Darfur

New York, July 12, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a decision by the Security and National Intelligence Service to bar publication of the daily Al-Intibaha. Authorities suspended the newspaper last week because of the newspaper’s supposed role “in strengthening separatist tendencies in the south and the north,” a security official told local reporters.

New York, June 7, 2010—The Sudanese government should halt ongoing newspaper censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today, after at least two papers failed to appear on newsstands over the weekend.

New York, March 18, 2010—Sudan’s official press regulator, the National Press Council, should drop its investigation of two editors accused of insulting President Omar al-Bashir, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

Yass Omar al-Imam, editor-in-chief of the pro-opposition daily Rai al-Shaab, and Fayez al-Silaik, acting editor-in-chief of the independent daily Ajras al-Hurriya, were questioned Monday by officials with the National Press Council according to news reports. 

Sudan's execution this week of nine men found guilty of involvement in the 2006 assassination of editor Mohammed Taha Mohammed Ahmed, left, is seen by many there as an outrageous miscarriage of justice, spurred by a thirst on the part of President Omar al-Bashir's regime for settling scores with the rebellious region of Darfur.

New York, October 14, 2008--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about a criminal lawsuit that has been filed against the editor of The Citizen newspaper in Southern Sudan and calls on authorities to drop the case immediately.

About a week ago I mentioned a South China Morning Post article, "Screws tighten on mainland journalists" that outlined a 21-point memo that had come down from the Central Propaganda Department in July, giving guidelines for China's media coverage during the Olympics. These sorts of directives are typically disseminated across the country, to editors at every newspaper and broadcaster by the Central Propaganda Department. This list is a broad one, but during breaking stories very specific directives can come down daily, even hourly when necessary. For an example of what they look like, here's a selection from our pre-Olympics report, Falling Short. 

Basketball star Yao Ming carried the Olympic torch through Tiananmen Square today in the triumphant final leg of a relay fraught with protest. His long-legged saunter under the gaze of Mao's portrait captured headlines in today's Web news outlets, along with speculation about who will light the torch at the opening ceremony of the Games on Friday.

Also in the news was the start of Olympic competition in Tianjin, which brought an auspicious win. The Chinese women's soccer team beat Sweden 2-1.

New York, May 29, 2008—CPJ is deeply troubled by the death of award-winning photojournalist Trent Keegan, whose body was found on Wednesday in a ditch in Nairobi, Kenya.

Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told Agence France-Presse that Keegan was found with head injuries in a drainage trench along a central highway. Police have opened an inquest, he said.

“This is a devastating loss for those who knew Trent Keegan, a photographer who worked to document people in need of a voice around the world,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes. “The Kenyan police must act decisively to bring whoever killed Keegan to justice. Time is of the essence here, as it is in all murder investigations.”