Bangladeshi journalist Golam Sarwar attacked, harassed following 2020 abduction
On October 29, 2020, Golam Sarwar, the then publisher and executive editor of the privately owned news website ctnewsbd.com, was abducted in Kazir Dewri, a neighborhood in the southeastern Bangladeshi city of Chittagong, according to multiple news reports and Sarwar, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app. An unidentified man approached the journalist from behind,…
Number of journalists behind bars reaches global high
Editor’s note: Numbers for each prison census are adjusted yearly as CPJ learns of arrests, releases, or deaths in prison. The numbers for CPJ’s 2021 census have been revised from 293 to 302 in accordance with this policy. For the most recent data, see cpj.org/data/imprisoned/ The number of journalists jailed around the world set another record…
Ethiopia’s civil war dashes once-high hopes of press freedom
In a Facebook post at the end of October, Awlo Media Center, an Ethiopian online news outlet critical of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration, announced that the government’s “pressure and obstruction” had forced it to shut down and lay off all of its employees. The closure came after a number of Awlo Media Center journalists…
Indian journalist Avinash Jha’s body found in Bihar
New Delhi, November 16, 2021 – Indian authorities must conduct a swift and transparent investigation into the death of journalist Avinash Jha, determine whether he was killed for his journalism, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Jha, a reporter with the local news website BNN News based in…
Two Mexican journalists killed in less than a week
Impunity in journalist killings in Mexico continues to perpetuate a cycle of violence against the press. On October 28, in the southern state of Chiapas, an unidentified man shot and killed reporter Fredy Fernando López Arévalo outside his home. Also that day, armed men abducted Alfredo Cardoso Echevarría at his home in Acapulco; he was…
CPJ Insider: November edition
CPJ prepares to host its 2021 awards ceremony In just a few weeks, CPJ will host its 2021 International Press Freedom Awards ceremony, our annual celebration of journalists who put their lives on the line to bring us the news. Tune in to ipfa.cpj.org at 8 p.m. on November 18 to check out the show!…
Inter-American Court of Human Rights finds Colombia responsible in Jineth Bedoya case
New York, October 18, 2021 — The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed today’s announcement by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that it ruled the Colombian state responsible for the abduction, rape, and torture of journalist Jineth Bedoya Lima in 2000 and ordered the Colombian government to investigate, prosecute, and punish those responsible and protect…
Partner of journalist missing in Mali says she’ll only be at peace when he returns home
Freelance French journalist Olivier Dubois, 47, did what he would normally do ahead of an assignment. He gave his partner and mother of his children, Deborah Al Hawi Al Marsi, a piece of paper with names and contact numbers in case of an emergency. Each time Olivier returned safely home to the Malian capital, Bamako,…
Afghanistan’s free press disappearing
In recent weeks in Afghanistan, the Taliban has physically attacked journalists, raided homes, and forced female state TV anchors off the air. As they seek safety, Afghan journalists fear for their lives, going into hiding and deleting their social media presences to avoid being targeted. Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan this month, CPJ…