Attacks on the Press 2009: Middle East and North Africa Developments
ATTACKS ON THE PRESS: 2009 • Main Index MIDDLE EAST and NORTH AFRICA • Regional Analysis:Human rights coverage spreads despite government pushback Country Summaries • Bahrain • Egypt • Iran • Iraq • Israel, Occupied Palestinian Territories • Libya • Morocco • Sudan • Tunisia • Yemen • Other developments ALGERIA Police confiscated a manuscript…
2009 Map
d6d6d6 ffffff no zoom ffffff 16 ffffff 990000 China: 2439,104.19539708644152/imprisoned/images/text.swf?n=CN: 24&c=FF000091.932802122726javascript:showme(‘#china’); Iran: 2332.43561304116276,64/imprisoned/images/text.swf?n=IR: 23&c=FF000053.2842712474619javascript:showme(‘#iran’); Cuba: 2221.521757,-77.781167/imprisoned/images/text.swf?n=CU: 22&c=FF000082.9655069847578javascript:showme(‘#cuba’); Eritrea: 196,39.782/imprisoned/images/text.swf?n=ER: 19&c=FF000070.6070170039655javascript:showme(‘#eritrea’); Azerbaijan: 648,44/imprisoned/images/text.swf?n=AZ: 6&c=ac000053.2842712474619javascript:showme(‘#azerbaijan’); Burma: 918,105/imprisoned/images/text.swf?n=BU: 9&c=ac000072.3286382647969javascript:showme(‘#burma’); Uzbekistan: 750,60/imprisoned/images/text.swf?n=UZ: 7&c=ac000055.9838667696593javascript:showme(‘#uzbekistan’); Ethiopia: 4-10,40.489/imprisoned/images/text.swf?n=ET: 4&c=ac000042.8885438199983javascript:showme(‘#ethiopia’); Egypt: 323.5,32/imprisoned/images/text.swf?n=EG: 3&c=ac000037.6491106406735javascript:showme(‘#egypt’); Cameroon: 17.369722,12.354722/imprisoned/images/text.swf?n=CM: 1&c=55000042.8885438199983javascript:showme(‘#cameroon’); Turkey: 144,26/imprisoned/images/text.swf?n=TR: 1&c=55000042.8885438199983javascript:showme(‘#turkey’); Gambia: 111,-15.310/imprisoned/images/text.swf?n=GM: 1&c=55000037.6491106406735javascript:showme(‘#gambia’); Iraq in U.S. Custody: 136,47/imprisoned/images/text.swf?n=IQ: 1&c=55000037.6491106406735javascript:showme(‘#iraq-us’); Russia: 161.52401,105.318756/imprisoned/images/text.swf?n=RU: 1&c=55000042.8885438199983javascript:showme(‘#russia’); Sri Lanka:…
As Tunisian elections near, attacks on press mount
New York, October 22, 2009—Tunisian authorities must halt harassment of independent journalists, release a journalist jailed for taking photographs, and allow a prominent French reporter to enter the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ has documented a spike in government attacks on independent journalists as Tunisian presidential and legislative elections approach.
An Egyptian blogger crosses red lines
When the Gulf War broke out in 1990, the world watched the horrors of conflict on live television. It caused a massive leap in media. When the Internet became widely accessible later that decade, the exchange of information in a single second signaled the dawn of another new age. News not only proliferated, it could…
It’s an honor
Yesterday, CPJ received the Thomas J. Dodd Prize for International Justice and Human Rights at an outdoor ceremony at the University of Connecticut. It was one of those perfect, crisp fall mornings in New England with a strong wind blowing clouds across the sun and shaking the first leaves from the maples, which have already…
Moroccan paper closed amid increasing attacks on press
New York, September 30, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the closure of a Moroccan independent daily amid an escalating government campaign to silence critical journalists. On Tuesday, police prevented Taoufik Bouachrine, managing publisher and editor of the daily Akhbar al-Youm, and dozens of staff members from entering the offices of the Casablanca-based newspaper.
Journalists interrogated over article on Moroccan king
New York, September 4, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Moroccan authorities to end an investigation of two journalists who have already been interrogated for 40 hours over an article about the health of the king. Authorities have repeatedly pressed them to reveal their sources, according to their lawyer.
Moroccan newsweeklies confiscated over royal poll
A bizarre case of press censorship arose recently in Morocco when authorities seized 100,000 copies of the country’s two leading newsweeklies–TelQuel and its Arabic-language sister publication, Nichane–after they published the results of a poll in which Moroccans were asked to assess their king. The odd part? Ninety-one percent of Moroccans said they found the rule…