Tigrayan authorities in Ethiopia detain 5 Tigrai TV journalists
Nairobi, July 20, 2022 – Authorities in the Ethiopian region of Tigray should immediately release five Tigrai TV journalists who were recently taken into custody for their work, as well as all other members of the press behind bars, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Regional authorities in the state of Tigray, who are…
Independent Venezuelan news sites blocked by state-controlled and private service providers
Bogotá, February 4, 2022 – Fresh blocks on a handful of Venezuela’s few remaining independent news websites are a troubling sign of escalating press censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Journalists and experts say private internet service providers (ISPs) are censoring the sites for the first time, though they have been unavailable on…
Soldiers briefly hold 2 journalists reporting on run-up to Burkina Faso coup
New York, January 25, 2022 – Authorities in Burkina Faso should ensure that journalists can report freely, safely, and without fear of arrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Sunday, soldiers at the Sangoule Lamizana military camp in Ouagadougou, the capital, briefly held freelance reporter Henry Wilkins and Associated Press reporter Sam Mednick,…
Journalists detained, news crew attacked, as Kazakhstan state of emergency continues
Stockholm, January 10, 2022 – Kazakh authorities should ensure the ability of the country’s media to work freely and release detained journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov. They should also fully investigate assaults on the country’s press, including an attack on a convoy that killed one Almaty TV employee and injured another and an arson attack on the…
Kazakhstan authorities block news sites, detain journalists during nationwide protests
Stockholm, January 6, 2022 – Kazakhstan authorities must allow journalists to report freely on ongoing protests in the country and ensure their safety from officials and protesters, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Since January 4, authorities in the Central Asian nation detained at least eight journalists reporting on mass protests in several cities…
Ethiopia uses emergency law to ramp up arrests of journalists
Nairobi, December 16, 2021 – Ethiopian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release all journalists held in custody for their work and should refrain from using the country’s state of emergency law to imprison members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Ethiopian authorities have arrested at least 14 journalists since declaring a…
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…
US Summit for Democracy must address threats to press freedom
New York, December 8, 2021—On the eve of the U.S. government’s inaugural Summit for Democracy, the Committee to Protect Journalists reiterated that support for press freedom is critical to reversing the decline of democracy worldwide. “Journalists are being attacked and thrown in jail in record numbers for doing their jobs, so this meeting can’t be…
Sudanese military forces arrest state television manager, pro-military protesters assault journalists amid unrest
New York, October 26, 2021 – Sudanese military authorities must immediately release journalist Maher Abugoukh, cease raiding media outlets, investigate pro-military protesters’ attacks on journalists, and ensure that telecommunications function in the wake of yesterday’s military coup in which military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan deposed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and dissolved the government, the Committee to…
‘There is no private life’: Three Togolese journalists react to being selected for spyware surveillance
When Komlanvi Ketohou fled Togo in early 2021, he left behind his home, his family, and his cell phone that the gendarmerie seized when they arrested and detained him over a report published by his newspaper, L’Independant Express. In July, Ketohou, who goes by Carlos, learned that the phone number connected to the device they…