Four journalists abducted by former paramilitaries
New York, October 27, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by the recent abduction of four Guatemalan journalists. On Sunday, October 26, former paramilitary fighters kidnapped reporters Freddy López and Alberto Ramírez, and photographers Emerson Díaz and Mario Linares, all of the Guatemala Citybased daily Prensa Libre, in the town of La Libertad,…
Agence France-Presse reporter abducted
New York, July 7, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the safety of Ali Astamirov, a correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency, who was abducted on Friday, July 4, by unknown armed assailants in Ingushetia, according to sources in Russia. Astamirov, who previously worked for Chechnya’s Grozny Television and reported…
Journalist abducted by security forces, many others still missing
The fate of a dozen journalists remains unclear. New York, August 6—The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned about the safety of Mattewos Habteab, editor-in-chief of the private Tigrigna-language MeQaleh newspaper, who sources believe is being forced to perform military work in retaliation for his critical journalism.
Lebanese reporter abducted by Israeli security forces in occupied south Lebanon
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a nonpartisan organization of journalists dedicated to the defense of press freedom worldwide, is writing to express grave concern about the case of Cosette Elias Ibrahim, a Lebanese journalism student and freelance reporter who was abducted by Israeli forces in the town of Rumaish in Israeli-occupied south Lebanon.
Vietnamese blogger handed 12-year prison sentence for anti-state propaganda
Bangkok, October 31–A court in Hanoi sentenced Duong Van Thai, an independent Vietnamese blogger who went missing in Thailand and was later in Vietnamese custody in April 2023, to 12 years in prison and three years’ probation on Wednesday on charges of anti-state propaganda. “Vietnam’s harsh sentencing of blogger Duong Van Thai is grotesque and an outrage, particularly amid allegations he…
The Longest Wait: After 3 decades, 30 murdered journalists still have no justice
The Longest Wait: After 3 decades, 30 murdered journalists still have no justice An archival image of journalist Pedro Yauri (Photo: National Association of Journalists of Peru) The family of journalist Pedro Yauri holds a vigil for him in June 2019 to mark the 27th year of his 1992 murder in Huacho, Peru. (Photo: National…
‘If you scream no one will hear you’: Pakistani journalists report in fear amid spike in media killings
Hope for justice in journalist murders is dim across the world, but especially in Pakistan, which has appeared on CPJ’s Global Impunity Index every year since the list’s inception in 2008. This year, the South Asian country ranks twelfth out of the 13 worst offenders. CPJ’s impunity index lists countries where perpetrators who kill journalists…
Roberto Carlos Figueroa
Roberto Carlos Figueroa was found dead on April 26, 2024, inside his vehicle in Coajomulco, north of the Morelos state capital, Cuernavaca, some 25 miles south of Mexico City. Unidentified armed individuals abducted Figueroa that morning after he dropped his daughters off at school in Cuernavaca, according to news reports. Those reports said captors contacted his wife on at least…