Conflict Journalism

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has demanded the immediate release of two Yemeni journalists who have been held without charge since August 16 and accused the Yemeni government of broken promises for backtracking on pledges to allow journalists in the country to work freely. Abdelelaah Shaie, a reporter working for the official Yemeni News Agency (SABA), and Kmal Sharaf, a...

Kurdish publications have again been suspended or seized under the Anti-Terrorism Law (Law 3713), which allows the Turkish courts to impose harsh penalties on journalists and media when they allude to Kurdish armed separatists and fosters a repressive climate for the Kurdish media. Although the European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly condemned Turkey because of the Anti-Terrorism Law, the...

A Norwegian journalist has been granted unprecedented access to the Taliban army for the first time. The journalist, Norwegian Paul Refsdal, says Taliban leader Commander Dawran granted him the access and allowed him to film the enemy soldiers while they attacked a US convoy. The Taliban leader also allowed Refsdal to film him with his two children. The children were later allegedly killed in a US...

Twenty-five journalists were held by the Yemeni army as they tried to attend a peace conference in the north of Yemen over the last weekend. According to the Yemen Post, the journalists, from local, national and foreign press had been invited by tribal elders in the region to cover and attend the National Peace Conference. Since 2004, permits have been required for travel to the northern region of...

The body of Kamal Qassim Mohamed, the deputy editor of the magazine Al-Mustaqila, was found in Baghdad Tuesday, six days after his abduction by gunmen. He had been shot. His killers have not been identified. “The authorities have a duty to shed light on Kamal Qassim Mohamed’s murder,” Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said. “A proper investigation must be carried out...

Veteran radio journalist Barkhat Awale was killed by crossfire Tuesday in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, the Commitee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported quoting local journalists and news reports. He is the second journalist killed on duty in Somalia this year, according to CPJ. Awale, 60, director of the community radio station Hurma Radio, was on the roof of the station assisting a...

Yemeni authorities have illegally detained journalists Abdul Ilah Haydar Shae and Kamal Sharaf for the past week. They were arrested in Sanaa on August 16 and 17 at a time when government forces are stepping up a military offensive in the south of the country against militants linked with Al-Qaeda. “The fight against terrorism does not justify the force disappearance of journalists,” Reporters...

The Turkish interior ministry has deported US journalist Jake Hess and ban him from re-entering the country. Arrested by anti-terrorist police in the mainly Kurdish southeastern province of Diyarbakir on August 11, Hess was deported on August 20 after being held for nine days. In its release in response to Hess' arrest, Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) had demanded...

Ridwan Salamun, a cameraman working for SUN TV, was hacked to death in Tual, in the eastern Indonesian province of Maluku, on August 21 by a group of villagers who did not welcome his attempt to cover a clash with residents of a neighbouring village, Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. “A thorough investigation is urgently needed so that those responsible...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Yemeni authorities to release Abdulelah Hider Shaea, a Yemeni journalist who covers Islamist groups including Al-Qaeda. Armed security forces arrested Shaea on Monday after raiding his family home, according to news reports. Shaea is a reporter for the official Saba News Agency and a frequent commentator and contributor to Al-Jazeera. He is...