In Brad Will killing, report fuels questions, controversy
On July 26, the following headline appeared in Mexico’s daily Milenio newspaper: “Canada: Will assassinated at point-blank range.” Soon, similar headlines followed. The stories focused on a recent report by three Canadian investigators that sustains conclusions made by the Mexican authorities in the case of Bradley Roland Will, left, a U.S. video-journalist and activist killed…
Even after self-censoring, a reporter is murdered in Mexico
The large family of Mexican radio anchorman Juan Martínez Gil gathered around his coffin in the intense tropical heat of Acapulco’s main cemetery on Thursday. His brother Javier, who identified his badly beaten body on Tuesday, was the least consolable. He leaned across the coffin, his tears flowing down his face onto the dark metal. “Juanito, you…
Reporter found dead near Acapulco
New York, July 29, 2009–Mexican authorities found the brutally beaten body of a journalist partially buried near the southwestern resort city of Acapulco Tuesday afternoon, according to local news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists called today on Mexican authorities to thoroughly investigate the killing, and to put an end to the ongoing violence against…
Daniel Pearl Act would shine light on overlooked abuses
This week CPJ congratulated the House sponsors of a bill that would expand the breadth and depth of the State Department’s annual reporting to Congress on press freedom abuses worldwide. The Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act passed the House last month; now the bill is being redrafted for the Senate by the Committee…
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…