PFAA underscored lack of freedom of journalism in Iraq
The cities in the south and middle of Iraq have the reputation of restricting the freedom of journalism
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In a statistic project, the Press Freedom Advocacy Association PFAA in Iraq revealed, in 2023, more than 518 breaching the journalists’ rights occurred in the south and middle of Iraq. They underscored there are 30 thousand journalists in Iraq, yet the researches show the violation is rising.
According to the report by this organization, majority of the breaching is happening by the security forces. It’s come in the form of physical assaults, threats, abuse and arrests.
The indicators show that Iraqi authorities have not been able to provide any appropriate environment to the journalism.
The southern and middle cities of Iraq have a reputation of censoring and restricting press, writers and journalists.
Baghdad and Basra are occupying the first and second grades in sequence in the list.
Read More: Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights report outlines declining freedom of press in Iraq
The journalism in Iraq is 155 years old, it is the anniversary of Iraqi press, according to the database, the first newspaper issued in Iraq in 1869. It is more than one century and a half for the country since then, but the authorities are incapable of preparing a freed ground and environment to the journal work.
According to the reports regarding this matter, Iraq comes as the first country in the world to have journalists killed and the last in freedom of journalism.