Global Magnitsky Act could be powerful weapon against impunity in journalist murders
Last week, the proposed Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act emerged from the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee with approval. The bill was passed by the Senate last year. If passed by the full House of Representatives and signed into law by the president, it has the potential to offer partial redress to one of…
Outlets banned in Bahrain and Syria over allegations of false news
New York, August 7, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Bahrain and the Kurdish-run territory of Syria to rescind two separate decisions this week to suspend the operations of three news outlets that fill a critical journalistic space in their respective areas. The three outlets have been accused of spreading false news…
In Iraq, Islamic State exacts heavy toll on journalists and their families
The militant group Islamic State swept through Iraq last summer, taking over city after city and leaving a wave of destruction of a scale only just being discovered. Even now it is difficult to understand how much damage was inflicted, including on the Iraqi journalist community, where rumors of missing or killed journalists are swirling…
Impact: A year in review
The past year has been a traumatic one for the press, with the high number of journalists killed and imprisoned underscoring the perils of a profession that requires being on the front line of history. Amid growing animosity by governments, and the threats posed by organized crime and militant groups such as the Islamic State,…
The Road to Justice
3. Where Impunity Thrives A climate of impunity reached a tragic culmination on November 23, 2009, when gunmen ambushed a caravan escorting political candidate Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu as he prepared to file papers to become a candidate for provincial governor in the Philippines. The attackers slaughtered 58 people, among them 30 journalists and two media…
The Road to Justice
4. Steps That Work and Those That Don’t On May 3, 2011, CPJ representatives traveled to Pakistan to raise concerns about the increasing attacks against journalists there and the country’s high rate of impunity. It was a moment of drama: The previous day, American forces had killed Osama bin Laden in nearby Abbottabad. But Pakistani…
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, May 2014
CPJ’s Brazil report spurs government meetings on press freedom CPJ board member María Teresa Ronderos and CPJ Senior Program Coordinator Carlos Lauría traveled to Brasilia this month to launch a new special report, “Halftime for the Brazilian press,” and met with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, as well as other high-level government officials. CPJ also presented…
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, April 2014
World Press Freedom Day campaign In the lead-up to World Press Freedom Day, CPJ has started a campaign highlighting 10 emblematic cases of journalists in prison and calling on authorities to release them and all other reporters being held in relation to their work. CPJ believes that no journalist should be imprisoned for doing their…