Iraqi Kurdistan

New York, August 4, 2009–Five journalists have been released in Iran, including one on Monday who had been held for a year. The other four were picked up in the crackdown following the June 12 elections.

Eleven journalists were killed because of their work, making Iraq the most dangerous nation for the press for the sixth consecutive year. Nevertheless, the figure was the lowest yearly toll since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003–and two-thirds lower than the annual figures for 2007 or 2006.

Our annual census of imprisoned journalists, which lists 125 journalists in jail, has gotten more coverage today and over the weekend. Geek has a story that focuses on our finding that the majority of those in prison are online journalists. The Web site ArsTechnica also examines this angle in its coverage, and Democracy Now! ran a similarly…

Editor & Publisher has coverage of our annual census of imprisoned journalists, which was released earlier today. The report lists 125 journalists in jail as of December 1, 56 of whom are online journalists.

Journalists in prison as of December 1, 2008 Read the accompanying report: “Online and in jail”

June 2008 News from the Committee to Protect Journalists

Iraqi Kurdish political leaders have cultivated an image of freedom and tolerance, but that increasingly clashes with reality. As the independent press has grown more assertive, attacks and arrests have increased.

January 2008 News from the Committee to Protect Journalists

CPJ Update December 2007 News from the Committee to Protect Journalists

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…