‘They are hunting journalists’: Nicaragua’s covert repression tactics strike fear beyond borders
An estimated 268 Nicaraguan journalists have fled the Central American country for exile, many settling in the neighboring Costa Rica, to escape what CPJ’s research has documented to be a government-backed system of political repression and judicial harassment against media outlets that often prevents journalists, fearing for their families, from reporting the truth. Yet for…
Journalist John Kabamba missing after interviewing rebel in eastern DRC
Kinshasa, December 23, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to urgently ensure the safety and freedom of television host John Kabamba, who went missing from Kinshasa, the capital, on December 14, and to reverse his 90-day suspension from media activities. “The disappearance of journalist John Kabamba…
Chinese citizen journalist seeking asylum in US faces deportation
Update: Following the DHS’s decision to drop its proposal to deport the journalist to Uganda, CPJ calls on the agency to ensure that the journalist can stay in the U.S. while continuing the process of applying for asylum. Washington, D.C., December 18, 2025—The Trump administration’s plan to deport a Chinese citizen journalist — who fled…
Bangladesh arrests veteran journalist Anis Alamgir on terrorism charges
December 17, New Delhi—Bangladeshi authorities must immediately drop terrorism charges against veteran journalist Anis Alamgir, release him unconditionally, and stop targeting the press with national security offenses, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On December 15, police opened an investigation against Alamgir and three other individuals under Bangladesh’s Anti-Terrorism Act, accusing the suspects of…
Post-election Cameroon: ‘The regime considers the press to be its last enemy’
In his campaign to win an eighth term, Cameroonian President Paul Biya pledged to “strengthen measures to protect freedom of expression and journalists” in one of Africa’s most dangerous countries for the press. But six journalists who spoke to CPJ after October’s contested election — which opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary claimed to have won,…
Belarusian journalist Maryna Zolatava released after serving over 4 years in prison
Paris, December 15, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Belarusian journalist Maryna Zolatava, who was among 123 prisoners freed on Saturday as part of a deal in which the United States announced it was lifting sanctions on Belarus’s potash exports. All were pardoned by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. “We are relieved that journalist Maryna Zolatava is finally free,…
‘Disguised dictatorship’: A fight for government transparency amid Haiti’s insecurity
Read this story en français in collaboration with AyiboPost. Violent attacks and threats waged by a coalition of militarized gangs are among the many risks Haitian journalists face to report the news amid intensifying insecurity in the country’s capital city, Port-au-Prince. Yet as a rotating cast of transitional leaders hope to restore order across the Caribbean nation,…
Under the radar: Israel steps up censorship and suppression of independent reporting
Two years into Israel’s genocide in Gaza, press freedom inside the country has reached a breaking point. Journalists report escalating censorship, harassment, and self-censorship that, they say, now functions as “part of the war effort.” Independent reporting has sharply declined, leaving the Israeli public with a distorted view of the conflict. An October 2025 report…
DRC journalist Ali Male threatened, detained over report criticizing army colonel
Kinshasa, December 10, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to release Ali Male, a reporter with the privately owned En Quete News site and Kinshasa-based Kin24 TV, who was arrested on December 8 over a report about an army colonel. “DRC authorities must release Ali and…
Hong Kong arrests commentator, summons international media over deadly fire
New York, December 8, 2025—Chinese and Hong Kong authorities must immediately stop harassing journalists, release news commentator Wong Kwok-ngon, and allow the media to freely cover the city’s most deadly fire in decades, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. In a rare move, Beijing’s national security arm in Hong Kong, the Office for Safeguarding…