CPJ hails approval of press law by Uruguayan Congress
New York, June 11, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists commends the Uruguayan Congress’ approval on Wednesday of a bill that repeals criminal defamation on issues of public interest involving officials. The bill is now under consideration of President Tabaré Vázquez for signing it into law.
An Iraqi journalist in America: California pilgrimage
I couldn’t say anything. I didn’t want to blink and waste a single moment of looking at the beach and the Pacific. I had never seen an ocean. If I could set up a tent on the sand, I thought, I could stay there forever. I have loved the seas, rivers, and oceans since I studied…
CPJ calls on Mexico to investigate reporter’s killing
New York, May 26, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement in response to the killing of Mexican crime reporter Eliseo Barrón of the Torreón-based daily La Opinión that belongs to the Milenio media group. Barrón was abducted by unidentified hooded gunmen Monday and found dead this morning in the town of Gómez…
In victory for press, high court strikes down repressive law
New York, May 7, 2009–The Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal’s decision to strike down the 1967 Press Law, a measure that imposed harsh penalties for libel and slander, is a crucial step forward in the campaign to eliminate criminal defamation laws in the Americas, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ and other groups had…
Reporter who criticized officials is slain in northern Mexico
New York, May 5, 2009–A Mexican journalist who was critical of local authorities in the northern state of Durango was fatally shot by unidentified assailants on Sunday. In a piece published a day before the killing, the reporter wrote that he had been threatened by local government officials. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called…
Mexico should federalize crimes against free expression
New York, April 6, 2009–The Mexican Congress must move expeditiously to approve a constitutional reform granting federal authorities jurisdiction over crimes against free expression, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, approved a measure last week imposing penalties for crimes against “journalistic activity,” an encouraging but still preliminary…
Newseum honors fallen colleagues
After each name was read aloud, the ring of a bell resonated through the studio auditorium that included many relatives, friends, and colleagues of the journalists whose names were being added to the Newseum Journalists Memorial. Some, like Tom Borrelli of The Buffalo News, died unexpectedly; Borrelli fell while climbing steep stairs on his way…
Going beyond national borders to combat impunity
Combating impunity has been a long and difficult process, full of obstacles and problems. At the national level it has not been easy, so much of our work is carried out using the supranational tools that we helped develop. They began taking shape through international intergovernmental declarations, in conclusions reached by international legislative and judicial…
Getting Away With Murder 2009
CPJ’s Impunity Index spotlights countrieswhere journalists are slain and killers go free New York, March 23, 2009 — The already murderous conditions for the press in Sri Lanka and Pakistan deteriorated further in the past year, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found in its newly updated Impunity Index, a list of countries where journalists…