The Metro Center for Defending Journalists' Rights in the Kurdistan Region revealed its annual report for 2024 on Saturday. The report documented 182 violations against 176 journalists in the Kurdistan Region.
During a press conference held in Sulaymaniyah, the center explained a 22% decrease in recorded violations, compared to 2023.
Sivan Azad, a member of the Metro Center, revealed the types of violations that journalists were subjected to last year, which included:
- Three journalists were killed while doing their work.
- 24 cases of arrest without judicial orders.
- 17 cases of confiscation of journalists' tools.
- 27 cases of physical assault and threats.
- 103 cases of being banned from practicing journalism.
- Two cases of breaking journalistic equipment.
- In addition to cases of defamation and electronic piracy.
Azad stressed that this report is an important document that sheds light on the current status of press freedom in the region, pointing to the urgent need to strengthen legal guarantees to protect journalists.
For his part, the head of the center, Diyari Mohammed, called on the authorities in the Kurdistan Region to protect the rights of journalists, hold accountable those responsible for violations, implement laws that guarantee freedom of the media, and promote a safe environment for journalistic work.
Notably, the Metro Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists was founded in 2009 by a group of journalists and human rights defenders in cooperation with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and aims to monitor the freedom of the press and journalists in the Kurdistan Region.
The center issues an annual report that includes the violations that journalists were subjected to throughout the past year through a press conference attended by political, cultural, and media figures, and civil activists.