Reserved for press
CPJ’s Carlos Lauria, senior program coordinator for the Americas, took Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to task on his dismal record on maintaining a free press at the Columbia University on Friday, September 23. When Lauria charged Correa with using the courts to silence and imprison critics he lashed out, claiming Lauria was “lying and a…
AU forces say four soldiers responsible for journalist’s death
New York, September 26, 2011–Four African Union soldiers deployed in Somalia have been suspended and returned to their home country of Burundi for potential trial after an internal investigation found them responsible for the shooting death of a Malaysian journalist this month. In a statement issued today, the African Union Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM,…
UNESCO must reject Obiang prize bid
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined with eight other human rights organizations today in opposing the bid for a UNESCO life sciences prize named after Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. CPJ and other groups have consistently voiced their opposition to this prize, saying that Equatorial Guinea’s human rights record undercuts the UNESCO mission.…
Thai journalist dies from bomb blast injuries
New York, September 26, 2011–The Thai government must bring to justice the perpetrators of the September 16 bomb attacks that killed a journalist and five other people in the country’s insurgency-plagued southern region, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Correa lambastes press in Columbia speech
“Sir, you are lying and a liar.” With these words, uttered before an audience of around 150 people, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa dispelled any doubt as to whether he might cool his explosive rhetoric in the face of criticism. His harsh words came in response to a critical question posed by CPJ’s senior coordinator for…
Sniper fire claims life of Yemeni cameraman
New York, September 26, 2011–A Yemeni cameraman died in a Sana’a hospital on Saturday, five days after being struck by sniper fire while covering an anti-government protest in the capital, according to local and international news reports. Hassan al-Wadhaf, who filmed his own shooting, is the second journalist to be killed in Yemen since demonstrations…
Journalists face threats in covering Isaac imprisonment
New York, September 26, 2011–A Sweden-based journalist was publicly threatened Friday in connection with her reporting on the case of Dawit Isaac, a Swedish-Eritrean journalist who has been imprisoned in Eritrea for a decade without charge, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. A day earlier in New York, bodyguards for the Eritrean leader Isaias…
How ‘war on terror’ released a war on journalists
As the world marks the tenth anniversary of the terror attacks of September 11th, CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon writes a special opinion column for CNN.com discussing its impact on press freedom both in the U.S., and worldwide. The advent of a global ‘war on terror’ and sweeping anti-terror legislation has steadily eroded press freedom, leading…