Monitor, Red Pepper closures spark protests in Uganda
Nairobi, May 29, 2013–Ugandan police on Tuesday assaulted and detained several journalists who were among a crowd of demonstrators protesting the government’s closure of four independent news outlets, according to news reports and local journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists said today that the police actions only highlight the government’s continuing effort to suppress information…
CPJ condemns ransacking of radio station in Bolivia
Bogotá, Colombia, May 28, 2013–An attack on a community radio station in central Bolivia constitutes a politically motivated attempt to censor its news coverage, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today as it called on authorities to investigate and apprehend the attackers.
Press must be able to work freely in South Sudan
Dear President Salva Kiir Mayardit: We are writing to express our deep concern about the deteriorating state of press freedom in your country. In the past six months, CPJ has documented several cases of attacks, intimidation, and detention of journalists by security agents in South Sudan and we are concerned that this harassment has led to self-censorship and even exile among the local press corps. We urge you to use the power of your office to ensure that journalists are allowed to work freely without harassment and censure from state security officials.
CPJ board protests secret seizure of AP phone records
Dear Attorney General Holder and Deputy Attorney General Cole: CPJ’s board of directors rarely has seen the need to raise its collective voice against U.S. government actions that threaten newsgathering. Today, however, we write to vigorously protest the secret seizing of phone records of The Associated Press. The overly broad scope of the subpoena and the lack of notification to the AP represent a damaging setback for press freedom in the United States and set a terrible example for the rest of the world.
Iraqi journalist threatened for reporting on corruption
New York, May 21, 2013–Iraqi authorities must launch an investigation into a May 14 episode in which a group of armed men raided the home of a journalist and briefly abducted his brother. The journalist, Azhar Shallal, had recently written about alleged corruption.
Journalists attacked at Kiev rally; police fail to intervene
New York, May 20, 2013–Several assailants beat two reporters covering an opposition protest outside Ukrainian Interior Ministry headquarters in Kiev on Saturday in view of police officers who failed to intervene, according to local and international press reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the beating and the inaction of police, and it calls on…
Kenyan press face hostile work environment, study finds
The working environment for journalists and media workers in Kenya is increasingly hostile, with at least 91 percent of journalists at local media outlets having faced security threats in the course of their work, a new study has revealed. The harassment of and attacks against journalists, with nearly 40 percent coming from politicians, indicates a…