Colombian attorney general says car bomb targeted station
New York, August 12, 2010–A car bomb exploded early this morning outside the building of national Caracol Radio in the capital city of Bogotá, causing serious damage and injuring at least nine people, local new reports said. President Juan Manuel Santos, who took office on Saturday, described the explosion as “a terrorist act,” and said…
Attacks on the rise in India’s Orissa state
Everything, it seems, is growing in India. Bucking global trends, India’s media are expanding rapidly, reaching into the hinterlands following a wave of development and growing literacy. Industrial development is expanding, with explosive growth of mining and natural resource extraction. In Orissa state, historically poor and restive, these two trends are colliding, producing a spike in media…
Voice of Asia Network torched in Sri Lanka
New York, July 30, 2010—Two employees were injured in an arson attack today on the offices of the Voice of Asia Network in the heart of Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, according to international and local media reports. The fire destroyed the studios of the group’s Siyatha TV station, but the network’s three radio stations have…
Six injured in Pakistan attack believed to target journalist
New York, July 26, 2010—At least six women and children were seriously injured late today after a group of unidentified attackers threw grenades and opened fire on a home connected to television correspondent Zafarullah Bonari, according to Pakistani journalists.
Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for Al-Arabiya bombing
New York, July 26, 2010–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a suicide attack on Al-Arabiya’s bureau in Baghdad. The attack killed three of the satellite news channel’s support staff, according to Tareq Maher, an Al-Arabiya journalist who was inside the building during the blast.
India must stop restricting journalists in Kashmir
New York, July 9, 2010—National authorities in India must immediately address complaints from local journalists in Indian-controlled Kashmir who say they are being stopped from covering the government crackdown on protests that have killed 15 people.
View from a Somali photojournalist’s blood-stained lens
On Tuesday, several journalists were wounded when missiles were fired on a press conference in the battlefield of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. When the National Union of Somali Journalists broke news of the attack, I immediately checked in with local reporters. I obtained the phone number of photojournalist Ilyas Ahmed Abukar, expecting to speak to a frantic or traumatized man, but to…
CPJ concerned about treatment of Iranian prisoners
Dear Mr. Larijani: The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the Iranian authorities’ cruel treatment of imprisoned journalists and numerous punitive actions taken against them. At least 37 journalists were behind bars in Iran as of June 1, with an additional 19 free on short-term furloughs, according to CPJ’s monthly census of imprisoned journalists.
Federal forces in Mexico increasingly harass journalists
Dear President Calderón: On Freedom of Expression Day today, the Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to express concern about a series of incidents this year in which federal security forces have attacked and harassed local reporters who cover crime and report on law enforcement operations.