CPJ urges OAS not to weaken human rights system
Dear OAS Ministers of Foreign Affairs: Ahead of the assembly of the Organization of American States on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists urges you to oppose any attempts to debilitate the regional human rights system. The failure of member states to preserve the autonomy and independence of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its special rapporteur on freedom of expression would make citizens throughout the hemisphere more vulnerable to human rights violations and represent a blow to democracy in the Americas.
Sánchez, Cuba’s blogging pioneer, eyes a new trail to blaze
Having broken through one long-standing barrier, Yoani Sánchez, the pioneering figure in Cuba’s independent blogosphere, is looking to smash another. “It seemed like an impossible dream, but here I am,” Sánchez told a gathering today at CPJ’s New York offices. After being denied travel authorization at least 20 times in the past, Sánchez is in…
Under official pressure, Kazakh broadcaster closes
A blocked website; reporting equipment confiscated; a newsroom sealed; and reporters denied information from state agencies: these things together spelled the end of Stan.kz, a local, independent Internet-based broadcaster which for two years had tirelessly reported on developments in Kazakhstan. “We are forced to shut down the Stan.kz newsroom,” Bauyrzhan Musirov, owner of parent Stan…
Mission Journal: Who is a journalist in Egypt?
Egyptian journalists, besieged by punitive lawsuits and under threat, agree that under President Mohamed Morsi “there is no press freedom, only the courage of journalists,” as editor Ibrahim Eissa put it. What they can’t agree on is–in a climate of freewheeling, mutable media–who exactly is a journalist?
Cambodia reduces jail term of journalist Sonando
New York, March 14, 2013–Mam Sonando, a leading independent journalist in Cambodia, is scheduled to be released from prison later this week after an appeals court reduced his 2012 conviction on inciting rebellion to a lesser charge and cut his initial 20-year jail term.
CPJ urges Azerbaijan to halt its crackdown on the press
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to bring to your attention the deteriorating climate of press freedom in Azerbaijan, which undermines your government’s commitments to press freedom and human rights, mars the country’s international image, and obstructs the transparency of the upcoming October presidential vote in which you reportedly plan to seek re-election. We call on you to start reversing this trend and allow the press to report freely without fear of imprisonment, attacks, or politicized lawsuits.
Newspaper director gets jail for defamation in Ecuador
New York, March 12, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the prison sentence issued Friday to Yaco Martínez, director of the daily La Nación in the province of Carchi. Martínez was convicted of defaming a former governor with an article published in his newspaper, according to news reports.
Police beat journalists attending court case in Mogadishu
Nairobi, March 12, 2013–Somali police attacked and obstructed more than a half-dozen journalists who were seeking to cover a rape trial in Mogadishu on Saturday, as authorities continue to struggle in meeting law enforcement and free expression demands in sexual assault cases. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the attacks and calls on authorities to…