Sport for Rights

Dear Mr. President, We are writing to express our grave concern about the recent arrest of an editor and a publisher under criminal libel laws, despite your pledges to decriminalize libel cases in Sierra Leone.

New York, March 17, 2008—The Chinese government should abide by its promises to the international community not to restrict the news media, and it should immediately halt efforts to block domestic and foreign coverage of protests in Tibet, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Chinese authorities expelled journalists with six Hong Kong broadcasters from…

Compiled by María Salazar as of March 3, 2008

MEXICO: New York, February 25, 2008—Members of the Mexican Federal Preventive Police (PFP) detained and assaulted photographer Gabriel Huge Córdoba after he sought to cover a fatal Sunday afternoon car accident involving police in the eastern port city of Veracruz, the journalist said today. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Mexican federal authorities to…

Attacks & developments throughout the region

Attacks & developments throughout the region

CUBA July 31 marked a year without Fidel Castro, whose health remained a “state secret” even though it was the biggest story of the year. Cuba continued to prove itself one of the worst reporting environments in the world as three foreign journalists were expelled from the island and 24 Cuban reporters languished in prison.

Involved militarily in the conflict engulfing Somalia, engaged in a tense stalemate with arch foe Eritrea, assailed by allegations of human rights abuses in the eastern region of Ogaden, Ethiopia eased media repression slightly and released many journalists from prison. Yet the chilling effect of a brutal 2005 media crackdown that led to 15 arrests…

Fewer press-related detentions and attacks were reported in 2007, CPJ research showed, but local journalists said the decline reflected several years of intense government suppression. One prominent journalist was slain and others have been forced into exile since 2004, leaving a more compliant press that practices widespread self-censorship. A mere handful of publications provide critical…

IRAN Iran’s troubled economy weakened President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s power at home, with protests spilling into the streets and intellectuals, activists, and students expressing dissent in the media. Silencing the uproar became essential for Ahmadinejad, prompting authorities to intensify a media crackdown that had been waged by conservative forces for a decade. Iran became the world’s…