Iraq

Dear General Franks: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about two recent incidents in which U.S. forces allegedly interfered with and mistreated journalists working in Iraq. On March 25, four “nonembedded,” or independent, journalists—Dan Scemama, of Israel’s Channel One television; Boaz Bizmuth, of the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot; and Radio Televisão Portuguesa’s…

New York, April 6, 2003—CPJ is saddened by the death of Kamaran Abdurazaq Muhamed, a translator who was working for the BBC when he was killed today in northern Iraq in a “friendly fire” incident after a U.S. warplane dropped a bomb on a convoy of Kurdish soldiers who were traveling close to city of…

New York, April 4, 2003—Michael Kelly, editor-at-large of the Atlantic Monthly and a columnist with the Washington Post, was killed today while traveling with the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq, according to a statement from the Washington Post.

New York, April 3, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by state-owned Moroccan public television’s (TVM) decision to bar the satellite television station Al-Jazeera from using its facilities to feed broadcasts to the station’s headquarters in Doha, Qatar. Al-Jazeera’s correspondent in Morocco, Iqbal Ilhami, told CPJ that on March 30, she and her…

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly condemns the Cuban government’s latest crackdown on the independent press, during which 27 journalists have been detained and await prosecution. The timing of these actions suggests that the Cuban government has taken advantage of the fact that the world’s attention is focused on the U.S.-led war…

PREFACE by Serge Schmemann REGIONAL ANALYSES AFRICA | AMERICAS | ASIA | EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA |  MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA AFRICA: Country Summaries  Angola | Botswana | Burkina Faso | Burundi | Cameroon | Central African Republic | Chad | Democratic Republic of Congo | Equatorial Guinea | Eritrea | Ethiopia | Gabon…

The Arab world continues to lag behind the rest of the globe in civil and political rights, including press freedom. Despotic regimes of varying political shades regularly limit news that they think will undermine their power. Hopes that a new generation of leaders would tolerate criticism in the press have proved illusory, with many reforms…

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s lively media reported on numerous corruption and political scandals in 2002, from bomb threats against the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Sarajevo, to the government’s involvement in weapons sales to Iraq. The astonishing number of scandals reflected fragile government institutions and the existence of two ministates within the country: Republika Srpska and…

Eritrea was Africa’s foremost jailer of journalists in 2002. The crackdown began in the summer of 2001 after a dozen senior officials and other members of the ruling elite signed public letters criticizing President Isaias Afewerki’s dictatorial rule. The letters, which were leaked to the press, prompted a slew of editorials about human rights, democracy,…

After assuming the Hashemite throne three years ago, King Abdullah II stirred hopes that he would introduce greater political openness in Jordan. But although Abdullah has expressed support for democracy and freedom of expression, human rights in the country have deteriorated.