Attacks on the Press 2004: Middle East and North Africa Analysis
OverviewBy Joel Campagna The conflict in Iraq led to a harrowing number of press attacks in 2004, with local journalists and media support workers primarily in the line of fire. Twenty-three journalists and 16 support staff—drivers, interpreters, fixers, and guards—were killed while on the job in Iraq in 2004. In all, 36 journalists and 18…
Attacks on the Press 2004: Saudi Arabia
Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia’s press is among the most heavily censored in the Arab world, but it has shown occasional signs of life since September 11, 2001. Some Saudi newspapers have demonstrated unusual boldness, publishing tough critiques of religious militancy and low-level government mismanagement and calling for reform.
SAUDI ARABIA
JANUARY 8, 2005 Posted: January 27, 2005 Mohamed al-Oshen, Al-Mohayed IMPRISONED Al-Oshen, editor-in-chief of the Riyadh-based Islamist weekly Al-Mohayed, was detained on January 8 by Saudi security forces. A local source told CPJ that Al-Mohayed had recently published material that harshly attacked the Saudi government, as well as articles that criticized it for not taking…
BBC Cameraman killed in Saudi Arabia
New York, June 7, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) mourns the death of BBC cameraman Simon Cumbers, 36, who was shot to death yesterday by unidentified gunmen near Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, 42, was also critically injured in the attack. The shooting occurred in Al-Suwadi, a suburb…
Attacks on the Press 2003: Saudi Arabia
Since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, , ATTACKS ON THE UNITED STATES, Saudi Arabia’s rigid press has exhibited spurts of uncharacteristic independence, reporting on once taboo topics such as crime, unemployment, and even the problem of religious militancy in the kingdom. However, these welcome displays of openness in one of the…
Your Royal Highness: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns your government’s harassment of Wajeha al-Huwaider, who writes for the Arabic-language daily Al-Watan and the English-language daily Arab News. CPJ sources confirmed that the Information Ministry issued directives in late August effectively barring al-Huwaider from publishing her work in Al-Watan and Arab News. This action…
New York, July 30, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the Saudi Arabian Information Ministry’s decision to ban Saudi writer Hussein Shobokshi from writing his weekly newspaper column. According to a July 29 Reuters report, Shobokshi received a call from his editors at Okaz, the Saudi daily that published his weekly columns. “I got…
Your Royal Highness: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned by the dismissal this week of Jamal Khashoggi from his job as editor of the Saudi daily Al-Watan. On May 27, the government removed Khashoggi from his post without explanation, according to international media reports. His dismissal came in response to Al-Watan’s provocative editorial…