Middle East & North Africa

New York, February 6, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns official attacks on journalists covering political unrest in Egypt this weekend. At least two journalists were shot by security forces in the past three days, and a third journalist was assaulted in police custody, according to news reports.

New York, February 6, 2012--A Tunisian appeals court should throw out the prison sentence against journalist Abdel Aziz al-Jaridi at a February 10 hearing and authorities should use his case as an opportunity to break from the repressive practices of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's era, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

New York, February 3, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention and harassment in Iran of relatives of BBC Persian service staff who work outside the country, which is part of a sustained campaign to intimidate journalists into not reporting critically on Tehran's activities.

Last week, Twitter provoked a fierce debate online when it announced a new capability--and related policy--to hide tweets on a country-specific basis. By building this feature into its website's basic code, Twitter said it hoped to offer a more tailored response to legal demands to remove tweets globally. The company will inform users if any tweet they see has been obscured, and provide a record of all demands to remove content with the U.S.-based site chillingeffects.org.

New York, February 2, 2012--At least 10 Iranian journalists were jailed in the month of January as the government continued its crackdown on dissent ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled in March, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Recent news reports identified three previously undisclosed arrests.

New York, January 25, 2012--Algeria's new media law falls short of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's promises of reform and also fails to meet international standards for freedom of expression, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

New York, January 24, 2012--Iraq's Journalist Protection Law falls short of international standards of freedom of expression and should immediately be repealed, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

The doses of freedom that the Tunisian revolution injected into national media have not been sufficient to revive it after decades of systematic destruction. It is not surprising that our evaluation of media one year after the tyrant fell reveals more negativity and pessimism.

New York, January 20, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the most recent spate of press freedom violations in Iran and calls on authorities to immediately reverse its crackdown on the press. 

New York, January 18, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Sudan's routine use of newspaper closures as a means to censor critical reporting. Over two weeks, the authorities have shut down and confiscated the assets of two daily newspapers.