Bolivian officials threaten journalists with jail
Bogotá, June 16, 2016 – Enraged over press coverage of a government influence-peddling scandal that helped crush President Evo Morales’s reelection hopes, high-ranking Bolivian officials are lashing out at the country’s independent media and demanding that journalists be sent to prison.
Journalist Jay Torres murdered in Garland, Texas
New York, June 16, 2016–The Committee to Protect journalists is alarmed by the killing of Texas journalist Jacinto Hernández Torres, whose body was found on Monday night in Garland, a northeast suburb in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. The journalist, who went by the name Jay Torres, was a freelance contributor for nearly 20 years…
Bangladesh arrests suspect in attack on publisher, jails second publisher
New York, June 16, 2016 — The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes reports of the arrest of a suspected member of a banned Islamist group accused of participating in an October 2015 attack on a publishing house. The arrest of Mohammed Sumon Hossain came amid a broader sweep of thousands of suspected criminals across Bangladesh,…
Under fire in Yemen: Human rights defenders, journalists and civilian casualties
CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour is speaking on a panel on Thursday, June 16, 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland. The focus is on Yemen, where human rights defenders, journalists, and civilians have increasingly come under fire.
Saudi Arabia’s midterm UPR assessment
CPJ Middle East and North Africa Coordinator Sherif Mansour will speak at a panel on Saudi Arabia’s Midterm UPR Assessment in Geneva on June 16, 2016. The panel discussion is focused on providing a comprehensive overview of the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia upon the opportunity of the kingdom’s midterm Universal Periodic Review.
World Refugee Day: Fear of arrest drives journalists into exile
In August 2014 two journalists living more than 4,000 miles apart slipped across a border to find safety: one with his wife and three children, the other alone. Idrak Abbasov, from Azerbaijan, and Sanna Camara, from Gambia, faced imprisonment because of their reporting. Neither has been able to return home.
Sri Lankan journalist Freddy Gamage back in hospital, still under threat
Back on June 3, we called for “a thorough investigation into an attack” on Freddy Gamage, a muckraking editor and blogger for Meepura.com (and in Sinhala). At the time, the government promised on its official website that it “would never again allow media suppression, which prevailed during the past, to reoccur.” Prime Mister Ranil Wickremesinghe…
Comparing technical cooperation programs in Bahrain
CPJ is co-sponsoring a panel, Comparing Technical Cooperation Programs in Bahrain, on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland. Join the panelists in this discussion that provides a comparative look at technical cooperation programs in Bahrain.
CPJ executive director speaks at Sophia University in Japan
Joel Simon, CPJ’s executive director, is scheduled to speak at Sophia Institute of International Relations in Japan on June 13, 2016. He will be joined by discussant Professor Kiyoshi Okonogi to talk about how to protect journalists and press freedom in a time of unprecedented danger.