Letters

  
A fire burns outside the Prothom Alo office, which was vandalized in Dhaka on December 19, 2025, amid protests following the news of the youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi’s death. (Photo: AFP/Abdul Goni)

CPJ, partners call for probe into attacks on Bangladesh news outlets

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined six civil society organizations in calling for swift, independent, and transparent investigations into violent attacks on news outlets in Bangladesh, warning of escalating threats to freedom of expression and the press ahead of the 2026 national election. The statement issued Monday follows attacks on December 18 against the offices…

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Members of the Florida National Guard and law enforcement officers monitor a protest at an entrance road of a temporary migrant detention center nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz" on the day of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump in Ochopee, Florida, U.S., July 1, 2025. REUTERS/Octavio Jones

Florida authorities drop charges against photojournalist following joint statement by CPJ, partners

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 22 press freedom and media partner organizations in a December 12 letter calling on Miami-Dade State Attorney Fernandez Rundle to drop charges against photojournalist Dave Decker. On December 16, all charges were dismissed. Decker was arrested on November 22 while covering a protest near the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Krome North…

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Burundian journalist Sandra Muhoza

127 African women journalists write to jailed Burundian Sandra Muhoza as she returns to court

Nairobi, December 18, 2025—On the first anniversary of the conviction of ailing Burundian journalist Sandra Muhoza, 127 African women journalists have written her a joint letter expressing solidarity, calling for her unconditional release, and decrying her imprisonment as robbing the public of “an important voice.” Muhoza is expected in court on December 19, a family…

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Yemeni Journalist Naseh Shakar has been detained for over two years in Aden.

CPJ, partners call for the immediate release of Yemeni journalist Naseh Shaker

The Committee to Protect Journalists and 34 other human rights and press freedom organizations, in a joint letter on December 17, 2025, urged Yemeni authorities in Aden—including both the internationally recognized government led by the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) and the de facto Southern Transitional Council (STC)—to immediately and unconditionally release freelance journalist Naseh Shaker,…

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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 joins 32 groups urging UK leader Starmer to secure Jimmy Lai’s release during China trade talks

The Committee to Protect Journalists has joined 32 organizations in calling on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to use a planned visit to China next year to push for the release of Jimmy Lai, who was convicted in Hong Kong on Monday of national security offenses. Lai, a 78-year-old British citizen and founder of the…

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Pham Doan Trang Photo for announcement (photo credit_ Paul Mooney)

CPJ, partners condemn jailing of Vietnamese journalist Pham Doan Trang on sentencing anniversary

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined eight partner organizations in a joint advocacy statement calling on Vietnam’s government to release journalist Pham Doan Trang. Trang, who is serving a nine-year prison sentence for her critical reporting, received CPJ’s 2022 International Press Freedom Award for her courage in the face of persecution. The joint statement published on December 12 was timed…

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Supporters of Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum wave Mexican flags during an event in Zocalo Square to commemorate 7 years since Sheinbaum's party, Morena, came to power, in Mexico City, Mexico, December 6, 2025. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha

CPJ, Espacio OSC call on Mexican federal mechanism to solve failures in protective measures for journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined Espacio OSC, a coalition of Mexican civil society organizations, in a joint statement expressing deep concern over irregularities in the implementation of basic protection measures for journalists by the Mexican Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists. In 2012, the federal mechanism was created in…

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FILE - Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, who represents Puerto Rico as a nonvoting member of Congress, smiles at a news conference about Puerto Rico statehood on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 29, 2019. Puerto Rico congresswoman Gonzalez-Colon beat Gov. Pedro Pierluisi in an upset during pro-statehood primary, June 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

CPJ, partners urge Puerto Rico to reject amendment restricting information access

Update: The law was signed into law on December 14. The Committee to Protect Journalists, International Press Institute, and Reporters Without Borders, led a coalition of 15 press freedom organizations in a joint statement calling for the rejection of Puerto Rico’s Senate Bill 63, which would severely limit the territory’s constitutional right to access public…

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Insein prison in Yangon, Myanmar

Human Rights Day 2025: CPJ calls on Asian governments to free imprisoned journalists

December 8, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists has written to heads of government across Asia ahead of International Human Rights Day on December 10, urging them to immediately free reporters imprisoned for their work. As of December 1, Asia holds at least 106 journalists behind bars, with China (50), Myanmar (27), and Vietnam (16) the…

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A Kenyan television channel reports on killings in Tanzania, with an image of a body on a street draped in the colours of the Tanzanian flag, on November 2.

CPJ, 29 others call on UN to act on ‘unprecedented’ rights abuses in Tanzania

Nairobi, December 5, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 29 other human rights organizations in urging member and observer states of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to “take action to prevent further abuses” in Tanzania, in the wake of a brutal government crackdown following October 29 elections. In their letter, the organizations note…

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