Middle East & North Africa

The Committee to Protect Journalists, in partnership with the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)—an independent, nonprofit civil society organization—has submitted a report on the state of human rights in Kuwait to the United Nations Human Rights Council ahead of Kuwait’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session on May 7, 2025. The UPR, a United Nations…

The Committee to Protect Journalists and 40 other press freedom and human rights organizations have condemned the worsening repression of journalists in Yemen. Journalists continue to face grave threats in areas controlled by both the Houthis and the internationally recognized government. Violations — ranging from arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance to unfair trials — are…

New York, May 6, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for an investigation into the May 2 killing of Sudanese journalist Hassan Fadl Al-Mawla Mousa, who was shot dead as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took control of the desert town of Al-Nuhud in the south-central province of West Kordofan. Fadl Al-Mawla was a…

Paris, May 6, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the intensifying crackdown on press freedom in Iran, including the recent conviction of six media directors and founders, and urges the Iranian authorities to immediately cease their systematic persecution of journalists and media organizations. “These systematic attacks are clear examples of censorship, media repression, and obstruction…

Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, May 5, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the suspension of the Iraqi political talk show Al-Haq Yuqal (The Truth Be Told), hosted by journalist Adnan Al-Taie on UTV, and urges Iraqi authorities to reverse the decision and ensure that media outlets can freely and independently operate. “The suspension of Al-Haq Yuqal talk show without citing…

New York, May 2, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Moroccan authorities to stop suppressing independent reporting from the occupied Western Sahara, after two Italian freelance journalists became the latest to be deported from the disputed territory. “The deportation of Italian journalist Matteo Garavoglia and photographer Giovanni Colmoni is yet another sign of Morocco’s…

Washington, D.C., April 28, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the April 26 Houthi drone strike that killed journalist and filmmaker Musab al-Hattami and injured his brother, photographer Suhaib al-Hattami while they were working near the central Yemeni city of Marib. “The killing of Musab Al-Hattami is yet another stark reminder to the international community…

Sulaymaniyah, April 28, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned over an arson threat made by the Raba Allah militia against Al Rabiaa TV in Iraq, which led to the deployment of security forces outside its headquarters for one day. On April 24, Raba Allah, which is part of the powerful Iranian-backed militia Kataib…

New York, April 24, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Sudan’s military to lift its travel ban on Emtithal Abdel Fadil, a reporter for the local independent Al-Jarida newspaper, which the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) imposed after detaining her for three days. “The detention and travel ban imposed on Emtithal Abdel Fadil by the…

Washington, D.C., April 18, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns Wednesday’s arrest of Yemeni journalist Awad Kashmeem, head of the Freedoms Committee at the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate’s Hadramout branch, by local authorities in the country’s eastern Hadramout governorate. “We are deeply concerned about the arrest of Awad Kashmeem in Yemen. His latest detention is…