A group of prominent journalists, judges, police and politicians recently urged authorities to put an end to violations of press freedom in Kurdistan. The group asked parliament members to grant journalists the right to access information and provide more freedoms to carry out their work.
Iraqi journalists have long faced intimidation and harassment from security forces. The country is still considered one of the most dangerous places on earth for those in the profession.
Darbaz Salih, a reporter for Xendan news, knows from experience. In 2011 he faced harassment when he tried to cover a protest in front of Kurdistan’s Islamic Union headquarters in Erbil.
“Security forces took my camera, mobile phone and recorder. They didn’t have order from judicial authorities to arrest me, but they did [anyway,]” he said.
Despite the setback, he pressed on for the story, but was caught again.
“The second time, security forces beat me. They took all my journalistic tools for nearly two weeks,” he said.
To help address these issues, IREX brought together an important contingent of press freedom advocates. Together, they worked to set up a special legal unit to defend journalists in Kurdistan’s courts. They also made recommendations to legislative, judicial and executive authorities in the region.
For Hoshyar Abdullah, TV director of opposition-friendly KNN, the outcomes were “extremely useful and impressive.” The journalist has been summoned to court for six charges, three of them inconsistent with Kurdistan’s current press law.
Though figures from press freedom monitoring NGOs show a marked decline in the number of violations against journalists from last year, leaders say there is still no guarantee security forces will not commit more violence, nor hold previous violators accountable.
“Parliament should pass the freedom of information bill as soon as possible. It should be in accordance with the international standards of freedom of information and transparency,” Abdullah said.