Israel military forces Thursday killed seven Palestinian gunmen and two Palestinian citizens in a raid on the Jenin refugee camp. The UN condemned the raid and urged both Israel and Palestine to “de-escalate tensions, restore calm, and avoid further conflict.” Amnesty International also condemned the raid, calling it “a reminder of the cost of…shameful inaction” [...]
Search Results for: journalist protection
Killings of journalists 'rose sharply' in 2022: journalist rights group
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported Tuesday that killings of journalists “rose sharply” last year, with 68 journalists being killed in 2022. This is a 50 percent increase from 2021. Of those deaths, CPJ confirmed that 41 were related to their journalistic work. CPJ continues to investigate the other 26 killings to determine if [...]
Cameroon journalist found dead with 'signs of probable torture'
Prominent Cameroonian journalist Martine Zogo was found dead on Sunday, according to press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Cameroon’s Ministry of Communication. Zogo was the director of independent radio broadcaster Amplitude FM and the host of radio show Embouteillages. Regional journalist Samari Sawlani said Zogo “had been vocal on matters related to government [...]
HRW: Rwanda conviction of opposition politician stifles free speech
Human Rights Watch (HRW) Wednesday accused the Rwandan government of manipulating the country’s justice system to stifle free speech, citing the conviction of Rwandan opposition politician Théophile Ntirutwa, a member of the unregistered Dalfa-Umurinzi opposition party. The High Court’s Rwamagana chamber sentenced Ntirutwa last month to seven years in prison for “spreading false information or harmful [...]
HRW rights report: global community must push back against rising authoritarianism
Human Rights Watch (HRW) Thursday released its 2023 World Report on the state of human rights. The report made clear that a rising tide of authoritarianism is a major threat to global human rights and that “unchecked authoritarian power leaves behind a sea of human suffering.” Authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin in Russia, Xi Jing [...]
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Wednesday expressed concern over Twitter’s recent actions and outlined a series of four recommendations for Twitter to maintain “integrity and the basic human right to freely impart and receive information.” CPJ and RSF highlighted that these four recommendations “constitute the absolute minimum steps necessary [...]
Uganda Constitutional Court declares controversial section of communications law void
The Ugandan Constitutional Court Tuesday declared a section of the Computer Misuse Act, No. 2 of 2011 void with enforcement banned. Section 25 of the act prohibited any person from “willfully and repeatedly electronic communication to disturb or attempt to disturb the peace, quiet or right of privacy of any person with no purpose of [...]
Twitter upholds suspension of JURIST Journalist in Residence Steve Herman
Twitter Monday upheld the suspension of VOA Chief National Correspondent and JURIST Journalist in Residence Steve Herman’s Twitter account. Twitter first suspended Herman’s account, along with those of other journalists, on December 15, 2022. Twitter continues to claim that Herman’s tweets, containing reference to accounts that track public flight data of Twitter owner Elon Musk, [...]
Iran journalist arrested after reporting on jailed Mahsa Amini protestors
Iranian journalist Medhi Beik was arrested Thursday, according to his wife Zahra and reformist newspaper Etemad. Beik is Etemad’s political correspondent and has been interviewing families of protestors sentenced to death for the paper. Intelligence Ministry agents detained Beik Thursday night in Tehran but have yet to released the reasons for his arrest. Zahra Beik, [...]
EU and US call for immediate deescalation of tensions in Kosovo
The EU and US in a joint Wednesday statement called for swift action in Kosovo amid rapidly rising tensions. The statement urged all parties “to exercise maximum restraint, to take immediate action to unconditionally de-escalate the situation, and to refrain from provocations, threats, or intimidation.” The statement is in response to a rapidly deteriorating situation [...]