Of Hate and Genocide
During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, media outlets linked to the Hutu-backed government helped lay the groundwork for the slaughter of Tutsis by routinely vilifying them. One radio station, Radio Television Libre de Mille Collines (RTLM), went so far as to identify targets for the Hutu militias that carried out most of the killing. In December 2003, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda convicted three Rwandan media executives — two from RTLM and one from a newspaper called Kangura — for their role in the genocide.
Journalists released
January 19, 2006 Original alert: December 23, 2005 Klem Ofuokwu, Rhythm 93.7 FM Cleopatra Taiwo, Rhythm 93.7 FM IMPRISONED, LEGAL ACTION On January 3, two radio journalists were released from prison after paying bail in the southern city of Port Harcourt. Ofuokwu and Taiwo, both of whom work for the private radio station Rhythm 93.7…
Police request reporter’s records
JANUARY 19, 2006 Posted January 31, 2006 Bill Dunphy, The Hamilton Spectator LEGAL ACTION Police asked a judge to order Dunphy, a senior reporter for the Hamilton, Ontario, daily, to turn over all records of his interviews with a convicted criminal. Police are investigating a 1998 murder of a local lawyer and her husband. They…
CPJ welcomes calls by leading Muslims for Carroll’s release
New York, January 19, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes calls by prominent Muslims around the world for the release of U.S. reporter Jill Carroll who faces death at the hands of her Iraqi kidnappers. A brief video aired on Tuesday showing the 28-year-old freelancer in captivity has prompted an outpouring of appeals for her…
China: Journalists imprisoned after reporting on land disputes
New York, January 19, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the long jail sentences given to two journalists who reported on rural unrest in China’s southeast province of Zhejiang. Zhu Wanxiang and Wu Zhengyou were convicted of illegal publishing, fraud, and extortion after covering land disputes, and sentenced on January 17. “We are deeply concerned…
China: Journalist tried on charges of spreading false information
New York, January 19, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the prosecution of Chinese journalist Li Changqing, who went on trial today on charges of “deliberately fabricating and spreading false and alarmist information,” defense lawyer Mo Shaoping said. The charges stemmed from a report on an outbreak of dengue fever on banned news Web site…
CPJ condemns government crackdown in Nepal
New York, January 19, 2006— The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention Thursday in Kathmandu of Shyam Shrestha, editor of the monthly news magazine Mulyankan, in a wave of arrests of opposition activists ahead of a planned pro-democracy rally. The Nepalese authorities arrested scores of activists, cut phone services and ordered a daylight curfew…
Opposition newspapers blocked from printing
New York, January 19, 2006— The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that Kazakhstan’s biggest printing company, which is run by a relative of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, has refused to print seven Almaty-based opposition newspapers. Local press freedom groups said that the company, Dauir, told the editors of the weeklies Svoboda Slova, Epokha, Apta.kz, Soz,…
Moroccan press faces aggressive judicial harassment
New York, January 18, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a recent series of criminal cases against the Moroccan press, including criminal prosecutions of newspaper editors and the imposition of excessive fines on independent publications. Three journalists face possible imprisonment as a direct result of news or opinions published in their weeklies. Abdelaziz…