CPJ submits report on Iraq to UN’s human rights review
The Committee to Protect Journalists has submitted a report on the state of press freedom and journalist safety in Iraq and semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan to the United Nations Human Rights Council ahead of its January to February 2025 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session. The U.N. mechanism is a peer review of each member state’s human…
2 media workers killed, 1 injured in drone strike in Iraqi Kurdistan
Sulaymaniyah, August 23, 2024—A suspected Turkish drone strike killed two journalists and injured another in the Said Sadiq district of Sulaymaniyah province on Friday. “We are deeply saddened by the tragic August 23 drone strike that killed two journalists and injured a third in Iraqi Kurdistan,” said Yeganeh Rezaian, CPJ’s interim MENA program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Turkish authorities should swiftly…
Iraqi security forces assault 2 news crews covering protests
Sulaymaniyah, August 20, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iraqi security forces to explain the assault of two TV crews while they were covering protests in separate parts of the country. “CPJ is deeply concerned by the attacks on the Zoom News TV crew in Sulaymaniyah and the Alsumaria TV crew in Baghdad,” said…
Iraqi Kurdistan court sentences Syrian journalist to 3 years
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, July 29, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Iraqi Kurdish authorities to release Syrian journalist Sleman Ahmed after the Duhok criminal court sentenced him to three years in prison on espionage charges on Monday. “CPJ is alarmed by the sentencing of Syrian journalist Sleman Ahmed, who has been detained for nine…
Turkish Kurdish photojournalist Murat Yazar detained for 8 days in Iraqi Kurdistan
Sulaymaniyah, July 23, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that the prominent Turkish Kurdish photojournalist Murat Yazar was held in an Iraqi Kurdish security forces prison for eight days before his release on Sunday evening and calls on Iraqi Kurdish authorities to stop arresting journalists. “Iraqi Kurdish authorities have made a habit out of…
Strike injures 2 Iraqi Kurdish reporters in Sinjar
UPDATE: Çira TV reporter Murad Mirza died on July 11 of injuries sustained in the drone strike. He was buried on July 12 in the Girê Gewir Cemetery, according to his outlet. Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, July 10, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish and Iraqi authorities to investigate after a suspected Turkish strike injured two Iraqi…
After 8 months in detention, Syrian journalist Sleman Ahmed faces spying charges in Iraq
Sulaymaniyah, June 24, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iraqi Kurdish authorities to immediately and unconditionally free Syrian journalist Sleman Ahmed, who has been detained for eight months, and drop all charges against him. Ahmed — an Arabic editor for the local news website RojNews — is due to stand trial before Duhok Criminal…
Iraqi Kurdish Asayish security forces arrest journalist Shakar Star after smuggling reports
Beirut, May 21, 2024 — Iraqi Kurdish authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Shakar Star and allow all members of the media to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On the evening of Saturday, May 18, Iraqi Kurdistan Asayish security forces arrested Star, a presenter at local media agency Tiwar News,…
Iraqi Kurdish journalist Guhdar Zebari is free from prison, but not from threats
On February 17, 2024, Iraqi Kurdish journalist Guhdar Zebari was released from prison, concluding a three-and-a-half year legal saga that saw him convicted on anti-state and other charges in retaliation for his work. Zebari is one of the so-called “Badinan prisoners” – a group of journalists and activists from the ethnic Badinani group who were…
CPJ, MENA Rights Group file Urgent Action to UN on disappearance of Syrian journalist in Iraqi Kurdistan
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the MENA Rights Group (MRG), filed an Urgent Action on April 12, 2024, to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, asking for the Iraqi Kurdish government to clarify the fate and whereabouts of Syrian journalist Sleman Ahmed, who was arrested in Iraqi Kurdistan on October 25, 2023. Ahmed,…