Iraq / Middle East & North Africa

  
A cafe in the old city of Erbil, in September 2018. Journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan say they are under pressure from authorities. (Reuters/Thaier Al-Sudani)

In Iraqi Kurdistan, journalists are victim of political tension

Mission journal: Journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan are under pressure from authorities in the autonomous northern Iraqi region, with news outlets shuttered and critical reporters arrested. With government formation talks underway, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado travels to Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok to hear from local journalists on how the partisan…

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Freelance journalist Sherwan Amin Sherwani has been detained by Kurdish authorities for weeks; CPJ is calling for his release. (Photo by Hushyar Sherkawaye)

Journalist detained for weeks in Iraqi Kurdistan, accused of anti-state acts

Beirut, February 21, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the prolonged detention without charge of freelance journalist Sherwan Amin Sherwani by Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq and called for his immediate release.

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A protester uses his cell phone to film at a demonstration in Basra in January. Militias and Iraqi security forces are attacking and detaining journalists who cover protests in the city. (AFP/Hussein Faleh)

Iraqi militias use threats, violence to keep Basra press in line

“You work against us. In your work, you criticize militias. We watched your videos and you talk against us. You will pay the price for it,” an anonymous voice said on the other end of the line to freelance reporter Azhar Al-Rubaie.

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The NRT Duhok office, which was recently raided by local authorities. (Image via NRT)

Security forces detain TV crews and shut down broadcaster’s office in Iraqi Kurdistan

Beirut, January 28, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the closure by Kurdish security forces of the Iraqi independent broadcaster NRT’s office in Dohuk, Iraqi Kurdistan, and urged the Kurdish regional government to immediately allow NRT to resume its work.

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An Iraqi man reads a newspaper on October 6, 2016. In recent weeks, at least four journalists were detained in northern Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan.

Four Iraqi journalists detained in Mosul and Erbil

Between January 16 and 22, 2019, at least four Iraqi journalists were detained in connection with their work in Mosul and Irbil, according to news reports, the journalists’ employers, and the local press freedom groups Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq and the Iraqi Center for Supporting Freedom of Speech.

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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

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.

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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

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…

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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

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.

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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

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.

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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)

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…

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