Statements

New York, December 18, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of NBC correspondent Richard Engel and three crew members on Monday following five days of captivity in Syria.

New York, November 29, 2012 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the Internet and cell phone shutdown in Syria today which disconnects Syrians from the world as they endure conflict.

New York, November 29, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by recommendations to adopt government regulation of the press resulting from the United Kingdom's Leveson inquiry report issued today.

New York, November 6, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is saddened by the deaths of four Peruvian journalists who perished Monday in a car accident in the central  highlands Junín region while on assignment, according to news reports. 

New York, October 30, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest and possible imprisonment of Greek journalist Kostas Vaxevanis, a troubling sign of deteriorating press freedom in the country.

New York, October 5, 2012 - As the sixth anniversary of Anna Politkovskaya's brutal murder nears, the Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned by the complete absence of justice in her killing despite government pledges to solve the crime.

New York, October 5, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrest of three independent Cuban bloggers and calls for their immediate release. Yoani Sánchez, one of Cuba's most prominent bloggers, was detained yesterday along with her husband, journalist Reinaldo Escobar, and blogger Agustín Díaz in the city of Bayamo, according to news reports. 

New York, October 3, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern today for a missing Tibetan filmmaker whom colleagues fear may have been detained. 

New York, September 27, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today's passage of a Human Rights Council Resolution on the Safety of Journalists. The resolution represents a robust effort to secure action that will safeguard journalists and deliver justice if they are killed.

Nairobi, September 10, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is relieved to learn the Ethiopian government has pardoned Swedish journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye today.

New York, August 16, 2012--Japanese authorities should release two Phoenix TV journalists detained Wednesday while covering Chinese protesters landing on a disputed territory between Japan and China, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

New York, August 6, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the arrest and alleged beating of a New York Times photographer while he was on assignment Saturday evening in New York City.

"The report by The New York Times on the arrest of its photographer, Robert Stolarik, raises questions about police tactics of blocking reporters covering street unrest and protests," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "The New York City Police Department must investigate this disturbing incident and ensure that officers allow all journalists to do their job freely."

New York, July 13, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the harsh prison sentences issued by Ethiopia's High Court today for blogger Eskinder Nega and five independent journalists on vague and politically motivated terrorism charges.  

New York, July 6, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the arrest of prominent Mexican journalist Sanjuana Martínez Thursday in Nuevo León under unclear circumstances related to a civil custody dispute. The judge who ordered the detention was the subject of critical reporting by Martínez in 2008.

New York, June 27, 2012-The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today's conviction of Ethiopian blogger Eskinder Nega on baseless terrorism charges. "The Ethiopian government has once again succeeded in misusing the law to silence critical and independent reporting," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "The charges against Eskinder are baseless and politically motivated in reprisal for his writings. His conviction reiterates that Ethiopia will not hesitate to punish a probing press by imprisoning journalists or pushing them into exile."

New York, June 26, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns personal attacks made by Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa on Gustavo Cortez, editor of the leading daily El Universo. 

New York, June 7, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the final approval yesterday of a constitutional amendment that makes attacks on the press a federal offense in Mexico, a country where journalists are regularly targeted for their work.    

New York, May 30, 2012-The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today's release of French journalist Roméo Langlois who was held hostage for more than a month by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

San Francisco, May 30, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today's conviction of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, webmaster of the Prachatai discussion board, under Thailand's Computer Crimes Act. The court's decision, which affirms that website operators can be criminally liable for the content of user comments, chills online press freedom in the country, and leaves Thai news sites vulnerable to unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions.

New York, May 3, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murders of Mexican photographers Gabriel Huge and Guillermo Luna Varela, whose bodies were found today in La Zamorana canal in Veracruz state, according to news reports.

New York, May 1, 2012--The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) must immediately and unconditionally release French journalist Roméo Langlois, who was captured Saturday during a confrontation with Colombian armed forces, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. An alleged FARC member has reportedly told Colombian journalists that the leftist rebel group is holding Langlois as a prisoner of war.

New York, March 26, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by the one-month suspension of pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem, and calls on the Turkish government to allow the newspaper to function. 

New York, March 15, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by the illegal foreign travel ban on at least four independent journalists in Belarus, and calls on the government of Aleksandr Lukashenko to immediately restore their freedom of movement.

New York, March 13, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the Mexican Senate's approval today of a constitutional amendment that makes attacks on the press a federal offense and calls on authorities to end the widespread impunity for crimes against journalists. 

New York, March 12, 2012--The release of Turkish journalists Nedim Şener, Ahmet Şık, Muhammet Sait Çakır, and Coşkun Musluk, who are among dozens of journalists imprisoned in Turkey for alleged participation in a purported antistate plot known as Ergenekon, is a welcome development, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, March 8, 2012--A vote by a commission of UNESCO's executive board to rename the discredited Obiang prize is a blow to the credibility of the organization, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Meeting in Paris, the commission voted to change the name of the prize to "International UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea Prize" and for UNESCO to move ahead with the implementation.

New York, March 8, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the threats made against Khadija Ismailova, an Azerbaijani journalist known for her investigations into high-level corruption, including secret, offshore businesses of President Ilham Aliyev's family.   

New York, March 7, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by the Turkish prime minister's repeated use of CPJ statistics to misrepresent and undermine the serious repression faced by journalists in Turkey.

March 5, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that three journalists and one blogger covering opposition protests in Russia are being held without charge in a Moscow police station.

New York, March, 1, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the news that two French journalists injured in Homs last week have reached safety in Lebanon. "We are relieved that Edith Bouvier and William Daniels are now safe but are concerned that the Syrian government's assault on Homs has made it impossible to retrieve the bodies of our colleagues Marie Colvin and  Rémi Ochlik," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. "We remain deeply concerned for the safety of all Syrian journalists who are risking their lives to report on the unrest across the country."

New York, February, 24, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists supports efforts by the international community to impose an immediate cease-fire in Syria to allow for the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and a cessation of hostilities. Two journalists injured in Wednesday's Homs attack require urgent medical attention and evacuation. The bodies of two more journalists have also been trapped in Homs since they were killed on Wednesday.

New York, February 23, 2012--Syrian authorities must allow urgent medical aid to reach journalists wounded in the government shelling of Homs on Wednesday, and they must allow immediate evacuation of the dead and injured, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

New York, February 22, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the killings in Syria of international journalists Marie Colvin and Rémi Ochlik, who died this morning during shelling of the besieged city of Homs.

New York, February 16, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply saddened by the death of New York Times foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid, a towering figure in international crisis reporting. Shadid perished following an apparent asthma attack while on assignment in Syria.

New York, February 16, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrests of 14 journalists, bloggers, and press freedom activists with the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM). The group has played a key role in getting out information about daily developments in Syria as foreign journalists are virtually banned from the country.

New York, February 16, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged that Ecuador's highest court upheld today a libel conviction brought by President Rafael Correa against the Guayaquil-based daily El Universo. 

New York, February 13, 2012--The expulsion of prominent French journalist and author Anne Nivat from Russia today, on alleged violation of her visa status, indicates an increasingly restrictive environment for journalists in the lead-up to Russia's presidential election, said the Committee to Protect Journalists.