CPJ Report: BBC journalist questioned by US border agents, devices searched

February 1, 2017 By administrator

New York, February 1, 2017—Customs and Border Protection officers should respect the rights of journalists to protect confidential information when subjecting international reporters to screening on their arrival to the U.S., the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Ali Hamedani, a reporter for BBC World Service, told CPJ that border agents detained him at Chicago O’Hare airport for over two hours and questioned him when he arrived in the U.S. on January 29 to interview a Persian singer. The journalist, who said he was traveling on a Media I Visa, told CPJ that agents searched his phone and computer and read his Twitter feed.

Hamedani told CPJ that when he traveled to the U.S. on the same visa in November he did not have any issues at the border. The detention of the British-Iranian journalist came two days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning entry to the U.S. for 90 days for individuals from seven countries, including Iran.

Link: https://www.cpj.org/2017/02/bbc-journalist-questioned-by-us-border-agents-devi.php

CPJ Committee 2016 International Press Freedom Awards dinner

November 23, 2016 By administrator

CPJ’s 2016 International Press Freedom Award winners Óscar Martínez, Malini Subramaniam, and Can Dündar join the campaign calling on Egypt to #FreeShawkan, an Egyptian journalist who has been in jail since 2013. Shawkan was also honored with CPJ’s 2016 award. (Getty Images/Jeff Zelevansky)

Last night, many of CPJ’s friends and supporters gathered at CPJ’s 2016 International Press Freedom Awards dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York to honor courageous journalists who face reprisal in pursuit of the news.

Many of you were there, and heard the speeches made by the award winners — Malini Subramaniam from India, Can Dündar from Turkey, and Óscar Martínez from El Salvador. But for those of you who weren’t able to make it, you can watch a video of their speeches, or read them, by clicking on the links in their names in this paragraph.

One of CPJ’s 2016 awardees — Mahmoud Abou Zeid, or Shawkan, from Egypt — could not be there as he has been languishing behind bars in Egypt for three years. CPJ will hold his award until he can attend a CPJ awards dinner and accept it in person. For now, you can join our campaign to free him. Take a photo of yourself holding a sign that says #FreeShawkan and tweet it with the hashtag. Add your voice to the thousands of others calling on Egypt to #FreeShawkan.

The night ended with a resounding call to action by Christiane Amanpour , CNN’s chief international correspondent and anchor, who was honored with CPJ’s 2016 Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom. “If ever there’s a time to celebrate, honor, protect, and mobilize for press freedom and basic good journalism, it’s now,” Amanpour told the room. (Click on the link in this paragraph to watch a video of Amanpour’s speech, or read it.)

We hope you had fun last night. And if you weren’t able to make it, there’s always next year!

CPJ testifies on Turkey’s press freedom record after failed coup attempt

September 14, 2016 By administrator

Turkish journalist Can Dündar and his wife, Dilek, who had her passport confiscated in September. (Reuters/Osman Orsal)

CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova today testified before the Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats Subcommittee of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, at the hearing, “Turkey after the July Coup Attempt.”

Ognianova focused on how Turkey’s crackdown on critical and independent media in Turkey has accelerated in the aftermath of a failed attempted coup on July 15, when rogue military officers tried to topple the government of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

In less than two months, authorities have detained more than 100 journalists, shut down more than 100 media outlets, censored at least 30 news websites, and stripped more than 600 members of the press of their credentials, Ognianova told the subcommittee. The scope of the purge has spread beyond the requirements of the safety and security of the Turkish state. Multiple journalists have had passports cancelled, others have been forced into exile to avoid politically motivated prosecution and imprisonment, and there have been reports of journalists being mistreated in custody. The punitive actions have been extended to journalists’ family members, including Dilek Dündar, the wife of prominent journalist and International Press Freedom Awardee Can Dündar. Turkish authorities confiscated her passport without explanation earlier this month.

In addition to highlighting Turkey’s key methods of censorship, Ognianova made recommendations to U.S. government leaders on how to affect positive change. “While it is important to condemn the coup attempt of July 15, we strongly urge Turkey’s international partners, specifically the United States, to condemn the continuing purge of opposition and independent media that has followed the attempted coup,” she said.

Ognianova urged the U.S. not to honor Turkish arrest warrants issued for journalists in the post-coup purge, and to encourage other countries to also not honor the warrants.

To read CPJ’s full testimony and recommendations, click here.

CPJ-News Alert: Turkey, photographer denied entry and freelance journalist goes on trial #ArmenianGenocide

