2010
CPJ testimony: Press freedom in the Americas
CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon testified today before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, saying that while democracies are prevalent in Latin America, the press continues to operate with few institutional protections. This statement was submitted into the record on Monday.
Another radio journalist killed in the Philippines
New York, June 16, 2010–Philippine radio commentator Joselito Agustin was fatally shot by two motorcycle riding assailants while heading home from work late Tuesday evening near Baccara town in the northern Philippines, according to local and international news reports. The murder occurred just one day after the murder of radio journalist Desidario Camangyan in southern…
UNESCO’s dictator prize put on hold
Irina Bokova, UNESCO’s director-general, delivered a firm message on Tuesday to representatives from UNESCO’s 58-member executive board assembled at the organization’s Paris headquarters: Bestowing the Obiang International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences, named for and financed by one of the most repressive leaders in Africa, would do grave damage to the organization.
CPJ Impact
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, June 2010 UNESCO responds to protests UNESCO’s plan to bestow the Obiang International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences, named for and financed by the most repressive leader of Equatorial Guinea, was met with an outcry from the human rights community. When UNESCO announced they would be…
Morocco pardons journalist to create smokescreen
On Friday evening, after receiving an unexpected royal pardon, Driss Chahtan, the editor of the independent weekly Al-Michaal, was released from Oukacha Prison in Casablanca. However, his release is one of the few positive developments amid many alarming cases of worsening press conditions in Morocco.
Andijan police continue to hold independent journalist
New York, June 15, 2010—We issued the following statement after confirming that police in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan continue to hold independent Uzbek reporter Aleksei Volosevich for a third consecutive day. Volosevich had travelled to the border with Kyrgyzstan to report on the conditions for refugees, fleeing the bloody ethnic clashes between ethnic…
Seventh Honduran journalist killed since March
New York, June 15, 2010—An unidentified attacker gunned down TV journalist Luis Arturo Mondragón late Monday night in the city of El Paraíso, eastern Honduras, according to local news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Honduran authorities to fully investigate Mondragón’s killing, the seventh in the country this year.
Kyrgyz stations shut down, only state TV broadcasting
New York, June 14, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by reports that local television stations in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh were ordered to cease transmission on Friday by the city government in the wake of interethnic violence in the region. Osh residents now have access only to the state television channel, KTR, and…