Attacks on the Media

Journalists Muhammad Bachal Ghunio and Nisar Lehri killed amid rising violence against press in Pakistan

Pakistani authorities must immediately investigate the killings of Awaz TV reporter Muhammad Bachal Ghunio and International News Agency reporter Nisar Lehri and ensure an end to the intensifying wave of violence against journalists in the country said the Committee to Protect Journalists. “Pakistani authorities must immediately bring the perpetrators of the killings of journalists Nisar Lehri and Muhammad Bachal Ghunio to justice and show urgent political will to end the horrifying cycle of violence against journalists that has continued this year across Pakistan,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The press in Pakistan cannot carry…Read more

Pakistani journalist in hiding after police raid his home over protest reports

Pakistani police have raided the home of digital journalist Usman Khan three times, forcing him into hiding to avoid detention for his coverage of protests over alleged human rights abuses in southwestern Baluchistan province. “Pakistani police must immediately cease their attempts to detain independent journalist Usman Khan and allow the media to report on current affairs without fear of intimidation or arrest,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ Asia program coordinator. “Pakistani authorities must do more to protect independent voices across the country. We have seen an alarming uptick in attacks on the press…Read more

Nigerian security forces attack, arrest journalists covering protests

  • Posted on August 28, 2024
  • /Under Assault
The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Nigerian authorities to investigate reports that dozens of journalists were assaulted, harassed, and detained while covering cost-of-living protests, which began on August 1. CPJ is investigating multiple incidents including one in the capital Abuja on August 3, where masked security forces fired bullets and teargas at several journalists wearing “Press” vests and their media-branded cars at the national stadium. Attacks on the press have been reported across the country since July 31, including by unidentified assailants who smashed the windows of a Channels Television-branded bus carrying 11 journalists and a car carrying two journalists in the northern…Read more

Kenyan journalist Catherine Wanjeri wa Kariuki shot in leg covering protests

  • Posted on August 5, 2024
  • /Under Assault
Kenyan authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the July 16 shooting of journalist Catherine Wanjeri wa Kariuki as she covered ongoing protests in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Kariuki, a reporter for the privately owned Mediamax Network Ltd media group, was shot three times with rubber bullets across her left thigh as she covered anti-government in Nakuru County, according to Greg Onyango, a local journalist who was with Kariuki during the incident and spoke to CPJ, a statement by the Media Council of Kenya, a statutory industry…Read more

Mozambique journalist arrested, 2 harassed and robbed at protest

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday expressed alarm that police arrested one journalist and two others were robbed of equipment while covering a protest in the Mozambican capital, Maputo.  At around 6:00 p.m. on June 4, seven police officers chased and arrested Sheila Wilson while she was reporting live from a protest by hundreds of former secret service agents over alleged non-payment of pensions, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ. Wilson, a reporter with the the non-governmental organization Center for Democracy and Human Rights, was broadcasting live on the Facebook page of the advocacy…Read more

Shooters attack three Pakistani journalists in two separate incidents

Pakistan authorities must immediately investigate the attacks against journalists Haider Mastoi, Khan Muhammad Pitafi, and Chaudhry Ikhlaq, hold those responsible to account, and take steps to end the intensifying wave of violence against journalists in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On May 29, an unknown number of unidentified gunmen on three motorbikes stopped Mastoi, a reporter for Sindh News TV and Times News media outlets, and shot him four times while he was on his way home in Rohri town, located in Pakistan’s Sukkur District, according to press freedom nonprofit…Read more

4 journalists killed in Pakistan, others attacked, in May

The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply alarmed by the continued killings of journalists in Pakistan, including four in May so far, and calls on Pakistan authorities to immediately investigate these incidents, hold those responsible to account, and end the wave of violence against journalists in the country. The killings represent the highest number of journalists killed in the South Asian country in any single month  since CPJ began collecting data in 1992. On May 21, Nasrullah Gadani, a reporter for local Sindhi language newspaper Awami Awaz, was attacked by armed assailants in the…Read more

Daily Khabrain reporter Ashfaq Ahmed Sial shot dead in Punjab, Pakistan

Pakistani authorities must immediately investigate the killing of journalist Ashfaq Ahmed Sial, ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice, and take steps to prevent the ongoing violence against journalists in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On the morning of Wednesday, May 15, two masked motorcyclists shot Sial, a reporter for the Daily Khabrain newspaper, while he was on his way to work in Muzaffargarh, a city in central Punjab province, before fleeing the scene, according to local nonprofit Freedom Network and news reports. Sial was taken to a hospital, where he died from his…Read more

Ugandan journalist Juliet Kyarisiima beaten and robbed while covering land dispute

  • Posted on May 21, 2024
  • /Under Assault
Ugandan authorities must credibly investigate an assault on broadcast journalist Juliet Kyarisiima, hold the perpetrators to account, and ensure that journalists covering public events do not face violence, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On the evening of May 12, in Uganda’s western Buhweju District, three men armed with sticks and machetes assaulted freelance reporter Kyarisiima while she was covering a public meeting on a land dispute pitting the local Catholic church and its parishioners against a businessman, according to media reports and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ via telephone. The meeting, presided over…Read more

Private media outlet Class Media Group firebombed in Ghana

Authorities in Ghana should swiftly and comprehensively conclude their investigation of the April 25 firebomb attack on Class Media Group’s office, hold those responsible to account, and ensure that journalists at the media outlet can work safely, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday. On April 25, four unidentified men on two motorbikes threw petrol bombs inside the privately owned Class Media Group’s office in the Labone district of Ghana’s capital Accra, and fled the scene, according to media reports and Class Media Group Operations Officer Theodore Edwards, who spoke to CPJ by phone.  Class…Read more