Mahoney: UN can help journalists beyond World Press Freedom Day
New York, May 1, 2023–Evan Gershkovich and Jimmy Lai are about to spend World Press Freedom Day behind bars. Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal Moscow correspondent, and Lai, a pro-democracy Hong Kong media magnate, are among record numbers of journalists in prison as the United Nations marks the 30th anniversary of its special day for…
In an era of global protest, France and Israel stand out for use of dangerous ammunition
With the world gripped in a historic wave of unrest, journalists in no fewer than 65 countries – about a third of the world – have been attacked covering protests since 2015, according to a report I authored for a U.N. agency that was published today. One thing that stood out during my research for the report Safety…
US withdrawal from UNESCO is blow for press freedom
The U.S. government’s decision to withdraw from the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which has a mandate to promote “the free flow of ideas by word and image [and] to foster free, independent, and pluralistic media in print, broadcast and online,” will make the world less safe for journalists, a joint statement…
CPJ welcomes UN Human Rights resolution on releasing jailed journalists, right to encryption
Washington, September 29, 2016–The United Nations Human Rights Council’s annual resolution on journalist safety for the first time urges all states to release arbitrarily detained journalists. The resolution, co-sponsored by 87 countries and adopted today in Geneva, raises new concerns about mounting attacks on journalists during elections and calls for states to protect the confidentiality…
On World Press Freedom Day and journalists’ safety
Last week, I met a Cameroonian journalist who worked in the Congo until he fled following a series of threats and an attack on his home by armed men who assaulted his sister. Elie Smith, a TV host who documented alleged abuses by police and was outspoken in his criticism of the government, said he…
Treating the Internet as the enemy in the Middle East
The snow and freezing temperatures that struck Saudi Arabia unexpectedly in December 2013 were newsworthy in a desert kingdom better known for its extreme heat. But the fact that the ensuing power outages at a regional prison left prisoners without power or heat for nearly a week was apparently off-limits to reporters.
At the UN, let’s talk about journalist murders in plain language
The U.N. Human Rights Council was established in 2006 as a replacement for the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, which folded in the face of criticism that it gave a platform to many states with poor human rights records. Only time will tell if the U.N. Human Rights Council will be any better. Nevertheless, this…
Little progress on journalist safety despite more attention
Late in 2013, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 68/163 on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, in an effort to stem the killings of journalists and ensure that perpetrators of deadly violence against journalists are brought to justice. The resolution was a recognition that it has never been a more…
CPJ urges free expression be part of post-2015 MDG agenda
Dear Ambassadors Kamau and Kőrösi: I am writing to you in your capacity as the co-chairmen of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals. Your work and the recommendations of your group will help frame the discussion in the coming year as United Nations member states seek to agree a set of objectives to succeed the Millennium Development Goals beyond 2015. We at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) believe it is vital that your report to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon later this year include freedom of expression and access to information and independent media as part of the post-2015 agenda.
UNESCO awards Ahmet Şık annual press freedom prize
New York, April 11, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists congratulates Turkish investigative journalist and book author Ahmet Şık on being awarded UNESCO’s prestigious Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. The annual prize, named after slain Colombian journalist Guillermo Cano Isaza, honors a journalist or organization that “has made an outstanding contribution to the defense of…