The Iraqi Kurdistan Union of Journalists (KUJ) has reported 62 cases of violations against journalists in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region IKR, including 25 cases of obstruction and discrimination.
The figures were announced at a press conference on Monday, January 22nd. Last week, Metro Center for the Protection of Journalists' Rights metro.org have registered 240 violations against journalists in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region IKR in the last year.
According to the report by syndicate of journalists, 62 cases of violations were committed against 128 media outlets, including 25 cases of obstruction and discrimination, 14 cases of detention and arrest, 11 cases of assault and insult, six cases of breaking and confiscation of journalistic equipment. There were two cases of raids on media outlets and two cases of beatings.
Nazakat Hussein, head of the committee to protect the rights of journalists in the Kurdistan Union of Journalists, told KirkukNow: “Our mechanisms and the Metro Center are different in what is violation and what is not violation. The advocacy committee will unanimously decide whether what has been done is a violation or not. If it is considered a violation, it will be registered.”
"We work according to the appendix of international law and the International Federation of Journalists IFJ standards and record the data, so it is normal to see differences in statistics, mechanisms and decisions on whether what happened falls under the category of violations against journalists or not.”
According to the statistics of Metro Center, violations have almost dropped to half compared to 2022.
The local and international organizations, human rights advocates members of the Iraqi and Kurdistan parliaments MPs continuously express their grave concern that the journalists and the freedom of expression and press are increasingly under threat all over Iraq including the IKR.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Iraqi Kurdistan have all expanded the use of false news, terrorism, and anti-state charges against journalists in recent years, says the Committee to Protect Journalists CPJ's 2023 Prison Census.
"Iraq’s four jailed journalists included one new prisoner in Iraqi Kurdistan," the report says.
