March 31,1999 — Kidnappings of Russian journalists in Russia’s secessionist republic of Chechnya have become all too common: as of April 1997, CPJ documented at least 13 journalists missing in Chechnya, the largest total in the world. Most of those abducted this year are believed to be alive, although four who disappeared in 1995 are…
March 31, 1999 — A systematic campaign of state censorship implemented since the onset of the NATO bombings has nearly silenced Yugoslavia’s independent media, previously among the most vocal opponents of President Slobodan Milosevic. Because of the fear of reprisal, many of CPJ’s sources in the Yugoslav media have requested that neither their names nor…
March 31, 1999 His Excellency Benjamin Netanyahu Prime Minister of the State of Israel Office of the Prime Minister 3 Kaplan Street Kiryat Ben-Gurion Jerusalem, Israel Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a non-governmental organization of journalists devoted to upholding press freedom worldwide, is writing to express deep concern about the Israeli government’s…
March 28,1999 — Long before the initiation of NATO air strikes, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has systematically targeted the independent media in Yugoslavia. In the past few days he has stepped up this repression. Several independent radio stations were banned, a Pristina-based independent newspaper was forcibly closed down and independent journalists were harassed and threatened…
Washington, D.C., March 25 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported today in its annual worldwide study of press freedom that at least 118 journalists were in prison in 25 countries at the end of 1998, and 24 journalists in 17 countries were murdered during the year in reprisal for their reporting.
New York, N.Y., March 25, 1999 — As NATO carries out air strikes against Yugoslavia, President Slobodan Milosevic has turned his fury on the independent journalists who are attempting to cover the story. When a state of emergency was declared on March 23, Milosevic lashed out at Radio B92, taking the Belgrade-based station off the…
New York, N.Y., March 25, 1999 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) will receive $650,000 over three years in support of its programs responding to attacks on journalists, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced today. The grant, its second to CPJ, will bring to $950,000 Knight Foundation’s total giving over five…
New York, N.Y., May 17, 1999-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today urged the government of Yemen to immediately halt its clampdown on independent and opposition journalists, which in recent months has included the prosecutions of six newspapers for their published criticisms of authorities. Since February, authorities have taken a series of other punitive measures…
JAKARTA – May 14,1999 — Indonesian President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie reaffirmed his government’s commitment to press freedom today during a wide-ranging discussion with a delegation from the International Press Institute. The President also agreed to drop a long-standing requirement that foreign journalists visiting Indonesia obtain special journalists’ visas as a requirement of entry into the…
May 3, 1999 Bogotá, Colombia — In 1986 when El Espectador editor Guillermo Cano was gunned down at a traffic light in downtown Bogotá, everyone in Colombia knew who was behind the hit. Medellín cartel leader Pablo Escobar reportedly held several lavish victory parties to celebrate the murder. There were no parties on May 19, 1998,…