ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The number of press freedom violations committed in the Kurdistan Region in 2024 has declined from the previous year, according to a report released on Saturday by a Kurdish media watchdog, which warned that journalists still face serious problems, especially in accessing information.

"In 2023, 231 violations were recorded. For 2024 the number has decreased to 182 violations, meaning that in 2024, compared to 2023, violations have decreased by 22%,” reads the report from the Metro Center for Journalists Rights and Advocacy. 

"Although violations have decreased, this decrease does not mean that the working environment for journalism has become more open and better in the Kurdistan Region," Metro director Rahman Gharib told Rudaw.

"There are still major obstacles to press freedom in the Kurdistan Region," he added, pointing to the access to information law that has yet to be fully implemented and problems journalists face getting information.

Government offices are not cooperating in sharing information with journalists and are discriminating between media outlets, he explained.

The 182 violations include 27 cases of journalists being attacked, beaten, or threatened, 103 times when journalists were obstructed from reporting, 24 journalists who were detained without a court order, and 17 instances of equipment being seized.

Human Rights Watch reported three journalists killed in the Kurdistan Region last year.

"Throughout the year, Türkiye increased its military operations in federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)” and "drone strikes allegedly killed three journalists and eight civilians in 2024,” the monitor reported. 

 

RUDAW