In Rwanda election, no critical domestic press
“No one but you!” supporters of President Paul Kagame have shouted at recent election rallies with many waving the red, white, and blue flags that symbolize the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front party, according to local and international reports. But journalists critical of the ruling party could not document firsthand the campaign that ended today because…
Why governments don’t need RIM to crack the BlackBerry
The United Arab Emirates’ Telecommunications Regulation Authority (TRA) announced on Sunday that it would be suspending BlackBerry “messenger, e-mail and Web-browsing services” in the country from October 11, until these “applications were in full compliance with UAE regulations.” Given the popularity of the BlackBerry platform in the country (an estimated 500,000 users from a population of 4.5 million) one…
UAE to suspend BlackBerry functionality
New York, August 2, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the United Arab Emirates’ decision to suspend BlackBerry services for e-mail, instant messaging, and browsing the Web. The communications authority in the UAE announced on Sunday that it would suspend the data applications as of October 11. CPJ calls on the authorities to…
China sets prison terms for 3 Uighur Web managers
New York, August 2, 2010—Three Uighur-language website managers were sentenced Friday to prison terms of three to 10 years after being found guilty under broad charges of “endangering state security.” The men had been jailed after ethnic rioting in July 2009 in Urumqi, capital of the far-western, predominantly Muslim, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
Decade into al-Assad’s rule, media suffering in Syria
Your Excellency: As you celebrate the 10th anniversary of your ascent to power this month, we are writing to draw your attention to conditions that continue to undermine press freedom in Syria. In 10 years, conditions for the media have hardly improved, with the government still deciding who is and isn’t a journalist, filtering the Internet, and imprisoning reporters for their critical work.
Afghan MP’s television station pulled off the air
New York, July 29, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Afghan government to allow privately owned Emroaz TV back on the air, after its owner said it was shut down under pressure from Iran. According to local and international media reports, the station went dark on Tuesday almost immediately after the station’s owner,…
Morocco declares itself ‘democratic’ while restricting media
While high-ranking Arab officials are not held accountable for misinforming or misleading the public, critical journalists in their respective countries are increasingly dragged into courts and handed harsh jail sentences following unfair trials for “spreading false news.”
Opposition newspaper confiscated in Tunisia
New York, July 19, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the apparent censorship of Al-Mawkif, an opposition weekly belonging to the Progressive Democratic Party in Tunisia. Rachid Khechana, left, Al-Mawkif editor-in-chief, told CPJ that 10,000 copies of the newspaper’s Friday edition disappeared from newsstands, apparently confiscated by security agents.
In Sudan, court should overturn verdicts against journalists
New York, July 16, 2010–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Sudanese authorities to overturn convictions and prison sentences against three journalists working for Rai al-Shaab, a now-shuttered newspaper owned by the opposition Popular Congress Party. The court, ruling on Thursday in Khartoum, also ordered the confiscation of the newspaper’s property, according to CPJ interviews…
Kyrgyz agents raid TV station, interrogate director
New York, July 13, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Friday raid on the newsroom of the independent Uzbek-language broadcaster Osh TV in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh. The Kyrgyz security service (known as SNB) also temporarily detained director Khalil Khudaiberdiyev in the raid on the station. Osh TV is currently off the air,…