Journalist probing illegal logging killed in Cambodia
Bangkok, October 14, 2014–A journalist investigating alleged illegal logging activities in eastern Cambodia was shot dead early Sunday, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the killing and calls on authorities to identify the motive and ensure the perpetrators are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Duvalier’s death must not mean end of proceedings against dictatorship
The sudden death on October 4 of former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier and the initial information that he would be honored with a state funeral stunned the victims who had filed suit against Duvalier for massive violations of human rights during his regime. It also created an unexpected ripple effect in the press and the social…
Honduran court imposes 16 month professional ban on journalist
New York, October 3, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision by a Honduran appeals court to forbid journalist Julio Ernesto Alvarado from practicing journalism for 16 months as part of a criminal defamation conviction. Alvarado hosts the daily news program “Mi Nación” (My Nation) on Globo TV.
Responsibility to end impunity rests with UN member states
Today marked an important step in efforts to protect journalists, with the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva unanimously adopting a new resolution on the safety of journalists. Resolution 27/L7 reiterates, and strengthens the 2012 resolution (A/HRC/RES/21/12) agreed on by the same body.
Journalists killed while covering Ebola education campaign in Guinea
Abuja, Nigeria, September 22, 2014–A journalist and two media workers were killed on September 16 while covering an Ebola education campaign in Guinea’s south-eastern forested region, according to news reports and local journalists.
Russian photojournalist Andrei Stenin killed in Ukraine
New York, September 3, 2014–Russian authorities and news outlets reported today that Andrei Stenin, the 33-year-old Russian photojournalist for the state-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya, who went missing in Ukraine in early August, was killed in the country’s Donetsk region. “We condemn the killing of Andrei Stenin, which calls attention once again to the dangers…
Back-to-back display killings of journalists unprecedented
The apparent back-to-back murders of two American freelance journalists by the same group are unprecedented in CPJ’s history. The beheadings on camera in a two-week period of first James Foley and then Steven Sotloff appear to be an acceleration of a pattern–dating at least to Daniel Pearl’s killing in 2002–of criminal and insurgent groups displaying…
Threats and attacks against press amid political crisis in Pakistan
The ongoing political crisis in Pakistan turned deadly over the weekend with three protesters dead and at least 500 wounded in the capital, Islamabad. As is often the case, the press was not spared from violence, with dozens of journalists covering the rally injured by police or protesters, according to news reports and the Pakistan…
CPJ condemns murder of US journalist Steven Sotloff
New York, September 2, 2014–The Islamic State militant group released a video Tuesday purporting to show the beheading of American freelance journalist Steven Sotloff, according to news reports. Sotloff, who was abducted in Syria in August 2013, would be the second American journalist murdered by Islamic State. In a video posted online on August 19,…
TV presenter for religious programs murdered in Bangladesh
New York, August 29, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Bangladeshi authorities to investigate the murder this week of a TV host, and to identify the motive and bring the perpetrators to justice. Nurul Islam Faruqi, who was also an imam, used his religious programs to speak out against subjects including Islamist groups and…