Syrian militia hold two media activists in Idlib
The Syrian militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham took captive two media activists, Hossam Mahmoud and Amjed al-Maleh, in the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib in December 2017, according to news reports, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, and the Syrian Journalists’ Association.
In absence of fresh military conflict, journalist killings decline again
At least 42 journalists were killed in the line of duty in 2017, representing the second consecutive decline from record highs early this decade. Fewer journalists died covering Middle East conflicts and the number of journalists murdered in reprisal for reporting eased, except in Mexico. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
Islamic State recedes but threats to journalists in Iraq and Syria remain
After three years of fighting in Iraq and Syria, the militant group Islamic State has been forced out of large swathes of territory. But local journalists and press freedom groups with whom CPJ spoke said that the defeat of Islamic State doesn’t necessarily mean that journalists will be any safer.
Record number of journalists jailed as Turkey, China, Egypt pay scant price for repression
For the second year in a row, the number of journalists imprisoned for their work hit a historical high, as the U.S. and other Western powers failed to pressure the world’s worst jailers–Turkey, China, and Egypt–into improving the bleak climate for press freedom. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
Two Kurdish reporters killed on duty by car bombings in eastern Syria
Beirut, October 16, 2017–Kurdish journalists Dilshan Ibash and Hawker Faisal Mohammed died from injuries sustained during October 12 suicide car bomb attacks that occurred in the eastern Syrian village of Abu Fas, where the two reporters were covering civilian displacement, according to their employer, Hawar News Agency, and the Syrian Journalists Association.
Press at risk as EU-based companies export surveillance software to hostile regimes
In August, Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen told the daily newspaper Information that the government had authorized sales of online surveillance software to several Middle Eastern countries. While acknowledging the potential for human rights violations that could result from the use of these tools, the minister said that Denmark has an interest in the fight…
Kurdish security forces detain local reporter, whereabouts unknown
New York, September 29, 2017-Kurdish security forces in northern Syria should immediately release Ibrahim Ali al-Suleiman, a local reporter for the independent Euphrates Post, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Members of Asayish, the security force for the defacto authorities of the Rojava region in northern Syria, on September 15 detained al-Suleiman at his…
Journalist for Syrian Media Organization killed in roadside bombing
Beirut, August 23, 2017–The regional director of the rebel-affiliated Syrian Media Organization was killed August 21 in a roadside bombing in the southwestern province of Daraa, according to the group’s executive director Abu al-Majd al-Zoabi.
Court sentences two Syrian journalists for blasphemy, shutters magazine
The Court of First Instance of the Second Criminal Court of the Syrian city of Douma, which is under the control of the rebel group the Army of Islam, on July 11, 2017, sentenced Shawkat Gharz al-Din, a journalist for Rising for Freedom, and Laila Safadi, the editor of the magazine, to two months in…