Mexican mayor attempts to drive journalist Albert Amaro off road
Mexico City, March 8, 2021 – Mexican authorities must immediately investigate threats made to journalist Alberto Amaro Jordán and guarantee his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On March 2, at about 6:15 p.m., a sport utility vehicle attempted to force Amaro off the road while he was driving with his son in…
China detains family members of Radio Free Asia Uyghur editor Eset Sulaiman
Taipei, March 8, 2021 – Chinese authorities should immediately release the relatives of journalist Eset Sulaiman, and stop intimidating members of the press abroad by targeting their family in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In a March 3 report, the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Asia, where Eset works as a…
Police in Kazakhstan attack, harass 2 journalists covering fire
New York, March 8, 2021 – Kazakh authorities should investigate police officers’ assault and harassment of journalists Bakhrambek Talibzhanov and Bakhrom Abdullaev, and ensure that members of the press can work freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the early hours of March 2, in the southern city of Shymkent, police…
Women ‘have finally started talking’: Three female journalists on covering sexual violence in Russia
Reporting on gender-based violence in Russia has become more challenging in recent years. In 2017 the government controversially decriminalized some forms of domestic violence, leading to a sharp drop in reported incidents, which journalists told CPJ does not reflect the true scope of the problem. And last year, Russia passed a new libel law to punish false accusers of sexual assault, leaving journalists…
Nicaraguan journalist Wilih Narváez and family repeatedly harassed, threatened
Guatemala City, March 4, 2021 — Nicaraguan authorities must quickly and thoroughly investigate the harassment of journalist Wilih Narváez, ensure his safety, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On February 24, an unidentified man went to Narváez’s house in Managua, the capital, and yelled at the journalist’s mother…
Foreign correspondents in China face COVID-19 restrictions and expulsions, FCCC finds
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China found that “media freedoms deteriorated significantly in 2020” in its annual report, released Monday. The report, titled “Track, Trace, Expel: Reporting on China Amid a Pandemic,” surveyed 150 club members representing news organizations from 30 countries and regions. In 2020, China used the COVID-19 pandemic to impose restrictions on…
Brazilian journalist Patrícia Campos Mello sued President Bolsonaro’s son for moral damages – and won
In May of last year, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian congressman and the son of President Jair Bolsonaro, made a series of searing accusations against journalist Patrícia Campos Mello on the YouTube channel of far-right media company Terça Livre. He claimed that Campos Mello, a reporter with Brazilian daily Folha de S.Paulo, had attempted to use sex to…
CPJ condemns Egyptian authorities’ judicial harassment of Sherif Mansour, family
New York, February 25, 2021—The Committee to Protect Journalists today issued the following statement in solidarity with Sherif Mansour, the Washington-based head of CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program, his family, and all those defending human rights and press freedom in Egypt: “Egypt, an ally of the United States, portrays itself as a democracy,…
Ugandan soldiers assault journalists at Bobi Wine event, face opaque military trial
Nairobi, February 25, 2021 — Ugandan authorities should ensure that soldiers who recently assaulted journalists covering an opposition political event are held to account in a credible and transparent process, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On February 17, a group of Ugandan military police officers used sticks and batons to beat at least…
Journalists in Argentina’s Formosa province detained, harassed, and blocked from reporting
Since April 2020, authorities in Argentina’s northeastern Formosa province have harassed journalists covering the regional government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including through intimidation, brief detentions, and smear campaigns, according to journalists who spoke to CPJ, a statement by the Forum of Argentinian Journalism (FOPEA), a local free expression organization, and news reports. On April…