Iraq

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release: IRAQI LAWS THREATEN DEMOCRACY A free, independent and pluralistic media is vital to the rebuilding of Iraq as a democratic society, ARTICLE 19 says in a report released today. But numerous laws dating from the Hussein era as well as measures introduced by the […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 2 February 2004 CPJ press release: IRAQ: Governing Council penalizes Al-Jazeera New York, February 2, 2004-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council’s (IGC) decision to bar the Qatar-based satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera from covering official IGC activities in Iraq. Al-Jazeera’s Baghdad bureau chief, Majid Khader, […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned the Iraqi Governing Council’s ban on the 24-hour television news satellite station Al-Jazeera. Under the ban, Al-Jazeera is prevented from reporting on the Council’s activities from 28 January to 27 February 2004. “Boycotting media outlets and giving in to the temptation to censor them is no way to escape criticism,” […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 27 January 2004 CPJ press release: CNN PRODUCER AND DRIVER KILLED IN AMBUSH IN IRAQ New York, January 27, 2004-A television producer working for the U.S. cable news network CNN and his driver were killed in an ambush today outside Baghdad, CNN has reported. The network said that producer […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an IFJ press release: “Ruthless Killings” Spark New IFJ Safety Alert for Media in Iraq The International Federation of Journalists today warned that “Iraq remains the world’s most volatile and dangerous conflict zone where journalists’ safety cannot be guaranteed,” after two CNN employees were killed, and a third was slightly […]

(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an RSF press release: “Two murders and a lie” An investigation of the US Army’s firing at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad on 8 April 2003 Reporters Without Borders called today for the reopening of the enquiry into who was really responsible for the US Army’s “criminal negligence” in shooting […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: TWO JOURNALISTS WOUNDED IN GRENADE ATTACK IN IRAQ New York, December 11, 2003-Two journalists working with the U.S. newsmagazine Time were wounded today in a grenade attack in Baghdad while accompanying U.S. troops. Senior correspondent Michael Weisskopf and photographer James Nachtwey suffered undisclosed injuries when unidentified […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on the Iraqi Governing Council to reverse its decision banning the Dubai-based satellite television news channel Al-Arabiya from operating in Iraq until it signs a written commitment not to encourage terrorism. The ban was announced on 24 November 2003. RSF also condemned the government’s use of police to close the […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned the rocket attacks on the Palestine and Sheraton hotels in Baghdad, which both house journalists, on the morning of 21 November 2003. The organisation urged all parties in Iraq, including coalition armies, armed groups, terrorists and bandits, not to harm representatives of the news media, who are working as neutral […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 13 November 2003, RSF officially associated itself with the criminal proceedings launched in Spain against the three American soldiers responsible for shelling the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad on 8 April, killing Spanish cameraman José Couso. “By associating ourselves with these proceedings we hope to give them more weight,” RSF President Fernando Castello […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: REPORTER ABDUCTED, JOURNALIST SHOT IN IRAQ November 14, 2003-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed that unidentified Iraqi gunmen opened fire on a convoy of Portuguese journalists and abducted one reporter today in southern Iraq. According to news reports and Portuguese editors who spoke with […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called for the immediate and unconditional release of Portuguese journalist Carlos Raleiras, who was attacked and kidnapped by armed men in southern Iraq, near the Kuwaiti border, on 14 November 2003. The organisation also appealed to the British military forces in charge of the region to deploy all necessary resources to […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on the Iraqi police and US-British coalition forces to set up a commission to establish the exact circumstances surrounding the 28 October 2003 death of Ahmed Shawkat, editor of the weekly “Bilah Ittijah” (“Without Direction”), in the northern city of Mosul. The Associated Press said Shawkat was shot dead on […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: EDITOR KILLED IN IRAQ New York, October 28, 2003-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by reports that editor Ahmed Shawkat was murdered today in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. According to The Associated Press (AP) and an Agence France-Presse correspondent in Mosul, Shawkat, […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is an 8 October 2003 CPJ press release: CPJ REQUESTS INFORMATION FROM U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT ABOUT JOURNALISTS KILLED IN IRAQ BY U.S. FORCES New York, October 8, 2003-Exactly six months after the U.S. shelled the Palestine Hotel in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, and an air strike hit the Baghdad bureau of the […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has strongly condemned the 25 September 2003 blast outside a hotel housing the Baghdad bureau of the NBC television network and called for an investigation into the bombing, the first involving a United States (U.S.) news organisation’s Iraq headquarters (see IFEX alert of 25 September 2003). The organisation also voiced deep concern […]