February 12, 2004, New York—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today called on U.S. President George W. Bush to raise the issue of Tunisia’s deplorable press freedom record in his upcoming meeting with Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, scheduled for Tuesday, February 17. In a letter to President Bush, CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper…
New York, February 12, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes yesterday’s ruling of the Ugandan Supreme Court, which declared unconstitutional a legal provision allowing journalists to be charged with “publishing false news.” However, CPJ remains concerned about a recent series of threats to press freedom in the country. Yesterday, the court struck down Section…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned about the plight of photojournalist Wallace Gichere, who is paralyzed from the waist down because of a 1991 incident in which Kenyan police officers threw him from a fourth floor residence. This crime was committed after Gichere wrote articles in the foreign press about abuses of civil and political rights in Kenya under former president Daniel arap Moi. In 2000, a government Standing Committee on Human Rights recommended that the State compensate Gichere for injuries and financial losses–a recommendation that was approved by government the same year. However, Gichere has still not received compensation.
New York, February 11, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the safety of 11 journalists based in the northwestern city of Rajshahi who have received death threats from an underground communist group. On February 7, a letter from Janajuddha, (People’s War), a faction of the Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP), arrived…
New York, February 11, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the brutal assault on Iqbal Hasan, the local correspondent of the daily Janakantha. On Monday, February 9, armed supporters of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) attacked the journalist in the northwestern city of Natore. Hasan, 48, was called out of his house that…
New York, February 11, 2004—Nicaraguan journalist Carlos José Guadamuz was shot dead yesterday in Nicaragua’s capital, Managua, as he was arriving to work. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) continues to investigate whether his murder is related to his journalistic work. According to local news reports, the journalist’s murder took place at around 1 p.m.…
New York, February 11, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the murder of journalist Ruel Endrinal, a commentator on radio station DZRC in Legazpi City, Albay Province in the eastern Philippines. At about 6:20 a.m. today, two unidentified gunmen shot Endrinal as he was leaving his house for the radio station. The local police…
Dear Mr. Millán: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New Yorkbased independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide, is deeply concerned about Mexican journalist Irene Medrano Villanueva, who has been threatened and harassed during the last two months in connection with her journalistic work.
New York, February 6, 2004—The Daily News, Zimbabwe’s only independent daily, decided not to publish its Friday edition following a Thursday, February 5, Supreme Court ruling upholding legislation that criminalizes the publication of unlicensed newspapers. According to international news reports, the directors of the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), the company that owns the Daily…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, is extremely concerned about deteriorating press freedom conditions in Russia. Recent steps taken by the Federal Security Service (FSB) to harass and intimidate independent journalists in retaliation for their work are particularly troubling. While FSB officials say they are safeguarding national security, journalists say they have become targets for reporting on government corruption and FSB abuses.