Mission Journal: First of two CPJ delegations visits Turkey
This week I joined CPJ board Chairman Sandra Mims Rowe, Executive Director Joel Simon, and Turkish researcher Özgür Ögret in Istanbul to present CPJ’s latest report, “Turkey’s Press Freedom Crisis,” and convey our main press freedom concerns, including the mass imprisonment of journalists.
UK parliamentarians scrutinize digital surveillance plan
“The rules of the game have changed,” then-Prime Minister Tony Blair said after the July 7, 2005, terrorist attacks in London as he announced that the U.K. government would clamp down on terrorists “whatever it takes.” Now, the limits of such bold but vague intentions are on show as the draft Communications Data Bill undergoes…
CIA case highlights need for digital security
Few cases better underscore the need for digital security among journalists. On Tuesday, ex-CIA officer John Kiriakou pleaded guilty to leaking the identity of another CIA operative to Matthew Cole, a journalist formerly with an ABC News investigative team. In a 2007 interview with ABC, Kiriakou became the first CIA official to confirm that waterboarding…
Turkey ‘cracking down’ on press freedom
On October 22, CPJ launched a report on Turkey’s press freedom crisis. The report, which is available in English and Turkish, details the cases of 76 journalists jailed in Turkey as of August 1, and the factors leading to their imprisonment. In BBC’s coverage of the report, Joel Simon, CPJ Executive Director, emphasizes Turkey’s campaign to label…
Bahrain acquits officer on charges of torturing a journalist
New York, October 24, 2012–CPJ is alarmed by a Bahraini court’s acquittal of a police officer accused of torturing a journalist in custody in 2011. A criminal court in Manama on Monday acquitted police officer Sara al-Moussa on charges of torturing Nazeeha Saeed, a reporter for France24 and Radio Monte Carlo Doualiya, while the journalist…
Equatorial Guinea indefinitely suspends radio program
New York, October 23, 2012–Authorities in Equatorial Guinea indefinitely suspended a radio program on a government-controlled outlet during a broadcast on Friday that included criticism of the president of the Supreme Court, according to local journalists and news reports.
London statement urges strong steps to protect journalists
More than 40 media organizations worldwide are demanding urgent action by governments, the United Nations, and the industry to stop violence against journalists and end impunity in attacks on the press. They made their position known in a joint statement delivered today to the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).