U.S. State Department Mentions Deterioration of Journalists' Rights in Iraq & Kurdistan

Reports 06:48 PM - 2024-04-25

Iraqi & Kurdish flags

The United States (U.S.) State Department has once again defined the subject of human rights in the Kurdistan Region unfavourably in its annual report, stating that "the situation of human rights and press freedom in the Kurdistan Region is in decline and worse than last year." 

The annual report of the U.S. State Department was published on April 22, 2024, which happened to be the same day as Kurdish Journalism Day. The U.S. State Dept. stated that in 2023, the condition of journalists' rights deteriorated as a result of heightened limitations on fundamental liberties and the civil atmosphere imposed by the federal and Kurdistan Regional Governments.

The report stated that by the end of May, a total of 345 instances of mistreatment of journalists had been documented throughout the country, with the majority occurring in Baghdad and Erbil.

Most of the violations were in Baghdad and Erbil

The statement read: "IKR-based outlets without strong political or financial backers reported difficulty accessing information or reporting venues."

"Journalists continued to face threats, intimidation, and attacks by militia or security forces. The Press Freedom Advocacy Association recorded 345 cases of abuses of journalists nationwide as of the end of May, with the majority of cases in Baghdad and Erbil," the report added.

Several journalists have been arrested without warrants

The U.S. State Dept. also included reports from "Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Organization of Reporters for Rights and Development, which states: "RSF counted nearly 20 arrests of journalists in the IKR during the year. The Erbil-based Organization of Reporters for Rights and Development reported that during the first six months of the year, there were 49 violations committed against 99 IKR-based journalists and social media bloggers. RSF highlighted the surge in abuses against members of the press in the KRG, where several journalists were arbitrarily arrested and, when their release dates approached, found themselves charged with additional crimes leading to extended jail terms."

"By year’s end, the KRG had not implemented a freedom of information law originally passed in 2013. Journalists and press freedom advocates claimed the judiciary was not impartial in press freedom cases or in lawsuits against the KRG for failure to provide information. In January, an Erbil appeals court rejected lawsuits filed by Pereagraf News against the KRG prime minister and IKR president over their refusal to turn over public budget information," the statement continued.

The report also stated: "According to Freedom House, the federal government and KRG authorities disrupted internet access during protests and used vaguely worded laws to criminalize some online activities. Civil society organizations reported government and militia forces monitored their activists’ social media pages, and the activists faced harassment or criminal charges based on their social media activity."

Badinan Prisoners were also mentioned in the report

"In the IKR, some independent journalists said groups affiliated with the main political parties falsely flagged their posts to Facebook administrators as copyrighted content in attempts to block their dissemination of information." The report stated, "Some media outlets reported facing cyberattacks, including distributed denial of service attacks, after publishing stories on government corruption, which they alleged were state-sponsored given their timing and sophistication."

The US State Department report has addressed the matter of detainees in Badinan by the KRG this year, saying: "As of March, Sherwan Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari—two of the “Badinan” detainees, a reference to the area in Duhok Province where Asayish forces and KDP intelligence service Parastin officers arrested dozens of activists, journalists, and protesters in 2020— remained in prison. Sherwani and Zebari were due for release during the year, but their prison terms were extended after additional charges were levied immediately prior to their scheduled release date. In July, KRG Asayish security forces arrested journalist Omed Baroshki in Duhok after Baroshki held a press conference to criticize the extended sentence issued to Sherwani while calling for protests against the decision."

Significant human rights issues mentioned in the report

The report also mentions some human rights issues saying: "Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; enforced disappearance; torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment by government officials; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; punishment of family members for offenses allegedly committed by an individual; serious abuses in a conflict, including attacks resulting in civilian deaths and harm; serious restrictions on free expression and media, including violence or threats of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests and prosecutions against journalists, censorship, and existence of criminal libel laws; serious restrictions on internet freedom; substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association; restrictions on freedom of movement, including forced returns of internally displaced persons to locations where they faced threats to their lives and freedom; refoulement of refugees to a country where they would face torture or persecution, including serious harm such as a threat to life or freedom or other mistreatment that would constitute a separate human rights abuse; serious government corruption; extensive gender-based violence, including domestic violence and other forms of such violence; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting members of ethnic minority groups, internally displaced persons, and returnee populations; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex persons; trafficking in persons, including forced labor; significant restrictions on workers’ freedom of association; and the existence of the worst forms of child labor."

According to the report, "Extrajudicial killings by unidentified gunmen and politically motivated violence occurred frequently throughout the country. Three senior officials were killed in the IKR) in July. Police reported that Mohammed Mirza Sinda, a former senior intelligence official linked to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), was killed when his car exploded in the city of Zakho in Duhok Province. The Kurdistan Region Security Council declared the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) responsible for the killing; however, representatives of the People’s Defense Forces, the PKK-armed wing, denied PKK’s involvement."

Correctional Centers in the Kurdistan Region

Other issues mentioned in the report include the situation in correctional centers, where it says: “Across the IKR, there were six correctional centers, three for detained men and three for detained women and juveniles. The centers designated for women and juveniles held both pretrial detainees and prisoners, while pretrial detained men were held at police station detention facilities throughout the IKR. The total number of detainees incarcerated exceeded the designated capacity across all facilities by 157 percent. According to KRG officials, the prison population was 4,922, of whom 181 were juveniles. In some detention centers and police-run jails, KRG authorities occasionally held juveniles in the same cells as adults, as in the IKR the minimum age for legal responsibility was 11.”

“The Independent Human Rights Commission Kurdistan Region, an independent commission under the KRG parliament, reported IKR correctional centers suffered from long-term problems of overcrowding, inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities, use of violence during preliminary detention, and outdated infrastructure at women’s and juvenile centers. The limited medical staff was unable to provide adequate medical services to all prisoners,” said the report, “The federal government and the KRG reported they took steps to address allegations of mistreatment in government-administered prison and detention facilities, but the extent of these steps was not known.”

Corruption remains a significant obstacles

"Corruption remained a significant obstacle to effective governance at all institutional levels, including in the IKR. Bribery, money laundering, nepotism, and misappropriation of public funds were common at all levels and across all branches of government. Family, tribal, and sectarian considerations significantly influenced government decisions at all levels and across all branches of government. Federal and KRG officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity," says the report.

 

 

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