New York, September 28, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by harsh content restrictions contained in the new press decree announced by President Bashar al-Assad on September 22. “While CPJ welcomes the legalization of private media in Syria, which had been banned since 1963, the aggressive restrictions appear to negate the positive aspects of…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has welcomed news of the release of Syrian journalist and human rights activist Nizar Nayyouf, who was taken from prison to his parents’ home on the night of May 6 after serving nine years of a 10-year sentence. This action is a very positive step, although it is long overdue, particularly since Nayyouf has suffered severe health problems in prison.
New York, May 7, 2001 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed the release of Syrian journalist and human rights activist Nizar Nayyouf, who was taken by police from prison to his parents’ home Sunday night after serving nine years of a 10-year sentence for his conviction of membership in an unauthorized organization and…
ALTHOUGH RIGHTS TO FREE EXPRESSION AND PRESS FREEDOM are enshrined in national constitutions from Algeria to Yemen, governments found many practical ways to restrict these freedoms. State ownership of the media, censorship, legal harassment, intimidation, and imprisonment of journalists were again among the favored tools of repression and control. In Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria,…
PRESIDENT HAFEZ AL-ASSAD’S DEATH IN JUNE, after a 30-year reign, marked the passing of one of the most repressive dictators in modern Middle Eastern history. Assad ruled a police state that eliminated political opponents and stifled all independent debate. No independent or private media existed, and newspapers, television, and radio were mere propaganda outlets for…
EIGHTY-ONE JOURNALISTS WERE IN PRISON AROUND THE WORLD at the end of 2000, jailed for practicing their profession. The number is down slightly from the previous year, when 87 were in jail, and represents a significant decline from 1998, when 118 journalists were imprisoned. While jailing journalists can be an effective means of stifling bad…
Your Excellency: On the occasion of your recent confirmation as President, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to urge you to do everything in your power to ensure that your government upholds international press freedom standards and guarantees the rights of journalists to practice their profession freely.
New York, March 27, 2000 — Jailed Syrian journalist and human rights activist Nizar Nayyouf has been awarded the 2000 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. Established in 1997, the award is given annually to individuals or institutions that have “made a notable contribution to the defense and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the…