Journalist murders spotlight Honduran government failures
Seven journalists are murdered in a matter of weeks. After minimizing the crimes, Honduran authorities are slow and negligent in pursuing the killers. The government is fostering a climate of lawlessness that is allowing criminals to kill journalists with impunity. A CPJ Special Report by Mike O’Connor
Journalist among dead in Uganda terror attacks
Since the beginning of Somalia’s Islamist extremist insurgency, the Al-Shabaab militia has targeted journalists and others that it considers opposed to its goals. Al-Shabaab is now reaching beyond Somalia’s borders, as the group claimed responsibility for two bomb attacks Sunday evening that rocked Uganda’s capital, Kampala, and left an estimated 74 people dead, including radio…
In Angola, censorship shrouds journalist’s killing
On January 8, while Angola was hosting the African Cup of Nations, the country made worldwide headlines after a deadly attack on the Togolese national soccer team, which left a coach and a journalist dead. With international attention turning to the story, a shroud of state censorship and self-censorship by the Angolan media obscured the…
At least 5 Ugandan journalists wounded covering protest
New York, March 19, 2010—At least five journalists were wounded while covering violent clashes between security personnel and protesters outside the capital, Kampala, on Wednesday. Scores of protestors and mourners came to Kasubi, a Kampala suburb, after a fire of unknown origin destroyed the historically significant royal tombs of the Buganda kingdom on Tuesday.
Attacks on the Press 2009: Brazil
Top Developments• Judges in defamation cases issue sweeping censorship orders.• Ex-police officers convicted in abduction, torture of O Dia journalists. Key Statistic 44: Defamation lawsuits filed by a single congressman. Complaints target dozens of journalists for critical coverage. In a major advance for press freedom, Brazil’s highest court struck down a repressive 1967 law that criminalized broad…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Burma
Top Developments• Some political prisoners freed, but eight journalists still held.• Government censors all print publications, controls broadcasters. Key Statistic 1st: Ranking on CPJ’s Worst Countries to Be a Blogger. Throughout the year, Burma’s ruling junta emphasized its plans to move toward multiparty democracy after decades of military rule, a long-promised transition that dissidents and others…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Top Developments • RFI removed from FM frequencies; other stations censored.• Hundreds march in nine provinces to protest ongoing threats, violence. Key Statistic 3: Female journalists threatened with “a bullet to the head” after focusing their work on women’s issues. Authorities censored coverage of armed conflict and human rights violations in the mineral-rich eastern Kivu…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Egypt
Top Developments• Government is among the region’s worst oppressors of online expression.• Several editors fined for reporting on the president and other sensitive topics. Key Statistic 3: Online journalists imprisoned as of December 1, 2009. Authorities followed familiar tactics to control news media, pursuing politicized court cases, imposing fines, using regulatory tools, and harassing journalists. With Egypt…
Attacks on the Press 2009: Iraq
Top Developments• Fatalities and abductions plummet as security situation improves.• Prime minister, others file lawsuits to harass media. Kurdish courts jail six journalists. Key Statistic 4: Journalists killed in connection to their work, the lowest tally since the war began in 2003. Four Iraqi journalists were killed because of their work as the press continued to face…