Iraq

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an IFJ media release: Iraqi Media Leaders Demand Democracy and Free Expression Rights in Constitution More than 40 leaders of Iraqi journalism – editors, union leaders, university lecturers and other media experts – have called for action to strengthen free expression and democratic rights in the stalled talks over a […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Those responsible for the 2 August 2005 murder of American freelance journalist Steven Vincent in Basra have yet to be identified, but several hypotheses are possible. Vincent was an avowed supporter of the U.S. intervention in Iraq and was very critical of the growing influence of religious extremists. Quoting an Iraqi officer in […]

(WPFC/IFEX) – The following is a 4 August 2005 WPFC news release: World Press Freedom Committee today announced that they sent last week to Iraqi government officials via both US diplomatic and UN avenues, a resolution of the global Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations. The resolution calls for inclusion in the Iraqi constitution currently […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned the murder of Adnan Al Bayati, who was killed at home in Baghdad in the presence of his wife and daughter on 23 July 2005. He had been working as an interpreter and producer for Italian news media for several years. “We are outraged by Al Bayati’s horrible murder,” RSF […]

(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an IPI press release: Vienna, 3 August 2005 IPI Condemns Murder of U.S. Journalist in Iraq The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, strongly condemns the fatal attack on U.S. journalist and author Steven Vincent by unidentified gunmen in Iraq. According to […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 10 July 2005, the United States (US) army freed Cyrus Kar, an American documentary filmmaker of Iranian origin, and Farshid Faraji, his Iranian cameraman, after holding them for 54 days at a US base in Iraq. Kar entered Iraq from Iran to film material for a documentary about Darius the Great, founder […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced outrage at the abduction and killing of television producer Khaled Sabih Al Attar on 1 July 2005. The producer with Iraqi public television station Al-Irakiya was killed in the northern city of Mosul. RSF called on the Iraqi and American authorities to investigate the case. “This is the ninth murder […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is a 1 July 2005 IFJ media release: IFJ Calls for Independent Probe Over Three More Media Killings Involving US Troops The International Federation of Journalists today called on the United States to investigate three new cases of journalists killed in Iraq over the past week – all of them at […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed outrage over the 28 June 2005 murder of Iraqi television producer Ahmed Wael Al Bakri. Al Bakri, 30, a producer with the privately-owned television station al-Sharqiya, was killed at the wheel of his car when he drove too close to a United States (US) military convoy. He produced a variety […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an IFJ media release: IFJ Tells Governments to “Back Off” as Iraqi Expulsion Sparks Row Over Interference in Work of Media The news that a French reporter is to be expelled from Baghdad by Iraqi officials claiming they are trying to protect her safety has been greeted with anger by […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 21 June 2005 CPJ press release: Iraq: Al-Arabiya correspondent seriously injured in shooting New York, June 21, 2005 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Saturday’s shooting in Baghdad of Jawad Kadhem, an Iraqi correspondent for the Dubai-based satellite channel Al-Arabiya. Kadhem was seriously injured in the attack, which […]

(HRW/CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 17 June 2005 joint Human Rights Watch and CPJ press release: Iraq: Checkpoints Lack Basic Safety Measures Pentagon Should Implement Its Own Recommendations to Protect Civilians, U.S. Forces (New York, June 17, 2005) – The U.S. military’s inadequate checkpoint procedures in Iraq endanger civilians, including journalists, as well as […]

(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 12 June 2005 RSF statement: Joy at release of hostages Florence Aubenas and Hussein Hanoun Reporters Without Borders today voiced “enormous relief and immense joy” at the release of French journalist Florence Aubenas and her Iraqi interpreter and guide, Hussein Hanoun, after 157 days as hostages in Iraq. “We […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned a shooting attack in which Mouthana Ibrahim, a reporter with the satellite television station Al-Arabiya, was injured on 29 May 2005 in the northern city of Mosul. RSF also noted that Hussein Al Shimari, a reporter with the satellite television station Al-Diyar, was released on 30 May. “Iraqi journalists are […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed outrage over revelations by the Bucharest Prosecutor’s Office that the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists in Iraq may have been orchestrated by their Iraqi guide and a businessman. “We have confidence that the Romanian justice system will do its utmost to shed light on this disturbing case. They must punish […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on the Iraqi authorities to rapidly explain the arrest of Ibrahim Ahmed Salma, 36, a cameraman with the US agency Associated Press Television News (APTN). Salma was arrested in Baghdad on 21 May 2005. “The methods of arresting Iraqi journalists are brutal and abusive,” the organisation said. Salma’s brother told […]