West Asia - North Africa

Israeli soldiers attacked a group of local photojournalists in the West Bank last week as they were covering demonstrations in the area for three international news agencies, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). IFJ has learnt that three photographers were attacked by soldiers on Saturday as they covered a demonstration taking place in Beit Omar, near Hebron. They were...

An Egyptian journalist in Riyadh, who works as a correspondent of Kuwait's Al-Rai Arabic newspaper, was injured in a gun attack on Wednesday, according to arabnews.com. Subhi Rakha, the journalist, was attacked by a group of Saudi youths after he tried to settle a quarrel between them and an Egyptian with the help of others. The young men, after the quarrel had seemingly been settled, opened fire...

Iran has detained two more journalists, according to Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Abdolreza Tajik, who writes for reformist newspapers in Iran including Fath, Bonyan, Bahar, and Shargh, was arrested on June 12. Tajik's sister told US government-backed Farsi-language Radio Farda that her brother was arrested after being summoned to Tehran’s Intelligence Ministry. After a month of not...

More than 50 journalists gathered in Sulaymaniyah’s Naly Park at 6 p.m. Wednesday to pay tribute to journalist Soran Hama Mama on the second anniversary of his death. The journalists and Mama’s relatives accused the local authorities of showing no interest in shedding any light on his murder. The gathering was addressed by Ahmed Mira, the editor of Lvin (the independent newspaper for which Mama...

Three pro-Fatah Palestinian newspapers published in the West Bank have been barred from distribution in the Gaza Strip, and told not to criticise the Hamas government in order to be permitted into the country, according to the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Index on Censorship. MADA has also condemned the use of tear gas...

The Tunisian government confiscated copies of AlMowqef, the weekly newspaper of the Progressive Democratic opposition party, without giving any justification and without a court order being issued on July 16, according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). Members of the Progressive Democratic Party and newspaper readers were surprised to find the paper missing from all...

Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Court has been urged to disclose details about the decision to establish a new press court and to explain the mechanisms under which it will operate. Abd As-Satir Birkdar, spokesman for the Supreme Judicial Court, which announced the creation of the court on July 11, told Al-Mada newspaper that the court is being established in accordance with the Judicial Organization Law...

Al-Mawkif, an opposition weekly belonging to the Progressive Democratic Party in Tunisia has apparently been censored, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Rachid Khechana, Al-Mawkif editor-in-chief, told CPJ that 10,000 copies of the newspaper’s Friday edition disappeared from newsstands, apparently confiscated by security agents. Although a small number of...

A Khartoum criminal court on Thursday sentenced three senior members of the opposition daily Rai Al Shaab (People’s Opinion) to jail terms ranging two to five years on charges of “publishing incorrect information” and “attacking the state with a view to undermining the constitutional system.” Deputy editor Abuzur Al Amin was given a five-year sentence while editor Ashraf Abdelaziz, and political...

Those responsible for Zahra Kazemi's death have enjoyed complete impunity for the past seven years, thanks in part to the silence and passivity of the international bodies that are supposed to protect human rights. Mistreatment, rape and torture are common in Iranian prisons. Those behind the murders of prisoners, such as former Tehran prosecutor general Sayeed Mortazavi, continue to hold