South Africa’s ruling ANC pulls secrecy bill
New York, September 20, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is relieved by Monday’s decision by the parliamentary majority of South Africa’s ruling party to withdraw a controversial bill from consideration pending further consultation with public interest groups over its contentious clauses.
Iran arrests six documentary filmmakers
New York, September 19, 2011–Iranian authorities have arrested six independent filmmakers on vague accusations that they engaged in a foreign conspiracy in connection with a critical new documentary about Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to news accounts. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrests and calls for the journalists’ immediate release.
Motive unclear, but murders become rallying point
The brutal, September 1 murders of two women from the world of mass communications drew international headlines as the latest attack against the Mexican news media. But the sensational case–the two were found strangled in a park in the heart of Mexico City–illustrates the complexities of determining motives amid the pervasive violence afflicting Mexico. Since…
In Ethiopia case, a response to WikiLeaks
Last week, we learned that Ethiopian journalist Argaw Ashine was facing possible arrest and needed to flee the country. During a 10-day period in September, he had been summoned three times by Ethiopian authorities and questioned about a reference to him in a cable sent by the U.S. Embassy in October 2009 and made public…
When Eritrea shut down the independent press
It was September 18, 2001. As usual, I had to do my shift as a news reader on Eritrea’s national government-controlled radio station Dimtsi Hafash. It was just minutes before 6:30 a.m. I was almost ready with all of the Tigrinya news material given to me for broadcasting and was waiting for the on-air sign…
EU resolution urges Eritrea to free long-jailed journalists
Eritrea was on the hot seat Thursday in Strasbourg and Brussels. Ten years after a massive crackdown on dissent in Asmara that included the arrests of 11 independent journalists, European institutions have signalled that they are weary of President Isaias Afeworki’s repression.
Two Ethiopian journalists detained on terrorism charges
New York, September 16, 2011–Authorities in Ethiopia arrested two independent journalists this week on accusations of involvement in a terrorism plot, bringing the total number of journalists imprisoned since June under the country’s far-reaching antiterrorism legislation to six, CPJ research shows.