Impunity prevails as journalists’ safety worsens in Iraqi Kurdistan
A climate of overwhelming impunity prevailed in 2015 with violations against journalists widespread, says the IMS-supported media rights group Metro Center in Iraqi Kurdistan
“They told me they would cut off my tongue and send me to where my colleagues are if I didn’t stop reporting.” Death threats made against a member of the investigative journalism network, NIRIJ, tell of the chilling work environment many journalists face in Iraqi Kurdistan, says Metro Center in its annual review of 2015.
Attacks on journalists are met with public condemnation but prevail due to a near-complete lack of protection and support from authorities, says Metro Center.
A total of 145 journalists had their rights violated in the course of 2015. It is an increase from 107 in 2014, says Metro Center. The violations include beatings, arbitrary detention, intimidation and threats of physical violence and murder.
The presence of the self-styled Islamic State has taken a marked toll on the media in Iraqi Kurdistan, with several journalists abducted by the militant group in the border area between Iraq and Syria. This includes Kamaran Najim, a well-known photo journalist and founder of the photo agency Metrography. Captured by Islamic State while covering fights between the group and Kurdish Peshmerga forces in June 2015, he is still reported as missing.
The general increase in violence and increase in improvised explosive devices makes the day-to-day work of media workers in the area incredibly difficult, says Metro Center.
A fallout of the ongoing conflict in the region is a growing economic crisis which impacts the region’s media groups, forcing them to close, lay off staff and cutting back on what are already low salaries for journalists and technicians.
Near total impunity
Iraq remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists with five journalists killed last year alone. Although the country’s Kurdistan region is considered relatively calm, journalists in the area are still frequent victims of rights violations, attacks, and killings.
Numbers vary, but according to the U.S.-based press freedom group, Committee to Protect Journalists the country has seen around 172 journalists killed as a direct result of their work between 2003 and January 2016.
Close to zero of the perpetrators of these murders have been brought to justice, making for an alarming impunity rate in Iraq of nearly 100%.
Intimidation and killing of journalists is meant to do one thing: silence them, says Osama al-Habahbeh, IMS’ programme manager for Iraq:
“The murder cases that remain unsolved spread fear and self-censorship, crippling the work of the media and keeping journalists in a constant state of anxiety.”
By working with national organisations like Metro Center that defend and promote the rights of journalists, IMS seeks to break the cycle of impunity, which reproduces self-censorship and fear.
