Expelled

By Tom Rhodes/CPJ East Africa Representative

On December 15 last year, fighting that broke out between supporters of South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar--who had been vice president until Kiir fired the entire Cabinet--escalated into a civil war that has increased pressure on an already fragile independent press.

By Sumit Galhotra/CPJ Asia Program Research Associate

A sense of optimism seems to be filling the streets of Jakarta after the election of President Joko Widodo, who took office a few weeks ago. Against this backdrop of hope, the Committee to Protect Journalists joined other press freedom and freedom of expression groups for a series of meetings in Indonesia's capital and Bali last week to meet journalists, media advocates, and government ministers.

By Sherif Mansour/CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator

The Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was given a great platform for his country last week, with a speech at the United Nation's General Assembly in which he said that his "new Egypt" would "guarantee freedom of speech," and his first ever meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama.

Abuja, Nigeria, September 30, 2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Congolese authorities' decision to expel a Cameroonian journalist from the country. Elie Smith, who was attacked in his home in September, is the second journalist whom authorities have expelled from the Republic of Congo in a week.

By Shawn W. Crispin / Southeast Asia Representative

In the third of CPJ's four-part "Undercover in Vietnam" series on press freedom in Vietnam, CPJ Southeast Asia Representative Shawn Crispin interviews a reporter living in exile after challenging the censorship imposed in newsrooms. The final part, to be published Tuesday, reveals how prominent bloggers remain behind bars despite the margin for critical debate opening. The series concludes with recommendations for the Vietnamese government and international bodies.

On December 9, 2012, mainstream journalist and sometimes blogger Pham Doan Trang was arrested while reporting on an anti-China protest in Ho Chi Minh City. She was taken to a rehabilitation camp for commercial sex workers, where she was interrogated by a group of seven officials.

Abuja, Nigeria, September 25, 2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Congolese authorities' decision to expel a freelance journalist from the country and calls on them to allow her to enter the country and report freely. Before her expulsion, Sadio Kante reported receiving threats in connection with a series of stories she published on the attack of another journalist.

By Bob Dietz/CPJ Asia Program Coordinator

With little good news coming from Afghanistan amid the escalating violence and electoral standoff, here is something that goes against that tide. A coalition of Afghan journalist groups has got both presidential candidates in the disputed runoff election to endorse a 12-article statement of support for Afghanistan's media -- "Commitment of the Candidates of the Presidential Election's Runoff Phase In Support of Free Media and Journalists." Article 1: "I respect the value as an [sic] non-violable principle and pledge to spare no legal measures to promote and protect press freedom and freedom of speech." (The letter is also available in Dari and Pashto.)

New York, August 20, 2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Afghan government's decision to expel and ban New York Times correspondent Matthew Rosenberg from the country. The country's attorney general accused Rosenberg today of publishing a story "considered divisive and contrary to the national interest, security and stability of Afghanistan," according to the New York Times. Rosenberg was ordered to leave the country within 24 hours. The move would mark the first public expulsion of a Western journalist since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the report said.

New York, May 9, 2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the Yemeni government's decision yesterday to expel one international journalist and deny the entry of another. 

New York, May 9, 2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that Pakistani authorities might decline to renew visas for the only two Indian journalists working in the country. Authorities on Thursday informed Meena Menon, a correspondent for The Hindu, and Snehesh Alex Philip, a correspondent for the Press Trust of India, that their visas would not be renewed and that they would need to leave the country in one week, The Wall Street Journal reported. CPJ calls on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to honor pledges he made to CPJ earlier this year to ease visa restrictions for foreign journalists.