Iraq: CFWIJ Holds Authorities Accountable For Use Of Censorious Methods Against Journalist Soma Khalid
Location: Iraq, Erbil, Kurdistan Region
Date: January 24, 2023
Soma Khalid, a reporter for KNN TV was released on bail on Tuesday after spending a night in Sulaimani prison. The Coalition For Women In Journalism holds authorities accountable for use of censorious methods against free press.
Soma Khalid, a journalist working for Kurdish media outlet KNN TV, was released Tuesday after spending a night in a Sulaimani prison. Khalid was targeted over a report criticizing management and staff of Sulaimani’s Shar Hospital for their poor treatment of patients. The arrest took place nearly two weeks after a rights group report blasted Kurdish authorities for targeting critics.
Khalid was arrested on Monday after a critical Facebook post in which the journalist referred to management and staff of Sulaimani’s Shar Hospital as a “herd” for their alleged inadequacies.
The hospital’s staff “from the doctors to the regular workers should be sent home and the health ministry must open courses on the methods and techniques of speaking, so that they learn how to deal with patients and not insult them,” Khalid wrote on Facebook.
The journalist was subsequently summoned to a police station following a complaint filed by a hospital representative. This led to Khalid's inside the police station. The journalist was released the next day on a 1 million IQD bail.
Khalid, a member of the Kurdistan Journalists’ Syndicate (KJS), did not notify the committee before going to the police station, otherwise a KJS representative would have accompanied Khalid. However, reports say that Khalid was not detained according to the law on journalism. Earlier in January, an annual report by US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) chided the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for their use of “vaguely worded laws to target critics for expressing criticism and opinions they object to.”
Over the past year, a staggering number of more than 400 violations were committed against journalists and media outlets in the Kurdistan Region according to the Metro Center for Journalists Rights and Advocacy 2022 annual report. The Metro Center raises concerns about utilizing laws other than the Press Law No 35 (2007) for journalism-related cases.
Kurdish authorities repeatedly face harsh criticism for their treatment of journalists as well as imposing restrictive measures on the press. The lives of journalists in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region are at risk while covering protests and investigating corruption. Journalists risk being harassed, abducted, physically attacked, or even killed.
Dozens of journalists and activists have been imprisoned in Erbil for many different reasons including participating in anti-government protests, spying for foreign diplomatic missions, sending sensitive information to foreign entities, and cooperating with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is appalled by the use of intimidating tactics against journalists. We extend full support to Soma Khalid and demand that the responsible authorities are held accountable. It is crucial that media freedoms in the Kurdistan Region are unconditionally respected and endorsed. Journalism is not a crime.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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