Impunity

By Courtney C. Radsch/CPJ Advocacy Director

After a series of high-level meetings to discuss press freedom concerns with Egyptian officials in Cairo this week, it was heartening to hear that journalists Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Baher Mohamed had been granted bail after more than 400 days in prison.

By Pedro Vaca/CPJ Guest Blogger

To coincide with Colombia's national day for journalists the Colombian organization Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP) has published its annual report on press freedom conditions. The review of challenges faced by the media in 2014 comes as we remember the loss last year of one of the great defenders and promoters of Colombian journalism: author and journalist Gabriel García Márquez. Two moments from the Nobel laureate's life are still significant when looking at the state of press freedom in Colombia today.

Mexico City, February 6, 2015--The editor of a Mexican daily in Matamoros has fled the city after gunmen abducted him from his office on Wednesday and beat him, prompting the paper to say it will stop covering violence. The abduction came after the newspaper published stories and photos on drug cartel violence near the U.S.-Mexico border, according to news reports.

By Bob Dietz/CPJ Asia Program Coordinator

Pakistan's media, long under siege, face new challenges. "We had managed to get the genie out of the lamp," was the way one Pakistani journalist explained it to me during a trip there last month. "But now, the military has pushed it back in and I'm not sure when we'll be able to get it out again."

By Özgür Öğret/CPJ Istanbul Correspondent

The murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, founder and managing editor of the weekly Agos newspaper, is still under investigation in Turkey. But despite arrests last month in the eight-year-old case, Dink's family and colleagues are worried justice will still not be served.

Dear President Sirisena: The Committee to Protect Journalists, an international press freedom organization, is writing to congratulate you on your recent victory in Sri Lanka's presidential election. As Sri Lanka readies itself for a new chapter in its history, we urge your government to take concrete and meaningful steps to improve the climate for press freedom.

By Sherif Mansour/CPJ Middle East Program Coordinator

The family of Kawa Garmyane, a journalist shot dead in Kurdistan in December 2013, has vowed to continue the fight for justice after Mahmoud Sangawi, a military commander charged with ordering the killing, was exonerated on Sunday by a court in Kalar. The court also upheld the death penalty handed to Twana Khaleefa, who was charged with carrying out the killing.

By Joel Simon/CPJ Executive Director

Doug Frantz spent more than three decades in the journalistic trenches covering wars, overseeing investigative reporting, and directing national security coverage. He did stints at The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post. Today Frantz works for the State Department, serving as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. Alarmed by the rising tide of violence against journalists around the world, Frantz convened a conference of journalists and press freedom advocates in Washington yesterday to discuss the challenges faced, particularly by freelance and local reporters.

By Sumit Galhotra/CPJ Asia Program Research Associate

The stunning defeat of Sri Lanka's incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksa by challenger Maithripala Sirisena on Friday has given way to questions about what changes, if any, will come for press freedom in a country that had grown deeply repressive under the previous leadership.

New York, December 26, 2014--Brazilian authorities must thoroughly investigate Tuesday's murder of a Brazilian blogger and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Marcos de Barros Leopoldo Guerra, who wrote a critical blog in Ubatuba, a city on the northern coast of Sao Paulo state, was shot to death at his home, according to news reports.