Middle East & North Africa

  
Jordan journalists

CPJ, human rights organizations urge Jordanian authorities to reverse decision to block websites

In a joint statement, the Committee to Protect Journalists and 23 other human rights organizations called on the Jordanian government to immediately reverse the May 14 decision to block 12 websites and lift the ban on all affected platforms unconditionally. The statement urges the government to publicly disclose the legal basis for the actions against…

Read More ›

Hong Kong Journalists Association chairperson Selina Cheng said the audits contained errors and were “unreasonable.” (Photo: AP Photo/Kanis Leung)

Tax audits target Hong Kong journalists, news outlets as press freedom concerns intensify

New York, May 22, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply alarmed by multiple reports of “unreasonable” tax audits targeting at least six Hong Kong independent media outlets and around 20 journalists and their families, and calls on the Hong Kong government to end its weaponization of financial and tax measures against the press. The Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP),…

Read More ›

Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a statement on Defence spending at Downing Street on February 25, 2025 in London, England. Earlier today Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a commitment to increase the UK's defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, along with the goal of increasing it to 3% during the next parliament. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS

CPJ, others call on UK prime minister to exert diplomatic pressure to secure writer Alaa Abdelfattah’s release

In a joint letter, the Committee to Protect Journalists and 31 other press freedom and human rights organizations urged UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to intensify his diplomatic efforts to secure Egyptian-British writer Alaa Abdelfattah’s release. The letter follows a February call between Starmer and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, which has yet to yield…

Read More ›

European Council President Antonio Costa, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen attend a press conference at the UK-EU summit at Lancaster House on May 19, 2025 in London, England. Carl Court/Pool via REUTERS

EU decision on Israel must turn into action, CPJ says

New York, May 20, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Tuesday’s decision by European Union foreign ministers to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which sets out the EU’s legal and institutional framework for political dialogue and economic cooperation with Israel. The review could in principle lead to a suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. CPJ has been calling for…

Read More ›

Unexploded ordnance lie on the ground on a street, after the Sudanese army deepened its control over Khartoum from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Sudan April 27, 2025. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig

Sudanese photojournalist Al-Shykh Al-Samany Saadaldyn killed in drone strike

New York, May 20, 2025 –The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for an investigation into the May 18 killing of Sudanese freelance photojournalist Al-Shykh Al-Samany Saadaldyn Mousa Abdulla, also known as “Sheikho,” who was killed in a suspected paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) drone strike on Sunday while covering an event organized by the Sudan Shield Forces, a pro Sudanese…

Read More ›

(Screenshot: TNN TunisiaNews/YouTube)

Tunisian journalist’s health rapidly deteriorates in prison hunger strike

New York, May 16, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Tunisian authorities to immediately grant medical care to jailed journalist Chadha Hadj Mbarek, who went on hunger strike Wednesday after she was repeatedly denied emergency medical attention for various ailments. “Denying medical care to journalist Chadha Hadj Mbarek, whose health is deteriorating in prison, is inhumane and risks…

Read More ›

People walk past street vendors outside a mosque in Amman, Jordan, in 2018.

Jordan bans 12 news sites for ‘spreading media poison’ following corruption report

Beirut, May 16, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Jordanian authorities to lift Wednesday’s ban on a dozen online news outlets for “spreading media poison and attacking Jordan,” following the publication of allegations that the government unfairly profited from aid to Gaza. “The Jordanian Media Commission’s decision to block 12 media websites is deeply alarming,”…

Read More ›

A Palestinian youth takes pictures with his phone during an anti-Hamas protest, calling for an end to the war with Israel, in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on March 26, 2025.

Gaza journalists speak out about Hamas intimidation, threats, assaults

New York, May 15, 2025—When Gazan journalist Tawfiq Abu Jarad received a phone call from a Hamas security agent warning him not to cover a protest, he readily complied, having been assaulted by Hamas-affiliated forces once before.     The April 27 women’s anti-war demonstration in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahia was small but significant — one of…

Read More ›

In this 2017 photo, U.S. President Donald Trump (right) shakes hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

CPJ, partners condemn Saudi Arabia’s press freedom record ahead of Trump’s visit

Ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia on May 13, the Committee to Protect Journalists and 16 other human rights organizations condemned the kingdom’s deteriorating press freedom, including journalists’ arrests, travel bans, surveillance, and disinformation aimed at silencing the media. The groups called on Saudi authorities to release all detained journalists, lift…

Read More ›

A mural of slain of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on a wall in Gaza City in 2022.

Documentary names soldier it says killed Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022

New York, May 8, 2025—As the third anniversary of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder nears, a documentary offering new evidence about her killing highlights the failure of American and international authorities in investigating the case and securing justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. The documentary “Who Killed Shireen?”, produced by U.S.-based media…

Read More ›