MEXICO: Leading journalist Cacho harassed
MAY 7, 2007 Posted May 16, 2007 Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, freelance journalist HARASSED Shortly after arriving in Mexico City, the driver of a vehicle transporting journalist and human rights activist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro lost control of the car, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. Federal agents detected that screws had been loosened on one…
The Moroccan Facade
Ahmed Reda Benchemsi, the 33-year-old publisher of the independent Moroccan weekly TelQuel, sensed someone was trying to send him a message. In a matter of months, two judges had ordered him to pay extraordinarily high damages in a pair of otherwise unremarkable defamation lawsuits.
Reporters, CPJ brief Congressional caucus on dangers facing Russian journalists
Washington, June 28, 2007—Two exiled Russian journalists and a CPJ representative told the Congressional Human Rights Caucus today about widespread impunity in journalist murders in Russia and the perils facing independent journalists who cover the volatile North Caucasus.
U.N. urged to examine accreditation policy
Dear Mr. Secretary-General: The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned about the United Nations’ refusal to accredit journalists from states not recognized by the U.N. General Assembly. In its rigid application of this policy, the organization excludes these journalists from entering any U.N. facility anywhere in the world and prevents them from performing their work. Journalists from Taiwan are particularly affected by this policy and were unfairly excluded from covering this year’s World Health Organization annual assembly on May 14, as they have been since 2004.
CPJ urges Azerbaijan to investigate assaults
Dear Mr. Qaralov, The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly protests the failure of Azerbaijani prosecutors to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the brazen assaults against Azadlyg reporter Agil Khalil. In the last three months, Khalil has been beaten, stabbed, and pushed onto train tracks. He has also escaped a kidnapping attempt. Yet despite abundant evidence as to who committed the crimes, there has been no progress in these cases.
In clearing soldiers in 2004 Iraq shooting, U.S. report leaves contradictions unaddressed
New York, May 24, 2007—A U.S. military report that exonerated U.S. troops in the killings of two Al-Arabiya journalists at a Baghdad checkpoint in 2004 failed to address contradictory witness reports, including statements from Al-Arabiya employees that at least two U.S. soldiers fired directly on the journalists’ vehicle, newly declassified records show. The report, disclosed…
In sanction talks, EU must consider Uzbek press record
Dear Minister Steinmeier, The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the European Union, to consider the Uzbek government’s appalling press freedom record during your May 14 discussions on the possible lifting of targeted EU sanctions imposed against Uzbekistan in the aftermath of the 2005 Andijan crisis. As Germany holds the EU presidency, we ask you to take a leadership role in bringing this issue to the forefront.
Uzbek journalist sentenced to seven years in prison
New York, May 1, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces the seven-year prison sentence handed down today to independent Uzbek journalist Umida Niyazova by a judge in Tashkent after a summary trial that was closed to the press and most of the public. Niyazova was convicted on charges related to her reporting on human rights…
In Uzbekistan, third charge brought against imprisoned journalist Umida Niyazova
New York, April 12, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a third charge against a Tashkent-based independent journalist and human rights researcher, who has been imprisoned since January 22. Umida Niyazova, 32, covered politics and human rights in Uzbekistan for the Central Asia news Web site Oasis, a project of the Moscow-based media…