; Whereas, in Ethiopia, numerous journalists were arbitrarily detained in connection to their work, a trend that worsened during the civil war and continued even after the signing of a peace agreement in November 2022, and journalists faced other additional forms of censorship by Ethiopian authorities, such as repeated internet disruptions, including as recently as April 2023, and the January 2023 suspension of 15 media outlets and their representatives from operating in the country’s Somali Regional State; Whereas, in South Sudan, despite repeated calls for a credible inquiry into the killing of journalist Christopher Allen, a dual United States-United Kingdom citizen who was deliberately gunned down in August 2017 while reporting on the civil conflict in circumstances that could amount to war crimes, according to Reporters Without Borders, there has been no justice in this case; Whereas, in Somalia, freelance journalist and press freedom advocate Abdalle Ahmed Mumin faced months of legal harassment, including being detained several times and later being convicted of disobeying government orders in connection to his objection to government plans to censor media coverage of press freedom issues, and Mr. Mumin was released on March 26, 2022, after more than a month in prison; Whereas, in Burundi, journalist Floriane Irangabiye is serving a 10-year prison term, following a January 2023 conviction stemming from her critical commentary on governance issues in the country; Whereas, across Latin America and the Caribbean, authoritarian regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela continue their longstanding practice of stifling dissent by threatening, harassing, and detaining independent journalists and other media actors, and the Committee to Protect Journalists documented 30 journalists killed in Latin America in 2022, reflecting the outsize risk journalists in the region face while covering topics such as crime, corruption, gang violence, and the environment