Press freedom violations in Kurdistan Region ‘decreased’: US Consulate General
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The US Consulate General in Erbil announced in a statement on Tuesday that press freedom violations in the Kurdistan Region have "decreased."
“Several of the IKR’s [Kurdistan Region of Iraq] media freedom watchdogs’ annual reports showed a decrease in press freedom violations from 2022-2023, with a notable decrease in journalist arrests in particular,” the statement read.
The US Consulate General also noted that they’re encouraged to see this trendline and commended the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on “their efforts to date to improve the media climate.”
“To help improve the KRG’s ability to respond to legitimate press inquiries in a timely manner, we’re working to send several KRG spokespersons to the United States to better understand how our own government press offices operate,” the statement added.
On Feb. 7, the consulate announced that the US is pleased to witness a “significant decline” in press freedom violations in the Kurdistan Region.