CPJ troubled by editor’s detention
New York, November 8, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the detention of Mathieu N’do, managing editor of the pro-opposition weekly San Finna. Local sources say N’do was arrested November 5 at the airport in the capital, Ouagadougou, as he was returning from Ivory Coast, where he had traveled to report on…
CPJ outraged by newspaper attacks, bans
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by Thursday’s violent attacks on four private newspapers in Abidjan, and by a government ban against eight newspapers. These grave attacks on press freedom came as hostilities resumed in the rebel-held north of the country. We are also alarmed at the silencing of three international radio stations in Abidjan, reportedly by an act of sabotage.
Army finds no fault in Palestine Hotel shelling
New York, November 5, 2004—Nineteen months after a U.S. Army tank opened fire on a Baghdad hotel full of journalists, killing two and wounding three others, the Pentagon has released a redacted report concluding that coalition forces bore “no fault or negligence” in the shelling. In August 2003, the Pentagon had released summary findings about…
Columnist for opposition weekly is beaten, threatened
New York, November 4, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Tuesday’s vicious attack on Abdel Halim Kandil, an editor and columnist at the opposition weekly Al-Arabi. The attack occurred just before dawn on November 2, after Kandil’s colleagues dropped him off near his home in Cairo, according to local sources and press reports. Before entering…
CPJ calls for investigation into Iraqi journalist’s death
Dear Secretary Rumsfeld: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the death of Iraqi freelance cameraman Dhia Najim, who was killed on Monday, November 1, while covering a gun battle between the U.S. military and Iraqi insurgents in the western city of Ramadi.
Baghdad car bomb kills five Al-Arabiya employees
New York, November 1, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalist condemns this weekend’s car bomb attack against the Baghdad bureau of the Dubai-based satellite broadcaster Al-Arabiya. Five station employees were among the seven killed, and more than a dozen other Al-Arabiya employees were wounded in the apparent insurgent attack on Saturday, the station staff told CPJ.
Ramadi fighting claims camaraman
New York, November 1, 2004—An Iraqi freelance cameraman was killed today in the western city of Ramadi, Reuters news agency has reported. Dhia Najim was shot in the head on Monday while covering fighting in his hometown of Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, Reuters said. The exact circumstances of his death are unknown, and…
Journalist killed
New York, October 28, 2004—An Iraqi journalist working for a local, private, Arabic-language TV station was killed in the capital, Baghdad, by gunmen yesterday, October 27. Local journalists told CPJ that Liqaa Abdul Razzak, a news anchor at Al-Sharqiya TV, was traveling in a taxi with two companions when gunmen in another car opened fire…
Four journalists abducted by former paramilitaries
New York, October 27, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by the recent abduction of four Guatemalan journalists. On Sunday, October 26, former paramilitary fighters kidnapped reporters Freddy López and Alberto Ramírez, and photographers Emerson Díaz and Mario Linares, all of the Guatemala Citybased daily Prensa Libre, in the town of La Libertad,…
CPJ board elects Wall Street Journal’s Steiger as vice chairman
New York, October 26, 2004—Paul Steiger, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal and a vice president of Dow Jones & Company, has been elected vice chairman of the Committee to Protect Journalists, the organization announced today. “Paul Steiger is one of America’s most respected editors,” said David Laventhol, chairman of CPJ’s board of directors.…