Media self-censors after killing of Mexican reporter
Twenty-nine-year-old reporter Valentín Valdés Espinosa was picked up by gunmen in two SUVs from the streets of downtown Saltillo, Mexico, late at night on January 7. He was tortured, bound by his hands and feet, and dumped at the Motel Marbella, where they shot him dead, according to state investigators, who discovered him early Friday. Another reporter abducted…
Five missing, apparently kidnapped in Afghanistan
New York, January 4, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the fate of two French journalists and their three Afghan colleagues, all apparently kidnapped while on assignment in the eastern province of Kapisa for France 3 public television station. The Afghan government reported them kidnapped on December 30. The names of the crew…
Philippines, Somalia fuel record death toll
CPJ survey finds at least 68 journalists killed in 2009 New York, December 17, 2009—At least 68 journalists worldwide were killed for their work in 2009, the highest yearly tally ever documented by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the organization said in its year-end analysis. The record toll was driven in large part by the…
Journalists kidnapped, released in Afghanistan
Three journalists, all on assignment for The Guardian, were kidnapped in December 2009 and released after six days, according to the paper. Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, an Iraqi, ad two unnamed Afghan journalists had been planning to interview militants in Afghanistan’s mountainous Kunar province near the border with Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province when they were abducted. The Guardian said…
CPJ’s 2009 prison census: Freelance journalists under fire
New York, December 8, 2009—Freelancers now make up nearly 45 percent of all journalists jailed worldwide, a dramatic recent increase that reflects the evolution of the global news business, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In its annual census of imprisoned journalists, CPJ found a total of 136 reporters, editors, and photojournalists behind bars…
Michoacán journalists under siege with nowhere to turn
David Silva, the husband of abducted reporter María Esther Aguilar Cansimbe, ran his hand roughly across his forehead twice, then held his face, looked down, and said, “Every night it’s the same until 2 or 4 in the morning, waiting for the phone call, listening for the car to stop on the street. Then if…
Several journalists reported among dead in Philippines
New York, November 23, 2009—Several journalists covering relatives and supporters of a local politician who was about to file his gubernatorial candidacy on the Philippines island of Mindanao today were believed to be among those killed by a gang of armed men in Maguindanao province, according to international news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists…
Obama responses stun Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez
Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez was astounded this week by President Barack Obama’s decision to respond a written questionnaire Sánchez submitted to the White House. Still recovering from bruises left by a recent vicious attack by state security agents, she told CPJ from her home in Havana: “This is the best way to get better.”
CPJ condemns assault, harassment of Cuban bloggers
We issued the following statement in response to reports that Cuban bloggers Yoani Sánchez, Claudia Cadelo, and Omar Luís Pardo Lazo were detained, assaulted and harassed by state security agents on their way to a peaceful march in Havana. Details of the incident were published on the Web site of Global Voices.