investigation into the shooting attack on journalist Nidal Ikhbaria’s home, and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 9, unidentified people in the Arab-majority Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm fired more than 50 bullets…
Why authoritarian governments force journalists like Belarus’s Raman Pratasevich into public confessions
Forced confessions—sometimes tied to public humiliation—have a long and inglorious history, and were a fundamental component of ancient judicial systems in the East and West. Obtaining a confession, by any means, for centuries was often a key part of achieving a conviction and meting out punishment. At the Salem witch trials, the accused could escape…
Algerian authorities revoke accreditation of France 24
New York, June 15, 2021 – In response to Algerian authorities’ recent decision to revoke the accreditation of French public broadcaster France 24, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Instead of responding to Algerian citizens’ demands, authorities are instead resorting to petty retaliation against the messengers,” said CPJ Senior Middle East and…
CPJ calls on Israeli government to provide evidence relating to news outlet bombings
CPJ expresss grave concern about Israeli forces’ bombings of at least four buildings in Gaza housing the offices of no less than 18 international and local media outlets, and the Israeli airstrike that killed Palestinian journalist Yousef Abu Hussein.
Israeli forces detain and assault Al-Jazeera journalist, other reporters in Jerusalem
On June 5, 2021, Israeli forces detained Al-Jazeera reporter Givara Budeiri in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah while she was covering a protest marking the 54th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and Israeli authorities’ ongoing attempts to force Palestinian residents out of the neighborhood, according to her employer and The Associated Press. A video report uploaded…