April 8, 2015 By administrator

News Alert

Istanbul, April 8, 2015—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to improve conditions for international reporters after news reports said German freelance photographer Andy Spyra, who flew to Istanbul to cover the anniversary of the Armenian massacre, was denied entry to the country. Separately, the trial of Dutch freelance journalist Fréderike Geerdink, who is facing terrorism charges over her reporting on the Kurdish minority, began today, according to news reports.
“Turkey has become increasingly hostile to international journalists, particularly those who cover sensitive topics, such as the plight of the Kurdish and Armenian minorities,” CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. “We call on Turkish authorities to allow journalists to do their work freely, including by scrapping the absurd criminal case against Fréderike Geerdink and allowing entry to Andy Spyra.”
On March 29, Turkish authorities expelled Spyra, who had arrived in Istanbul the day before on assignment for the German magazine Der Spiegel, according to local and international press reports. He was denied entry to the country, detained overnight at the airport, and then put on a plane to Germany, reports said. After he was expelled, Spyra told reporters he had intended to cover the 100th anniversary of the Armenian massacre, a sensitive topic in Turkey. The government refuses to use the term genocide even though historians believe about 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
When he arrived at Istanbul’s Atatürk international airport, plain-clothes security officers took Spyra aside and searched his luggage, paying special attention to his camera and other reporting equipment, according to multiple press reports. Despite support from the German Embassy, authorities citing “security reasons” sent him back to Germany, according to reports. Spyra told reporters that Turkish authorities accused him of having ties to Islamic extremists.
Separately, at today’s hearing in Geerdink’s trial at a criminal court in the southeast regional capital of Diyarbakir, a prosecutor who recently took over the case called for the journalist to be acquitted of all charges. The court is expected to rule in the case on April 13, and Geerdink’s attorney said an acquittal is expected, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Geerdink was indicted on February 1 with “making propaganda” for the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) through her reporting and social media posts, according to CPJ research. On January 6, terrorism police raided Geerdink’s home, reports said. The journalist, who has been based in Diyarbakir since 2012, was briefly detained and interrogated the same day as part of an investigation into allegations that she created “propaganda for a terrorist organization,” reports said.
A Diyarbakir prosecutor claimed at the time that Geerdink was spreading propaganda through social media posts and her regular column for the independent Turkish news website Diken, according to news reports. As her portfolio on the writers’ platform Beacon shows, Geerdink focuses on covering the plight of the Kurdish minority, politics, and human rights in Turkey.
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CPJ is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.
Contact:
Nina Ognianova
Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator
Tel. +1.212.465.1004 ext. 106
Email: nognianova@cpj.org

Muzaffar Suleymanov

CPJ: First step toward better safety for freelancers

February 27, 2015 By administrator

CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists
News agencies, press freedom organizations, and advocacy groups came together this month to address mounting concerns over the hiring and safety of freelance journalists. While dangers to freelancers have always been present, last year international journalists made up nearly a quarter of journalists killed, about double the proportion CPJ has documented in recent years. The murders of freelancers James Foley, Steven Sotloff, and Kenji Goto by the militant group Islamic State prompted an unprecedented collaboration between stakeholders. CPJ is proud to have helped draft guidelines for a global standard that will protect freelancers whom outlets are increasingly dependent on for stories, especially from hostile environments.

“We see this as a first step in a long-term campaign to convince news organizations and journalists to adopt these standards globally. In a time of journalistic peril, news organizations and journalists must work together to protect themselves, their profession, and their vital role in global society,” an introduction to the guidelines states.

The guidelines have attracted widespread support from international news media and journalist advocacy organizations. More than 30 organizations, including CPJ, have signed on. Prominent signatories include The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, BBC, GlobalPost, the Frontline Freelance Register, Reuters, Reporters Without Borders, the Rory Peck Trust, and RISC (Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues).

The guidelines were released at a press conference with CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney at Columbia University on February 12. James Foley’s mother, Diane, also attended. “I am so encouraged by this gathering,” she said. “It’s a huge step.”

CPJ: Azerbaijan and Turkey among top 10 worst jailers of journalists in world

December 17, 2014 By administrator

The international organisation “Committee to Protect Journalists” (CPJ) compiled a list of journalists imprisoned for their work. Azerbaijan and Turkey are among the top 10 worst jailers of journalists in the world in 2014. The statement is posted on the official website of the organization.

“In Azerbaijan, authorities were jailing nine journalists, up one from the previous year. Amid a crackdown on traditional media, some activists took to social networking sites in an attempt to give the public an alternative to state media. CPJ’s list does not include at least four activists imprisoned in Azerbaijan this year for creating and managing Facebook groups on which they and others posted a mix of commentary and news articles about human rights abuses and allegations of widespread corruption,” the statement reads,” the statement notes.

CPJ’s list is a snapshot of those incarcerated on December 1, 2014. It does not include the many journalists imprisoned and released throughout the year. The Committee to Protect Journalists identified 220 journalists in jail around the world in 2014, an increase of nine from 2013. China takes the first place in the list with 44 journalists, and the second place belongs to neighboring Iran with 30 journalist held in prisons. Twenty percent, or 45, of the journalists imprisoned globally were being held with no charge disclosed.

Source: Panorama.am

CPJ: Turkey has fearful journalism climate

October 2, 2014 By administrator

Turkish journalists gather to protest attacks on journalists and media freedom in Ankara on May 3. (Photo: AP)

October 02, 2014, Thursday/ AP / ISTANBUL

An international media freedom watchdog said that while Turkey has released many journalists from prison recently, the government is creating a more fearful climate for critical media.

The chairman of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Sandy Rowe, and counterparts from the International Press Institute (IPI) are meeting Turkish officials on Thursday, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The CPJ has previously cited Turkey as being the world’s worst offender for imprisoning journalists. But Rowe said all but 10 journalists have been released, though some only conditionally.

Still, after discussions with journalists in Turkey, she said the government has failed to stop intimidating journalists who have published critical material.

“What we have heard from them consistently is that the overall conditions and climate of fear and intimidation that many journalists feel has increased,” she said.

She noted that journalists who come under government criticism are often threatened by its supporters on social media.

“It, of course, tracks immediately to social media and it is going way beyond name calling on criticism and it includes threats of harm — threats of real bodily harm or murder,” she said. “That’s very troubling; it shouldn’t happen and in the case of Turkey we wish the government would speak out against it.”

Rowe also criticized the government for restrictions on the Internet and social media, noting the temporary blocks on Twitter and YouTube by the government this year. Turkey’s high court later overturned the blocks, calling them unconstitutional.

CPJ and IPI were expected to issue a statement following their meetings in Ankara.