2012

  
CPJ
After photographer Tim Hetherington, seen here in Libya, died in April 2011, friend Sebastian Junger started an organization to train freelancers in battlefield first aid. (Reuters/Finbarr O'Reilly)

For conflict journalists, a need for first-aid training

Stop the bleeding. It’s a critical and fundamental step in aiding a journalist or anyone wounded in conflict. Hemorrhage is the number one preventable death on the battlefield. And yet large numbers of journalists covering wars and political unrest all across the world are untrained in this life-saving skill. It doesn’t need to be that…

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The body of Regina Martínez Pérez was found in her home on Saturday. (Reuters)

Body of Mexican journalist found beaten, strangled

New York, April 30, 2012–Authorities must immediately investigate the murder of Mexican journalist Regina Martínez Pérez, determine the motive, and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The body of Martínez was found in her home on Saturday evening in Xalapa, the capital of the Gulf Coast state…

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Blind lawyer spurs news blackout in China

News of blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng has been censored for months. International news reports of his escape last week from incarceration in his home in Linyi, Shandong–apparently to U.S. protection, although his whereabouts remain unclear–has only intensified that censorship. That is unlikely to stop discussion among those familiar with Chen’s case.

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Police spray tear gas at protesters Friday at Togo's Independence Plaza. (ANC Togo)

In Togo, police assault journalists, confiscate equipment

New York, April 30, 2012–Togolese police attacked and confiscated the equipment of two journalists filming an anti-government march in the capital, Lomé, on Friday. Civil society activists and human rights advocates had gathered for the demonstration on the occasion of Togo’s 52nd Independence Day, local journalists said.

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Journalist sentenced to jail for libel in Montenegro

New York, April 30, 2012–The appeals court in Montenegro must overturn a libel verdict and four-month jail sentence given to journalist Petar Komnenic, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The Montenegrin authorities, who are seeking to join the European Union, decriminalized libel after the journalist’s original conviction, according to news reports.

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Police officers stand guard during Saturday's protest. (Reuters/Bazuki Muhammad)

Journalists assaulted, detained during rally in Malaysia

Bangkok, April 30, 2012–Security forces attacked several journalists Saturday while cracking down on a rally in Kuala Lumpur, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists rejects the government’s claims that police acted with restraint and calls for an independent investigation into the attacks.

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French journalist Roméo Langlois has been missing in Colombia since Saturday. (Reuters/France 24 Television)

French journalist suspected kidnapped in Colombia

New York, April 30, 2012–A French journalist who was injured during combat between Colombian Army troops and guerrillas has gone missing and may have been kidnapped by the rebels, according to Colombian and French officials.

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Verdict postponed in landmark Thai Internet freedom case

Earlier today, press and human rights groups from around the world heard that the decision in the case of Chiranuch “Jiew” Premchaiporn, the manager of Thai online news site Prachatai, was being delayed yet another month. Chiranuch is charged under Thailand’s Computer Crime Act for 10 counts of not deleting apparently anti-monarchy comments on Prachatai’s…

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Syrian regime continues its crackdown on journalists

New York, April 27, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Syria’s continued detention of at least 13 journalists and press freedom activists–and perhaps several more–and calls on authorities to release them immediately. In many instances, authorities have not disclosed the health, whereabouts, or charges filed against the detainees.

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Mae Azango compared going into a hiding with hanging in a bat cave. (CPJ/Sheryl Mendez)

Liberian journalist Mae Azango on cold threats, hot stories

Mae Azango was not surprised when the Liberian police failed to help when she began receiving threats of violence in response to an article she had written about female genital cutting that was published on in FrontPage Africa on March 8. She had previously reported critically on the police, including a case of police brutality…

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