CPJ receives Dodd human rights prize
New York, October 5, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists was honored today with the fourth biennial Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights. The $75,000 prize is given “to an individual or group who has made a significant effort to advance the cause of international justice and global human rights.” CPJ was…
In Pakistan conflict, grave risks for reporters
The September 30 Daily Times in Pakistan headlined a story “Peace being gradually restored in Swat,” although daily skirmishes continue between the military and militants. A few days earlier, a massive car bomb in the heart of Peshawar killed at least 10 people and left some 70 wounded, while an explosion destroyed a police station…
Gabon’s bloggers struggle to take hold
It’s been a couple of weeks since I left Gabon, and a month since elections to pick a successor to Omar Bongo, who ruled Africa’s fourth-largest oil producer for 41 years. There are unresolved questions about the ballot count and the number of people killed in post-election violence.
Government suspends VOA service in Puntland
New York, October 2, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the suspension on Thursday of three Voice of America (VOA) reporters in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in northeastern Somalia. Puntland’s Deputy Minister of Information Abdishakur Mire Adan issued a letter suspending all three VOA correspondents and any other VOA journalist from reporting in the…
Security forces harass Pakistani newspapers
The Urdu daily Asaap said Frontier Corps forces were posted outside its offices on August 1, 2009, questioning staff about connections with local insurgents, according to local news reports. The Frontier Corps is a local paramilitary unit stationed to quell a violent independence movement staged by Baloch nationalist groups in the province.
A journalist in the hands of Somali pirates
Shadows of emerging skyscrapers in a neighborhood in Nairobi come alive as the sun glides down the western horizon. I am walking down one of the deserted streets in the city’s Eastleigh shantytown. Lately, Eastleigh has become a contradiction of sorts. While the roads remain as torn as ever and clean drinking water and other…
Online journalist harassed, threatened in Moscow
New York, September 30, 2009—Moscow police must immediately investigate and bring to an end a campaign of harassment orchestrated in part by a pro-Kremlin organization against online journalist Aleksandr Podrabinek, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Moroccan paper closed amid increasing attacks on press
New York, September 30, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the closure of a Moroccan independent daily amid an escalating government campaign to silence critical journalists. On Tuesday, police prevented Taoufik Bouachrine, managing publisher and editor of the daily Akhbar al-Youm, and dozens of staff members from entering the offices of the Casablanca-based newspaper.
National Day censorship intensifies in China
New York, September 30, 2009—National Day celebrations on Thursday will be marred by extensive media restrictions in China, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The public holiday marks the founding of the People’s Republic of China by the Chinese Communist Party in 1949