Record number of journalists jailed as Turkey, China, Egypt pay scant price for repression
For the second year in a row, the number of journalists imprisoned for their work hit a historical high, as the U.S. and other Western powers failed to pressure the world’s worst jailers–Turkey, China, and Egypt–into improving the bleak climate for press freedom. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
Two Kurdish reporters killed on duty by car bombings in eastern Syria
Beirut, October 16, 2017–Kurdish journalists Dilshan Ibash and Hawker Faisal Mohammed died from injuries sustained during October 12 suicide car bomb attacks that occurred in the eastern Syrian village of Abu Fas, where the two reporters were covering civilian displacement, according to their employer, Hawar News Agency, and the Syrian Journalists Association.
Press at risk as EU-based companies export surveillance software to hostile regimes
In August, Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen told the daily newspaper Information that the government had authorized sales of online surveillance software to several Middle Eastern countries. While acknowledging the potential for human rights violations that could result from the use of these tools, the minister said that Denmark has an interest in the fight…
Kurdish security forces detain local reporter, whereabouts unknown
New York, September 29, 2017-Kurdish security forces in northern Syria should immediately release Ibrahim Ali al-Suleiman, a local reporter for the independent Euphrates Post, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Members of Asayish, the security force for the defacto authorities of the Rojava region in northern Syria, on September 15 detained al-Suleiman at his…
Journalist for Syrian Media Organization killed in roadside bombing
Beirut, August 23, 2017–The regional director of the rebel-affiliated Syrian Media Organization was killed August 21 in a roadside bombing in the southwestern province of Daraa, according to the group’s executive director Abu al-Majd al-Zoabi.
Court sentences two Syrian journalists for blasphemy, shutters magazine
The Court of First Instance of the Second Criminal Court of the Syrian city of Douma, which is under the control of the rebel group the Army of Islam, on July 11, 2017, sentenced Shawkat Gharz al-Din, a journalist for Rising for Freedom, and Laila Safadi, the editor of the magazine, to two months in…
Syrian journalist killed near Homs
New York, July 31, 2017–The death of Khaled al-Khateb, a Syrian freelance correspondent for the Russian government-funded broadcaster RT’s Arabic-language service, in Homs province yesterday is a tragic reminder of the risks journalists face covering Syria’s conflict, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
CPJ calls for release of Zagros TV journalist detained in Syria
The Committee to Protect Journalists writes to the co-chairs of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria and authorities governing the Cizire Canton in Syria, to request the release of Zagros TV journalist Barzan Hussein Liani, whom security forces detained in May.
Kurdish security forces detain TV journalist in Syria
New York, May 17, 2017–Kurdish security forces in northern Syria should immediately release Zagros TV journalist Barzan Hussein Liani, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Members of the Asayish, the security force for the de facto government of the Rojava region in northern Syria, on May 13 detained Liani as they patrolled the area…