Iraq: Journalists from Kurdish weekly face arrest, trial
New York, May 2, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the recent arrests and criminal prosecutions for defamation of three journalists with the independent Kurdish weekly Hawlati in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region. On Tuesday, a criminal court in the city of Sulaymaniyah sentenced Twana Osman, editor-in-chief of Hawlati, and Asos Hardi, the paper’s…
Iraq: Reuters inquiry finds U.S. shooting death of journalist “unlawful”
New York, April 10, 2006—Reuters news agency said today that an inquiry it commissioned into the shooting of one of its journalists by U.S. troops in Iraq found that the killing was “unlawful” and a violation of U.S. military rules of engagement. The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern at the findings. Reuters said the…
Acquitted after year-long detention, CBS cameraman released
New York, April 7, 2006—An Iraqi cameraman held for more than a year by U.S. forces in Iraq without due process was released on Thursday, CBS News has confirmed. Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein, who was working for CBS, was freed a day after an Iraqi criminal court, citing a lack of evidence, acquitted him of…
Iraq: Detained CBS cameraman acquitted of charges
New York, April 5, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the decision today by an Iraqi criminal court to acquit a CBS cameraman held in U.S. custody in Iraq for one year without due process. A three-judge panel from Iraq’s Central Criminal Court dismissed charges against Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein, an Iraqi cameraman working for…
CPJ welcomes release of Jill Carroll
New York, March 30, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s release of Jill Carroll, a freelance reporter on assignment for The Christian Science Monitor who had been held captive in Iraq for nearly three months. Carroll was freed at mid-day in Baghdad. She was reported in good health and told reporters that she was…
Writer sentenced to 18 months in Kurdistan
New York, N.Y., March 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the 18-month prison sentence handed down against an Austrian writer for defaming local officials in Iraq’s semiautonomous northern Kurdistan region. A court in the Iraqi city of Arbil sentenced Kamal Karim, whose name is also given as Kamal Sayid Qadir, on Sunday for articles…
U.S. military pledges to expedite cases of detained journalists
New York, March 24, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes U.S. officials’ pledge this week to begin prompt, high-level reviews of cases in which journalists are detained by troops in Iraq. CPJ documented seven cases in 2005 alone in which U.S. forces detained Iraqi journalists for periods of many weeks or months without charge or…
Iraq: Kurdish journalist detained, faces prosecution
New York, March 22, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the detention and prosecution of a Kurdish journalist, who was seized by Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq. On March 17, security forces affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) arrested Hawez Hawezi, a 31-year-old high school teacher who also writes for the…