Amnesty International: Syria deadliest place for journalists

PanARMENIAN.Net - Scores of journalists reporting on human rights abuses in Syria have been killed, arbitrarily arrested, detained, subjected to enforced disappearances and tortured over the last two years, Amnesty International said in a report released May 3, World Press Freedom Day.

Abuses against journalists have been carried out both by the Syrian authorities and armed opposition groups, turning Syria into the deadliest country in the world, according to media monitoring organizations. Journalists are not the only civilians under threat in Syria, but so far at least 36 have died in what are believed to have been targeted attacks.

Amnesty’s 56-page report, Shooting the Messenger: Journalists targeted by all sides in Syria, details dozens of cases of journalists and media workers attacked or detained since the 2011 uprising began in an attempt to prevent them from reporting on the unfolding situation in Syria, including their reports on human rights abuses.

It also details the crucial role played by “citizen journalists”, many of whom have risked their lives to ensure information about events in the country reaches the outside world. Like their professional colleagues, this group has faced reprisals to prevent them carrying out their work. Amnesty has recorded at least 17 incidents where armed opposition groups have deliberately targeted journalists and media workers - including deliberate attacks on buildings where they work - because they’ve been perceived as allied to the Syrian authorities or have produced pro-government reports. Some opposition forces have also mounted online campaigns against individual journalists, labelling them “media shabiha” (ghost).

Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director Ann Harrison said: “Deliberate attacks on civilians, including journalists, amount to war crimes for which the perpetrators must be brought to justice.”