ATR

There were 139 journalists in prison around the world at the end of 2002 who were jailed for practicing their profession. The number is up significantly from the previous year, when 118 journalists were in jail. An analysis of the reasons behind this increase is contained in the introduction.At the beginning of 2003, CPJ sent…

New York, November 18, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about recent attacks on Venezuelan journalists, the latest of which occurred yesterday at the 24-hour news channel Globovisión. On Sunday, November 17, a bomb went off in the parking lot of Globovisión’s offices, which are located in the eastern section of the…

New York, November 7, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes yesterday’s indictment in East Timor of two suspected murderers of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes, who was killed in Dili on September 21, 1999, while he was reporting for The Financial Times and The Christian Science Monitor. Arrest warrants for both men, who are Indonesian…

New York, October 16, 2002—A group of about 50 people today looted and ransacked the offices of the private Mayama media group, publisher of three Ivory Coast pro-opposition newspapers, said several sources in the capital, Abidjan. The mob smashed computers and other equipment and damaged printing presses while chanting pro-government slogans. The newsrooms of Le…

Namibian journalists worry that President Nujoma is tightening his grip on the media.

New York, September 25, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the safety of journalists covering the ongoing military crisis in the Ivory Coast. According to several sources in the capital, Abidjan, at least one local journalist was badly beaten by troops loyal to the government of President Laurent Gbagbo, who have…

In the months following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, journalists around the world confronted an unprecedented press freedom crisis.

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to draw your attention to recent harassment of the well-known journalist Shaheen Sehbai, who is living in the United States, and his family members who are living in Pakistan.

New York, August 9, 2002—Three journalists who had been sentenced to 30 days of “preventative detention” were released on Wednesday, August 7, on the condition that they remain in the capital, Kigali, and report regularly to the police. However, it is unclear whether the charges against them have been dropped. Robert Sebufirira, Elly MacDowell Kalisa,…

New York, August 6, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today confirmed that Eritrean journalist Simret Seyoum, a writer and general manager at the banned private weekly Setit, has been in Eritrean government custody since early January. This puts the total of jailed Eritrean journalists at 14, although government sources recently acknowledged holding only “about…