abducted

The Committee to Protect Journalists submitted a statement for the record to a March 25 hearing held by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. Congress on the abduction of Ukrainian children and ongoing accountability efforts related to the Russia-Ukraine war. The statement highlights the impact of the war on journalists and media.  The physical…

New York, February 27, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Swiss authorities to ensure exiled journalist and human rights defender Emin Huseynov’s safety after Huseynov said he was followed on multiple occasions, including by at least one man he said was carrying a gun. “Claims that Emin Huseynov is being surveilled and followed by armed men are deeply…

Key findings Introduction At a time when armed conflict has reached historic levels around the world, journalist killings also reached an all-time high primarily due to the actions of one government: Israel was responsible for two-thirds of all journalist and media worker killings in 2025, driving the total number killed worldwide last year to a…

Content warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of physical, psychological, and sexual violence. Palestinian journalist Ahmed Abdel Aal remembers the moment the ear-splitting music started. For five days, he said, he was held blindfolded in a room in an Israeli detention site, stripped and beaten, while loud Hebrew and English songs played at an unrelenting…

For the fifth year in a row, more than 300 journalists were imprisoned worldwide as of the end of 2025, according to CPJ’s annual prison census. These record-setting numbers reflect growing authoritarianism and escalating numbers of armed conflicts worldwide. Often, journalists are held under cruel and life-threatening conditions – “a cemetery of the living,” as one freed Palestinian prisoner described it.

China, Myanmar, and Israel lead jailers of journalists in 2025 New York, January 21, 2026 — For the fifth consecutive year, more than 300 journalists were behind bars at year-end, according to a new report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). China, Myanmar, and Israel were the leading jailers of journalists on the…

New York, January 20, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on military authorities in Guinea-Bissau to rescind an order prohibiting unauthorized press conferences and public statements, as reporters warned of an increasingly repressive media environment following the junta’s November 26 seizure of power. “During times of political instability, freedom of expression and access to information…

Pakistan’s government has stepped up the use of in absentia convictions and arrest warrants against Pakistani journalists living overseas since late 2025, highlighting an escalating crackdown by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government on critical reporting and commentary that extends beyond domestic borders. In early January, four foreign-based Pakistani journalists and commentators were convicted on the…

Update: The total number of journalists and media workers killed in 2025 is now 127, exceeding the 2024 record. New York, December 10, 2025一With more than three weeks still to go to the end of the year, the number of journalists and media workers killed worldwide in 2025 already equals 2024’s record figures, data gathered…

Washington, D.C., December 2, 2025 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the immediate release of political commentator Adel al-Nazili, who rights groups and a family member say was abducted on November 18 from his home in Al-Mokha, southwestern Yemen, by the National Resistance Forces (NRF), paramilitary forces loyal to the internationally-recognised government and…