New York, April 9, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) deplores the convictions of 28 independent Cuban journalists who have been detained since a crackdown began there on March 18. The journalists’ one-day trials were held on April 3 and 4 behind closed doors. On Monday, April 7, courts across the island announced prison sentences…
Dear Secretary Rumsfeld: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned by a series of U.S. military strikes against known media locations in Baghdad today that have left three journalists dead and several wounded. We believe these attacks violate the Geneva Conventions. This morning, Baghdad time, U.S. air strikes severely damaged the Baghdad office…
New York, April 8, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sent a letter today to U.S. secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld expressing concern about U.S. military strikes against known media locations in Baghdad this morning that left three journalists dead and several wounded. CPJ called for an “immediate and thorough investigation into these incidents” and…
New York, April 8, 2003—Kenyan president Emilio Mwai Kibaki, who was elected in December 2002, has instructed his lawyers to file contempt-of-court charges against two private dailies. The charges stem from stories that appeared in the March 31 editions of the independent East African Standard and the Kenya Times about a court case filed against…
Aprovechando la distracción del mundo con la guerra en Irak, el gobierno cubano lanzó una ofensiva sin precedentes contra la prensa independiente, arrestando en las últimas semanas a 25 periodistas y al menos 50 disidentes políticos. No obstante enfrentar una represión sistemática por parte del gobierno, la prensa independiente cubana, que realiza su trabajo en franco desafío a una legislación que restringe en forma severa la libertad de expresión y de prensa, se ha fortalecido en los últimos años.
Dear General Franks: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about two recent incidents in which U.S. forces allegedly interfered with and mistreated journalists working in Iraq. On March 25, four “nonembedded,” or independent, journalists—Dan Scemama, of Israel’s Channel One television; Boaz Bizmuth, of the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot; and Radio Televisão Portuguesa’s…
New York, April 7, 2003—Two journalists embedded with U.S. forces in Iraq were killed this afternoon, bringing to six the total number of journalists killed in action during the current war in Iraq. The Spanish daily El Mundo reported that its correspondent Julio Anguita Parrado died in an Iraqi missile attack while he accompanied the…
New York, April 6, 2003—CPJ is saddened by the death of Kamaran Abdurazaq Muhamed, a translator who was working for the BBC when he was killed today in northern Iraq in a “friendly fire” incident after a U.S. warplane dropped a bomb on a convoy of Kurdish soldiers who were traveling close to city of…
New York, April 4, 2003—Chile’s Sixth Chamber of the Santiago Appeals Court overturned the conviction of Chilean TV commentator Eduardo Yáñez, who was convicted of “disrespect” earlier this year. On Wednesday, April 2, the appeals court ruled that “even though the expressions voiced by Yáñez can be qualified as excessive, vulgar, or ignorant, they do…
New York, April 4, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the trials of 28 independent Cuban journalists who have been detained since a crackdown began on March 18. The hearings began yesterday and continue today. “We are appalled and outraged by the arrests of our colleagues,” said CPJ acting director Joel Simon. ” Given…