Syria / Middle East & North Africa

  

Syrian journalist Hussein Khattab shot and killed while reporting in Aleppo governorate

New York, December 14, 2020 – Authorities in the northwestern Syrian city of Al-Bab should conduct a thorough investigation into the killing of journalist Hussein Khattab, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 12, two unidentified masked men on a motorcycle fired at least 10 shots at…

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Syrian journalist Rasheed Bakr killed in an airstrike in northern Idlib

New York, October 28, 2020 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the killing of Syrian reporter and cameraman Rasheed Bakr and urged all parties in the Syrian conflict to guarantee the safety of civilians, including journalists. Bakr, who worked for the pro-opposition news website Al-Mohrar Media Network and the Syria 1 News Agency,…

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Daniel Pearl's parents

Getting Away with Murder

CPJ’s 2020 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free By Elana Beiser/CPJ Editorial Director Published October 28, 2020 Incremental progress toward reducing the murders of journalists worldwide is fragile and could be thwarted by legal appeals and lack of political leadership, CPJ found in its latest report on…

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UN human rights organs should press for investigations into missing journalists

CPJ writes the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, asking it to call on governments, particularly in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, to investigate the cases of missing journalists.

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Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militants abduct US journalist Bilal Abdul-Kareem and driver in Syria

New York, August 17, 2020 — The militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham should immediately release reporter Bilal Abdul-Kareem and his driver and stop detaining journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 13, in the northern Syrian town of Atmeh, masked militants with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Al-Qaeda offshoot formerly known as Al-Nusra…

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Militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham assaults at least 12 Syrian journalists covering joint Russian-Turkish military patrol in Idlib

On June 10, 2020, several members of the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Al-Qaeda offshoot previously known as Al-Nusra Front, hit and kicked at least 12 Syrian journalists while they were covering a joint Turkish-Russian military patrol on the M4 Highway, which links Latakia and Aleppo, according to four of the journalists who…

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Journalists in Syria tell CPJ of fear of humanitarian catastrophe if COVID-19 spreads

Syria hasn’t been greatly impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic. The Syrian Health Ministry has counted 123 cases, and six deaths as of June 1, according to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The country has begun to relax restrictions it imposed in mid-March, including curfews and…

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People are seen in Tal Abyad, Syria, on October 17, 2019. Authorities in the region recently suspended reporter Vivian Fatah’s press credentials for two months. (Reuters/Khalil Ashawi)

Regional authorities in northeast Syria suspend Rudaw TV reporter’s credentials for 2 months

New York, May 11, 2020 — Authorities in northeastern Syria should reverse their suspension of reporter Vivian Fatah’s press credentials and allow all journalists to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Syrian journalist Abdul Nasser Haj Hamdan was killed in Ma’arat al-Naasan on February 20. (Media Office in Binnish)

Syrian photographer Abdul Nasser Haj Hamdan killed in Russian airstrike

Beirut, February 26, 2020 — Russian and Syrian military forces must ensure the safety of journalists and other civilians and hold those responsible for journalists’ deaths to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Syrian army soldiers are seen in Maarat al-Numan on January 30, 2020. At least five Syrian journalists were recently injured while embedded with Syrian government forces. (Reuters/Omar Sanadiki)

Five Syrian journalists injured while covering clashes in Aleppo and Idlib

Five Syrian journalists embedded with forces supporting President Bashar al-Assad were injured in two incidents, on January 29 and February 2, 2020, in the northwestern Syrian governorates of Idlib and Aleppo, according to news reports and reports by their employers.

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