Iraq Archives - Committee to Protect Journalists

A tribute to victims of an April 2018 suicide attack in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, that killed at least nine journalists. (AP/Rahmat Gul)

Getting Away with Murder

October 29, 2018 11:00 AM EDT

CPJ’s 2018 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free By Elisabeth Witchel, CPJ Impunity Campaign Consultant Impunity is entrenched in 14 nations, according to CPJ’s 2018 Global Impunity Index, which ranks states with the worst records of prosecuting the killers of journalists.

Iraqis shout slogans as security forces form a human barrier during ongoing protests in the southern city of Basra on August 5, 2018. Between July 14 and September 6, 2018, at least seven Iraqi journalists were assaulted or detained while covering protests, and the offices of two local media outlets were set on fire. (AFP/Haidar Mohammed Ali)

Iraqi authorities shut down internet, detain and assault journalists amid protests

September 14, 2018 10:57 AM EDT

Between July 14 and September 6, 2018, at least seven Iraqi journalists were assaulted or detained while covering protests over government corruption and the lack of basic services in several cities across Iraq, and the offices of two local media outlets were set on fire, according to news reports, the journalists’ employers, the local press…

Tents are shown at a refugee camp for internally displaced Syrians in Idlib province on July 30, 2018. Syrian authorities arrested a news anchor for Iraqi Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw, who had recently discussed on air fears of a large-scale military offensive on the province. (Reuters/Khalil Ashawi)

Syrian military intelligence arrests Syrian Kurdish journalist at checkpoint

September 5, 2018 3:45 PM EDT

Beirut, September 5, 2018 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Syrian authorities to immediately release Omar Kalo, a news anchor for the Iraqi Kurdish satellite news broadcaster Rudaw.

A general view of Halabja Museum, near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq on March 16, 2018. Iraqi authorities on May 29 issued an arrest warrant for Hossam al-Kaabi, an Iraqi correspondent for the Sulaymaniyah-based independent broadcaster NRT Arabic, according to reports. (Reuters/Ako Rasheed)

Iraqi security forces harass local reporter

June 1, 2018 5:42 PM EDT

Beirut, June 1, 2018–Iraqi authorities should stop harassing Hossam al-Kaabi, an Iraqi correspondent for the Sulaymaniyah-based independent broadcaster NRT Arabic, and allow him to work without fear of government retaliation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Demonstrators gather outside the Kurdistan Parliament building in Erbil, Iraq, on October 29, 2017. (Reuters/Azad Lashkari)

CPJ Safety Advisory: Security in Iraqi Kurdistan (KRG)

April 4, 2018 11:35 AM EDT

At least 15 journalists were assaulted and seven detained while covering widespread protests across Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq between March 25 and March 27, according to CPJ research and local press freedom and human rights groups. The wave of detentions and assaults has sparked fear among local journalists and press freedom groups that Kurdish authorities will…

A Syrian Kurd waves the Kurdish flag in Erbil in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Kurdish security forces have attacked and detained journalists covering protests against austerity measures taken by the Kurdistan Regional Government, according to news reports. (AFP/Safin Hamed)

TV crews assaulted, detained covering protests in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq

March 26, 2018 4:05 PM EDT

Beirut, March 26, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Kurdistan Regional Government to investigate immediately attacks against local journalists covering regional protests.

Iraqi Air Force planes fly past during Iraqi Army Day anniversary celebrations in Baghdad, Iraq on January 6, 2018. Men who identified themselves as Iraqi security forces arrested a journalist on the outskirts of Baghdad on February 2, according to reports. (Reuters/Thaier Al-Sudani)

Iraqi authorities arrest Samir Obeid at Baghdad checkpoint

February 6, 2018 4:15 PM EST

Beirut, February 6, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the arrest of Iraqi freelance journalist and political commentator Samir Obeid and called on Iraqi authorities to release him immediately.

Dijlah TV: Unknown assailants set fire to Baghdad bureau

January 10, 2018 1:10 PM EST

The satellite news channel Dijlah TV said in a report that unknown assailants set fire to its Baghdad bureau, located in the Al-Rusafa neighborhood, on the afternoon of January 2, 2018. No one was injured in the blaze, according to the report.